Turkey: A Vacation from my Vacation

 

Thursday, 7 June

After all the flights and buses to get me from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Fethiye, Turkey, I arrived at Fethiye Guest House. Let me take a moment and tell you how this itinerary of mine took shape.

A few days before I left Sri Lanka, I was perusing the Lonely Planet forums for stuff to do in Turkey. I had an idea of what I wanted to do – Cappedoccia hiking and possibly a gulet boat cruise too – but my “planning” wasn’t going anywhere and mostly I just felt tired and fairly unenthusiastic. I came across a post by someone who highly recommended and praised Alaturka, a tour company that did so-called “blue cruises” along with other major Turkey destination tours. So I sent an inquiry via their website and signed off, resigned to figuring it all out when I arrived in Istanbul.

Less than three hours later I had a note back from Ned at Alaturka, making recommendations and quoting some prices. Surprised, I actually started actively pondering what I wanted and wrote back some questions and possibilities. Ned responded every time, helpful and positive about everything. And so, I decided to let a company cart me around for my week in Turkey!

Fethiye Guest House was invited, looking over the harbor and with friendly Australian accents greeting me at the desk. My eyes teared up as everything was taken care of so easily: dinner ordered out for me, questions answered, concerns soothed, bed reserved. The guest house oozed good cheer and chilled out vibes, just what my travel-weary and heart-bruised self needed. I went to bed hoping that the next day would continue to be as great.

Friday, 8 June

Turkish breakfasts are pretty yummy, you know? Salty cheeses, olives, crusty bread, tomatoes, cucumbers, yogurt, tea. I’m continuing the vegetarian thing so far and it’s going well. I packed up, showered, internetted and chatted with the friendly guest house folks, staff and other customers alike. Finally, I made my way to the Alaturka shop just a five minute walk away and arranged my trip with the planners there, including the boat ride and Cappedoccia trip afterwards, all the way to getting me to the Istanbul airport in time for my early afternoon flight on the fifteenth.

There was time to go shmooze a bit at the guest house, and do some last minute shopping for sunscreen, a towel and a hat, so off I went. Eventually I met quite a few of my boat-mates: two couples from Australia and one from Canada, an Australian guy, a Japanese girl, and a gaggle of six Canadian girls traveling together. All told, fifteen of us. Finally, around noon, we were all told to walk on down to the harbor and board our ship, the Alaturka.

We met our captain and crew, a total of three Turkish men, and were assigned our cabins. I shared with Sawako, the Japanese girl. Within an hour we were zooming out into the amazingly turquoise waters of southern Turkey, wind in our faces and sunshine on our skin. That first day we visited Butterfly Valley and St Nicholas Island. I saw just a single butterfly but enjoyed the gorgeous bay and a pretty hike to a tiny waterfall at Butterfly Valley. At St. Nicholas island we hiked up past ruins of churches and buildings to enjoy a spectacular sunset.

I was one of the only people to sleep up on deck and it was really nice: salt tang in the air, chilly night, and the stars. It was fun getting to know everyone and we all seem to be getting along pretty well. The swimming is amazing: I can see the bottom usually, the water is that clear!

Saturday, 9 June

The captain had parked us in a small bay near a few other boats and we woke up to enjoy a beautiful blue morning. We set off before breakfast to spend some time in another small bay, this time with no one else around, and I went for a swim in the crystal waters. Seriously, the water here is amazing: blues of all hues and clear as a bell. You can see fish far below sometimes, even while you’re swimming! After breakfast we all settled in to sun a bit as we zoomed towards Kas. There, Sawako and I went for a scuba dive in the beautiful waters. There weren’t as many fish as I’d hoped, but there were plenty to see and old amphoras, or shattered jugs and pottery from who-knows-when-in-history, which were very cool. It was quite cold, though, and I think it’s the deepest dive I’ve done, at about 20 meters, and I was pretty dizzy once back on the boat. It passed after awhile, but it bothered (and bothers) me that I was so affected.

Anyhow, back on the boat I had lunch with everyone else. The food on the boat is pretty darned good, with plenty for the vegetarians, three others besides myself. There’s always white crusty bread and something with tomatoes and cucumbers; generally a pasta dish of some sort; and some other interesting Turkish yummy to be had. The crew cooks each meal and does a pretty great job!

We got some time to wander around Kas a bit. I ended up buying a few necklaces for me and a bottle of rum for the boat, along with some postcards. After that we were off cruising again. This evening we parked in a small, remote bay with a tiny little beach to swim to and no other boats to disturb us. Taking this boat trip is really feeling like a vacation from a vacation! I’m relaxing, enjoying sunshine and wind and stars and water and easy socializing, eating and napping and reading, taking pictures and generally zoning out. It’s great!

Others joined me on deck to sleep, plus I got to share some of my astronomy knowledge as I pointed out constellations and the north star. Woo! The other passengers are really easy to get along with, easygoing and fun. Julian is a forty year old Australian cameraman for a news company; Claire and Dane, Will and Sophie are mid-twenties Australians on half-year trips or so, two couples that met during their travels I think. Chris and Jamila are a Canadian couple from Vancouver, also mid-twenties, and Sawako is a Japanese web designer, twenty-eight. We all get along really well.

Sunday, June 10

Woke up a bit later this morning after a really good sleep! We didn’t leave our pretty little bay until after breakfast and then we were off to Semalina, where we could (and did) go ashore to climb up to an ancient Lycian castle. I stopped at a little shop and got some pretty white embroidered pillow cases in Semalina before hopping back on the boat for more stress-free boat time. We motored through a sunken city, which was ruins off the coast of a small island, which was neat. That night we went to “smuggler’s cove”, a bar on a rocky island with absolutely nothing else around. Literally, and island with a bar and that’s it. It was fun and overpriced and loud, but still a neat experience. We all ended up back on our boat listening to music and watching the stars and chatting.

Monday, June 11

Our finally morning on the boat was just as lazy as all the previous ones. I went for three morning swims before we motored on to Demre and disembarked, saying good-bye to the crew and to each other. I ended up tagging along with the three couples to Olympos, where they are all staying for a night or two. The owner of Saban Guest House is a nice lady who offered immediately to store my stuff and let me use their showers after a day of hanging out on the beach. She also advised me on how to get to Antalya to catch my overnight bus to Goreme and Cappedoccia. Super awesome! The beach was beautiful but really hot, of the rock variety as opposed to sand. I lasted for an hour and a half before coming back to the guest house to shower and cool off, and here I sit, writing away!