Blogs from Mediterranean, Turkey, Middle East - page 33

After a couple of relaxing days in Fethiye we were on the road again - for a while at least. We had only just left Fethiye when the driver decided that the bus needed a quick service (it seemed to be running fine) so we pulled into a garage, the mechanic did his thing and the bus broke and would not start. 5 days on the Fez Bus now 2 breakdowns and 2 days with no aircon - we were starting to feel that we were the jinxes. After about half an hour of mechanics looking panicked it started up again although we were all a bit concerned about how far we would actually get before it broke down again. It held on though and we made it to Kaputas Beach a stunning little beach on ... read more

Along a twisting road dug into a lush, pine forest mountain, I took a bus from Fetiye to this supposed remote beach village that has remained relatively undeveloped. There was a definite change in the air as we passed the over touristy, package holiday destination of Oludeniz, with its countless shops and restaurants geared to tourists who want to eat traditional English breakfast and Yorkshire pudding. I could smell the subtle scent of pine as the breeze breathed its way through the bus, and I took in the breathtaking views of the Mediterranean and its translucent turquoise waters from above. I had read about a few places to stay that all sounded great with their spring fed pools and cute treehouses overlooking the sea. But after having met two friendly women on the bus (Ida from ... read more

As much as I'd loved travelling through Eastern Turkey, I was ready for a sea change, and looking forward to a few weeks of rest, relaxation and fun in the sun. But it meant having to say goodbye to Sandra and Xavi as they were heading back to Istanbul for a couple of more nights before having to return to Barcelona. No doubt my experiences would not have been as much fun if I had not met them, and I probably would have gotten myself into trouble somewhere along the line. My longest bus trip so far took me from Antep along the Mediterranean coast to Olympos . The 16hr trip was an overnighter along some hairpin roads, which meant that I didn't get much sleep. Not to mention that the overly friendly young, male, bus ... read more

Fethyie... read more

So then we got on the gulet, which is apparently the name of the type of boat in the picture. It has two masts, but nowadays it is pretty much exclusively sailed under diesel power. We slept on the gulet for three nights. On the first night we slept on the highest deck and had a really good view of the Milky Way. The next night the captain said we'd be going over open sea from 5 to 9 in the morning, and it would be reasonably calm. Luckily we intuited that the crew's idea of reasonably calm and ours might differ, and we chose to sleep on one of the lowest open deck (its way to hot to sleep in the actual cabins). Reasonably calm did in fact involve a great deal of pitching, but ... read more