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Published: September 19th 2014
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Cappadocia Sept 18, 2014
Our visit to the Turkish Turquoise coast has very much been a holiday and we are now getting back into travel mode. It was very great while it lasted and was enjoyable to have the company of Jayne and Paul.
Fethiye is a great place to start a holiday. It is actually quiet a big city. Bigger than I thought when I said to Jane we could walk to the pension from the Otogar (bus station). The walk turned out to be 3km which is a long way with a big pack in 35+C. Jane stuck at it and was not amused unsurprisingly.
Just to finish things off we were on the third floor of the Tan Pension (no email text him using number in LP) behind the marina......but then what a floor it was. At the back was a fully equipped kitchen. At the front were four rooms and we had two. In front of the rooms was a fantastic roof terrace with expansive views over Fethiye Bay. The owner was exquisite. He had come to meet us and was so helpful. Each morning he prepared us
a wonderful Turkish breakfast. All in for 100TL per room per night.
In Fethiye we enjoyed the famous fish market, the Lycian tombs, and visited nearby Karakoy, a village abandoned by Greek speaking Christians in the 1920's and not fully resettled by Turks. I decided to walk back instead of taking the dolmus to avoid the hideous Oludeniz. This turn out to be quite a challenge without my smartphone GPS ( the battery died!) and I ended up doing many more miles than intended in the heat of the day. I was glad I was on my own.
We introduced Jayne and Paul to the local Hamam, just what we needed before a week on the boat. It was mixed and so not as revealing as my last experience and still left one feeling wonderfully cleansed. The girls got a massage each and Paul and I went for a couple of beers. I reckon we got the better deal.
Budget Sailing (www.budgetsailingturkey.com) in Gocek turned out to be an excellent outfit and Hasan and Wilma are very friendly and helpful. We had a 2 cabin Gibsea 33, perfectly adequate, and yet
clearly not up with the times. On return Hasan commented that in 1989 when they started the average boat size was 10 metres. Now it is a rare to see boats less than 15 metres and they are getting tubbier more like motor cruisers. Our boat actually looked it smallest when docked between two huge wooden Gullets (Turkish Schooner pleasure boats) in the old harbour in Kas. True the boats had the basics and no mod cons. A few things broke but none was a big deal. We just got on with sailing and swimming. In a few years wifi will probably be the norm. As it was we had a week in oblivion.
Whilst the rest of the team were buying stores I sorted boat documentation and then went for a beard trim. I though I knew what to expect after Ankara and then discovered the joys of having a face wax (ouch!) and the flaming torch ear treatment. I preferred Ankara!
We had a superb week sailing East of Gocek as far as Kas. The highlight had to be visiting the Greek Islands off Kas. First, to avoid any offence you had
Mandraki anchorage on Kastellorizo
Our boat is close to the shore on this side of the bay to not sail direct from the Turkish coast to the islands and then it was important to swap curtesy flags well before anchoring.
The natural bay on the South of the small island just west of Kastellorizo (I can not find the name on any internet map) was brilliant. The water was the clearest I had ever seen in the Med. I saw numerous type of marine life new to me and Jane and Jayne were lucky enough to see squids swimming above the reeds. We stopped their twice for lunch under the watchful eye of a small Greek army contingent posted by the flag on the summit. If we go back I would try and stay there overnight.
We took a free anchorage in Mandraki at the back of Kastellorizo town. The island really is a unique place. A hundred years ago it had a population of 20,000 and today it is less than 600. Many emigrated to Australia and now some of their children have returned to claim houses that the Mayor says are not theirs any more! You can just imagine the local politics. One Australian 'relo' told Jayne and Paul
simply: "the mayor is a crook".
It is a free spirited place very much away from the influence of Rhodes let alone Athens. They sensibly took Turkish lira as many visitors do not have Euros. There was an ATM if needed. Apparently the island remains very self sufficient and with the quality of the bakery products should remain so.
The island's town should definitely be avoided by any one with a serious cat allergy!
The island visits did add an extra country to our list on this trip. I think we are scheduled for 28 now.
As ever it was fantastic having Paul there to spot the wildlife. It was not the best time of year and we still saw with the help of his eyes kingfisher, flycatchers and bee-eaters. He was momentarily thrown when a local Gocek almond seller was playing the song of a nightingale to attract customers!
We finished our 'holiday' with a couple of days at the highly recommended Tufan Pension (no email or website - LP) in Gocek right on the front with sea views. Again the family were very
welcoming. They were kind enough to give Jayne a lesson in making Gozleme pancakes - not as easy as it looks.
We needed another Hamam after a week on the boat and found one had opened in Gocek just 15 days previously. It was an interesting contrast with the four hundred year old Hamans we had experienced in Saffronbolu and Fethiye. It did the trick and we left on the night bus for Cappadoccia well scrubbed.
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