Days 30-32 – Datça

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We left Symi a few days ago on the weekly ferry to Datça. Datça is a smallish town on the Datça Peninsula which runs westward into the Aegean Sea from Marmaris. We had initially thought that we would need to catch a ferry to Marmaris (according to Lonely Planet – loud, brash and in your face) before catching a bus out to Datça only to double back a few days later. Terry hates doubling back so in some ways it’s doubtful if we would have even come here if it wasn’t for the weekly ferry.

We’d booked our ferry tickets in Rhodes a few days previously but had been advised that we needed to leave our passports at the ferry office for at least one day so that the passport police could complete their paperwork. Greek paperwork must be really something but we did have our passports returned once we boarded the boat. Our ferry trip from Symi was great. There was little wind so that you could comfortably stand towards the bow of the ferry and, best of all the sea was like a mill pond. This was only a short crossing of about 50 minutes. On the way over we saw a large fish jumping through the water – a bit like a dolphin – but nothing else except yachts to see. Eventually we got through customs/immigration to re-enter Turkey (there were 7 of us on a 1-way ticket) which entailed the passport police once again taking our passports and telling us to follow 2 of the 1-way passengers to the customs/police office. They didn’t know which way to go either but eventually we found it and once again had our passports returned. We then made our way to our new home for 4 nights – a rather nice, small hotel which is a 10 minute walk from town. The 10 minute walk is along a short road lined with eucalypts and wattles. On either side of the road are a park and a camping with eucalypts the dominate species in both. With the cicadas screeching it is just like walking though the Australian bush. The hotel is run by a German woman and her Turkish husband, both of whom are extremely friendly and helpful.

On our first part day we walked around town and visited the local Saturday market. It’s stone fruit time over here so we bought some cherries, apricots and peaches. I haven’t tasted apricots as good as these in many years – they are just like the fruit I remember from childhood summers. Datça has 2 small bays close to town and so we sat by the water at one of these and people watched before heading back towards the shops. Deb noticed a small oil lamp with the oil reservoir made from Turkish ceramics in one of these shops (an antique shop) and quite liked it. Today we went back to see how much it cost, with the view to buying it if it wasn’t too expensive. With a price tag of 2000 Turkish Lire (about $1200) it’s still in the shop window. Shame, it was nice. Datça seems to cater mainly to Turkish tourists, with foreigners in the minority, which is nice after most other beach locations that we’ve visited.

On our first full day, Sunday, we headed to a nearby beach area about a 1-hour walk from our hotel. We spent a very lazy day lying on a hired sun lounge and going for the occasional swim once we got a bit hot. Our sun lounges were effectively hired from a beachside restaurant with the cost of the lounge being the purchase of food/drink from the restaurant. Being Sunday there were lots of locals out in large family/friends groups. After lunch the restaurant was full of these groups playing backgammon and another game played with tiles - this looks similar to a card game. When we commenced our walk back to the hotel at 5:00 pm the restaurant was still full of these groups.

The following day we hired a car for a day and headed out to Knidos. Our hire car must have been frequently used as a private car as it came with a “Baby on Board” sign for the back window, worry beads (for Deb?), a dangling thing hanging from the mirror, and a selection of Turkish music tapes. Knidos dates back to 400 BC and was a port city at the end of the Datça Peninsula. It has two bays. One opens to the Aegean Sea and the other opens into the Mediterranean. A lot of the ruins have not been unearthed but the city was very extensive and had 2 theatres. The small theatre has been unearthed but the large one is not obvious as a theatre. We walked around there for quite a while until Terry decided that his knees had had enough. He walked back to the ticket-sales area while Deb walked further up the hill to get a better view of the entire area and to also have a look at the large theatre. It was extremely hot and the heat stopped her going any further. While Deb was traipsing around the hills, Terry was sitting in the shade talking with an English speaking guide. The guide mentioned that eucalypts were introduced to Turkey after WW1. Apparently there was a breakout of malaria and the eucalypts were planted in the swamps to drain those regions. Apparently it worked.

After Knidos we retraced our route before diverting to a couple of beachside holiday towns. The towns weren’t anything spectacular but the road between them was. It was a bit like the Great Ocean Road but without vegetation. The road was also much higher up the mountains than the Great Ocean Road, had no line markings, a crook surface and no Armco safety barrier. The area around Datça is known for its almonds, olives and honey and so there were lots of roadside stalls selling these products. The stall sellers all moved towards the road and wave their bags of almonds/olives at you as you drive past. We also saw a group of women sitting by the roadside de-husking almonds ready for shelling. We bought a bag of almonds and so now know what truly fresh almonds taste like. As we headed back to Datça we turned off into Eski Datça (Old Datça) as the town is kept in original condition. It houses are all stone houses rather than the concrete/rendered modern houses that characterise most Turkish towns. Even new houses are required to be built in this same style. It’s quite a charming village with many of the local women selling handicrafts to tourists.

Yesterday we had a break from being tourists. Deb did a few bits for work, we had a couple of swims and we slept and read. In less than an hour we head off to Pamukkale by bus. Our first stop, however, will be the Post Office to send some excess luggage (conference clothes and souveniers) back home.

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Photos

Man selling herbs in Datca Saturday market
He's given me his name and address so I will send him a copy of the photo.

Sunday swimming beach
We walked to the far end of the cove to have a swim. More rocky beaches but this one came with geese.

Comments

[Ailsa Abbs]

Great Ocean Road
The photos are great, almost like being there. Notice the bouganvilla is the same colour as mine.

[Datça]

Datça
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