Fethiye and a Gulet

(John) And so the Idyll continues. In the gorgeous surroundings of Orhaniye we boarded a Dolmus to Marmaris, where we immediately hopped onto a larger bus to Fethiye. This bus would have been a dream come true in India but in Turkey it was not quite up to the luxury standards to which we are now accustomed. 'What a three hour bus trip and no snacks' we scoffed. Once we arrived in Fethiye the negotiations started. We needed a cheap hotel, we were offered boat cruises. In the end we got both. A short stout pushy man who obstensibly worked for a bus company, but was doing some commission hunting on the side tried to sell us a 4 day cruise on a gulet along the coast east to Olympos. We were quite interested but feigned the opposite. His price came down from 350 TL each to 250 TL each without us having to try too hard. We had earlier decided to forgo this type of trip, opting instead to look for a one day excursion that would have had us done much the same things for a fraction of the cost (25TL each to be exact), but we were interested so told our pushy little guy that we needed to think it over and that we would let him know in the morning. Meanwhile we still needed a bed. We told pushy guy that we thought we would stay at the Ideal Hostel and he ushered us to follow another man to where we assumed a vehicle was waiting, but we were also hungry having not had a chance to grab any food earlier in the day in Marmaris, so we bought some Doner Kebabs and refused to move until we had finished them. As we ate, a new man arrived on the scene to tell us about his Pension. We toyed with him for a while and because he, with the input of pushy guy, was quoting 50 lira a night but no breakfast, we agreed to follow him to his Pension to just check it out. We walked for 10 minutes along the side of a canal and, with memories of our first attempt in Rhodes, expecting the worst, we turned into a side street and soon into the driveway of a well kept modern building where we were shown to a room with four very comfortable beds, and a nice bathroom. He then showed us the communal kitchen that we were permitted to use and the patio we could eat on. 50 TL was a great deal so we took it. We sat down to chat with our host whose name was Muzo. He was a retired teacher and a lovely man. He sensed that we were not too keen on the 4 day cruise so showed us some one day options he knew about and also discussed other things we could do in and around Fethiye. Then pushy guy showed up. He had a big fancy folder full of enticing pictures of young people in skimpy bathing suits having a great time aboard a gullet. The tans were deep, the food was stacked on the table, the beer and wine were in hand and the smiles were from ear to ear. Appearing unconvinced we sent pushy guy away without committing to anything. Although we had actually done a little math by this time and calculated that the food inclusive trip would only cost us about $300 CAD above what we would normally spend. We calculated that the price could come down even further if we stalled and also we wanted to at least see what other people had to offer.

We went out for a walk that evening and had dinner at the fish market. This entailed buying fresh fish, taking it to one of many restaurants directly surrounding the fish stalls, handing it over and for 6TL each getting it grilled to perfection and served with a beautiful salad and fresh baked bread.

By the time we were done dinner and done a little window shopping we were tired and headed back to the Pension. In the morning, pushy guy phoned us to get an answer. He told us he could make the reservation for us right then. I said I wanted to make the reservation myself at which point I think he gave up on us. We wandered down to the harbour to find Alaturqua, the company he was touting for and check out the competition. We discovered that we had missed the boat, literally. The cruise he was trying to sell us had just booked up, there was another in four days or we could get a bus to Demre and get the cruise back to Fethiye. Neither option appealed so we declined and went to a few other agents. There were some options, but the price was back up to 350 TL each so we walked away. Most of us had decided that the day trip would work well and were happy to not spend the money but Lesley was more determined. She went back to Alaturqua and asked if they would call us if they had any cancellations. They told her there could be a Saturday boat if more people were interested. Then we went next door to a company called Ocean. They had a boat leaving for Olympos on Sunday and agreed on 1000TL for all of us so we left a deposit.

Two days in Fethiye.

There is not much to do in Fethiye itself. The harbour is nice, you can watch giant turtles feed by the fishing boats, stroll along the promenade, scour the bargains or cast a glance up the hill side at the tombs cut into the rock that after Petra were not particularly inspiring. After doing the cruise deal we did all of the above and then spent the afternoon in the big kitchen at the Pension, drinking tea and trying to get the children interested in some schoolwork. The next day we got adventurous. We packed a lunch, walked to the bus station and got on board a dolmus to the deserted town of Kayakoy. On the way we drove through England and a whole bunch of people from various parts of the north got on. One lady asked in a thick Yorkshire accent 'Are yu goin tut ghorst town?'. The Scousers thought that was very funny. Later we learned that we had not actually gone through England but a resort called Hisaronu. It was tailor made for Brits, with pubs and clubs, chip shops and cafes advertising full English breakfasts.

Kayakoy was fun, not least because we were sharing it with Brits on holiday. It was left deserted in the 20's after the Greeks living there were first voluntarily and then forcibly, relocated to Greece leaving it available for Turkish people living in Greece to return. There were many more Greeks than Turks in the deal and so the majority of the uniquely stone built houses were left to be reclaimed by the mountainside they sat on. We walked appreciatively through the deserted homes for a while before deciding to tackle a 6 km hike over the hill to Oludeniz a big beach resort where we would be able to enjoy a well deserved swim. The hike was marvellous; stunning views greeted us as we topped the hill and stayed with us all the way down. The stroll around the famous Blue Lagoon (yes the Blue Lagoon of Brooke Shields fame) was less inspiring having been overrun by touristic development. The swim was fantastic and the beach was fun as every few minutes a paraglider, having jumped off the mountain above us, would sail in to land. Sam really wants to do this. I really won't let him.

Now, here I am in my cabin, gently rocking, watching the stunning Turkish coast slip by through my porthole. It is 6.45 am, we upped anchor at 5.30 am in order to get across some very open water before the winds pick up too much. Mhari has just been in to see me. She was quite excited. She and Sam slept on the deck all night and she had to tell me all about it. I'll let the pictures tell the story and maybe somebody else will fill in the details as I'm too relaxed to bother.

Photos best explain our lovely time on the Gulet: