Istanbul and homeward bound

Wednesday 17th August: Istanbul
To make the most of our last full day of sightseeing we jumped on the tram outside the door of the Hotel and headed for the end of the line and the Dolmabahce Palace. This is known locally as the 'new palace' as it takes over from the Topkapi Palace and was built in the mid 1800s: there is no resemblance between the style of Topkapi and this palace at all. Despite having been built by one of the last Sultans there was no sign of any ottoman design. He clearly wanted to compete with european palaces and this was very Baroque and just as ornate as Versailles.

Clearly no expense was spared ( which might explain why the peasants revolted and a Republic was formed in 1923!). It consisted of a high wall around some large stately buildings (with more than 625 rooms) and a beautiful garden. Inside there were chandeliers of all shapes and sizes, intricate parquetry floors and rugs, gold-framed giant mirrors, trompe d'oeuil ceilings( or however you spell that!), painted domes, ornate ornaments and rooms of huge proportions. Artists from France and Italy had been employed and lots of the china, porcelain, clocks etc imported from elsewhere. They'd gone to town with huge pillars of 'marble everywhere but in fact they were all false - made from plaster or stones and stucco. One of the chandeliers weighed 4 and half tons: they clean it every 6 years and it takes two months to clean each piece and reassemble it. What a job! And all this to house one Sultan, his wives, concubines and slaves - no wonder the peasants revolted!
We were only allowed to view it on a tour and wearing very attractive plastic overshoes so we wouldn't hurt the floor coverings. We weren't even allowed to touch the bannisters on the way up the grand staircases. We revived ourselves with some turkish coffee and decided to use the funicular railway to get to the top of the nearest hill to see the Taksim monument. Yes, even Ewan agreed to get a lift up the hill so we could then walk down rather than the opposite. The walk was through a huge shopping boulevard ( four Starbucks and two Gloria Jeans) but eventually ended in some tiny steep cobblestoned streets full of music shops. Clutching two new pairs of shoes we finally emerged at the Galata Bridge again.
A quick whiz through the Spice Market, and some purchasing of jewellery, and we were home again. After we had a go at packing our bags to see how much space we had left, we set off for our last evening meal in Turkey. We decided we would go to a standard kebap house for a typical turkish meal. The restaurant was next to a Mosque so there were a few people waititng for the call to prayers at 8.15pm before they started to eat and drink. A young couple next to us had their food and drinks sitting on the table in front of them for about 15 minutes, but didn't have any of it until the call started and then they ate very sedately. Such willpower after 16 hours of no food or drink of any kind!
We wandered along the foreshore for the last time and had a coffee and some fresh baklava before making our last purchases and retiring for the night.

Thursday18th August: Istanbul to Melbourne
Erin and I had missed out on seeing the Basilica Cistern which was only a few minutes walk away so we went there at 9.00am: our last historic site before heading for the Airport and home.

It is an underground cistern used to store clean water for use in the city by the Romans. Huge pillars supporting brick domed roof and with only shallow water in it now. Enough for lots of fish to live in though, some of them enormous! The pillars are all lit now and it feels damp with drops of water falling from the roof, due to condensation I guess.

Medusa's  head supporting a pillar in the water

 Even here the pillars were carved and there were a couple of pillars supported by huge statues of Medusa's head so very intriguing. It was lovely and cool and quite eerie. We were reluctant to go outside to the heat and humidity, but we were due to get back to the Hotel and catch a taxi to the Airport.
So it was farewell to Istanbul and Turkey for us. I'm writing this at Singapore Airport at 1.00am Turkey time and soon we will be on the final leg of our journey home.
We have had an amazing two months of travelling through southern Africa and Turkey, but as often happens, travel makes you appreciate not only the wonders of the world out there , but also the joy of your own home and country.
I'm looking forward to seeing Lauren at the Arrivals gate tonight and it will be wonderful to have our family back together again for the first time since January.
Thank you for reading this blog: I'm sorry it was so boring in parts, and the spelling and grammar suffered when I was tired, but I look forward to reading it and remembering what a great trip we had in the years to come.
Bon voyage!!!! May all your travels bring you as much joy and wonder as we have experienced from ours.

Istanbul.......

Tuesday 16th August: Istanbul

Today's major event was a visit to the Haga Sophia which is now classified as a Museum. It started it's life well before the Blue Mosque as a Christian church in the 6th century before becoming a mosque in Ottoman times in the 15th Century, surviving a few earthquakes and finally being declared a Museum by good old Ataturk in 1932.
As it is closed every Monday we assumed that there would be lots of visitors today so again we queued up early. It is a huge and very spectacular building with both christian and islamic features. There were finely detailed golden mosaics of Jesus, Mary (sittiing alongside the Emperor of the times and his wife) with beautiful angels and lots of crosses. But there were also huge islamic discs with the names of prophets in gold, prayer areas with separate areas for women as in Muslim mosques. But most of all there were enormous domes with gold and rich colours everywhere, either painted or mosaics. The buiding has been in a constant state of renovation/repair for centuries it seems, but it is still very beautiful. We walked up a spiral marble ramp to reach the balcony which runs around the inside walls and gave us an even better view of the workmanship involved.

Whilst Erin and I fastidiously followed the audio guide like the perfect tourists we are, Ewan just wandered around and eventually headed off for the Archealogical Museum on his own. The good news is that it has over a million works , none of whch Erin and I were desperate to see as we felt we had done quite enough Museums for one trip! Having visited most of the sites where these pieces have come from we didn't really feel a desperate urge to go with him. Of course Ewan thought it was fascinating, and he also visited the Museum of Muslim Art too! He's now a total authority on muslm carpet designs and tiles - very useful I'm sure.
After a couple of hours absorbing the beauty of the Haga Sophia, and battling the tour groups, Erin and I set off for that other Holy Grail - the shopping centre.
I always find it fascintaing to go to markets, supermarkets and shopping centres to see how the locals live. We discovered that most turkish supermarkets have a baklava and turkish delight counter rather than a bakery, for example. We decided to go to an outlet shopping centre called Olivium, by suburban train. It also proved to be the place where most of the leather jackets and coats are made, as we saw some of the basement sweat shops as we wandered around. I wasn't tempted as most of the designs were way over the top and most of them seemed to be made for small tourists, not my size!

The first part of the adventure was to get there via the suburban train, not an easy exercise when faced with the least helpful ticket seller we have come across. She totally ignored us but managed to sell a token for the train to a turkish girl who was behind us : very annoying! We haven't encountered that behaviour before: most people have gone out of their way to help us. No customer service prizes for her!!! Finally, after we became a bit more assertive, she glumly sold us the tokens we needed to get on to the station and board a train. The only problem was that although the platforms were numbered they didn't indiacte anywhere which train was going to our destination. Finally Erin asked the guy at the train station cafe and he happily pointed us in the right direction. So off we sped along the coast for 6 stations. Strollin gpast the leatherr shops we reached the shopping centre and spent a couple of hours shoppping.
We came to the following conclusions:
1. If we'd needed a raincoat there was a choice of hundreds. The Muslim women wear black ankle length raincoats in winter and in summer wear beige or pale colours instead. They are for the fashion-consciuos women so there are lots of variation on a theme: pintucks, buttons, belts, some frills and every style imaginable. They have long sleeves, high collars and reach the ankles so thay they cover as much of the body as possible.
2. Turkish women are a lot shorter than we are: Erin tried on a few dresses which looked like tops on her as they were clearly designed for someone a lot shorter. She did buy a couple of tops though, and very cheap.
3. There was one bigger ladies shop, and clearly if you are a bigger lady you are supposed to wear everyhting very long and wide. Couldn't find anyhting I would wear.
4. All of the tops have long sleeves, except for a few t-shirts and singlets:absolutely nothing has three-quarters sleeves at all: this is again due to Muslim customs.
It was all fascinating though and we rewarded ourselves with a treat : a cup of fruit and white chocolate, from the food court. Back to the train station (where a young guy told us he'd never seen a tourist before!).

Here's our packets of spices on the counter

Then we headed for the Spice Bazaar, just to do some more authentic tourist shopping. It makes you very hungry as there are endless stalls with huge baskets of spices, dates, nuts, dried fruit, turkish delight as well as the usual souvenirs and an assortment of everything else. We bought lots of spices for presents and the guy vacuum sealed each packet on the spot so we could get them through Customs. So there'll be some nice meals from them I'm hoping. After a look around we headed back to put our aching feet up for a while.
When we had recovered we set off for one of the 'self-service' restaurants nearby. This doesn't mean that they are cheap, but you can select your meal from a huge array of hot and cold dishes, or they will grill any kebab you fancy. After eating aubergine sald, yougurt dip, creamed spinach, roasted red peppers, garden salad, stuffed aubergines, grilled chicken and lamb chops, we staggered home (some of us cursing the fact that we didn't leave room for any baklava or rice pudding or halva or.......).

Self-service cafeteria food: delicious!

Istanbul trams

Wednesday 17th August: Istanbul

To make the most of our last full day of sightseeing we jumped on the tram outside the door of the Hotel and headed for the end of the line and the Dolmabahce Palace. This is known locally as the 'new palace' as it takes over from the Topkapi Palce and was bulit in the mid 1800s: there is no resemblance between the style of Topkapi and this palace at all. Despite having been built by one of the last Sultans there was no ottoman design used. The closest Baroque design I have seen was Versailles and clearly no expense was spared ( which might explain why the peasants revolted and a Republic was formed in 1923!). It consisted of a high wall around some large stately buildings (with more than 625 rooms) and a beautiful garden. Inside there were chandeliers of all shapes and sizes, intricate parquetry floors and rugs, gold-framed giant mirrors, trompe d'loeuil ceilings( or however you spell that!), painted domes, ornate ornaments and rooms of huge proportions. Artists from France and Italy had been employed and lots of the china, porcelain, clocks etc imported from elsewhere. They'd gone to town with huge pillars of 'marble everywhere but in fact they were all false - made from plaster or stones and stucco. One of the chandeliers weighed 4 and half tons: they clean it every 6 years and it takes two months to clean each piece and reassemble it. What a job! And all this to house one Sultan, his wives, concubines and slaves - no wonder the peasants revolted!
We were only allowed to view it on a tour and wearing very attractive plastic overshoes so we wouldn't hurt the floor coverings. We weren't even allowed to touch the bannisters on the way up the grand staircases. We revived ourselves with some turkish coffee and decided to use the funicular railway to get to the top of the nearest hill to see the Taksim monument. Yes, even Ewan agreed to get a lift up the hill so we could then walk down rather than the opposite. The walk was through a huge shopping boulevard ( four Starbucks and two Gloria Jeans) but eventually ended in some tiny steep cobblestoned streets full of music shops. Clutching two new pairs of shoes we finally emerged at the Galata Bridge again.
A quick whiz through the Spice Market, and some purchasing of jewellery, and we were home again.

Exploring exotic Istanbul

Sunday 14th August: Selcuk to Istanbul
Today we had a day of travelling and the last move before we head for home next Thursday.
We all had a sleep in, much to Erin's delight, and then headed for the Selcuk train station in the hope that we could get a train directly to Izmir Airport. This involved wheeling our luggae over lovely cobblestones and praying that the wheels wouldn't fall off!
Surprisingly there was noone at the Train station to sell us a ticket...or so we thought. One of the local ladies arrrived and when she couldn't see anyone in the Ticket Office yelled a lot until someone appeared. We bought our tickets for a whole 4 Lira each (about $2.40) which was a good deal as we were 80 kilometres from the Airport. Only a few carriages on the train but very nice, although we didn't get a seat. We were delighted when we arrived at the door to the Airport 45 minutes later. With a couple of hours to spare before our Pegasus Airlines flight to Istanbul we read our books and observed the other passsengers: always an interesting pastime in a foreign country.
The flight also took about 45 minutes and before long we were in a taxi hurtling through the back lanes of the old part of Istanbul. You may have noticed that we always seem to end up in the old parts of many of the cities we have visited, but they are the most interesting. Istanbul has a population of 8.8 million in the city, and if you count the surrounding area the population is estimated at 13 million, which is a bit scary when you add in tourists too. We could have ended up miles away from the ancient historical things we wanted to see if we'd gone to the suburbs that's for sure.
The Old City Viva Hotel is in a very central location and is on the Tram line, the only one they have in Istanbul so that will be very handy if we can work out how to buy a ticket of course!

We decided to have a bit of a wander around, sticking close to the Tram line so we could find our way home. We ended up at the Galata Bridge where there is a whole level of the bridge taken up by restaurants devoted to Bahlik Ekmek: fish sandwiches.Tthey consist of a small whole fish ( minus head) cut in half and grilled, in a bread roll with salad. It seemed as if half of Istanbul had decided to get one for dinner as there were people everywhere. Lots of touts tried to persuade us to take a boat trip on the Bosphurus in tiny boats. In the end we decided bigger was better and paid 12 Lira ( about $7.20) for a 90 minute trip on a large ferry boat. It was very stable - phew! - and gave a great view of the the mosques and palaces we are hoping to see. Of course just as the sun was setting, and the perfect picture of the mosques at sunset emerged, the batteries in the camera were exhausted so that was that! Oh well, we'll have to buy a postcard!

There were a couple of waiters selling fresh orange juice, tea, and other treats which we appreciated as it was getting late. Once we were back on terra firma we wove our way through the crowds, the various food stalls selling roasted chestnuts, pink pickles (?!) corn, doner kebab, icecream and of course, Bahlik Ekmek. Finally we found a restaurant with great doner kebab and had dinner. With lots of planning needed to make the most of our few days in this city we headed for the Hotel and had an early night in anticipation of big things to come on the morrow.

Monday 15th August: Istanbul

After consulting the trusty Lonely Planet guide about what was open and when, we headed off early for a ten-minute walk to reach the Topkapi Palace at 8.30am. This turned out to be a good move as the ticket office opened at 9.00am and Ewan was third in his queue with lots of people queued up behind. It also meant we could get the tickets to the Harem early too.
Let me explain - Topkapi Palace is a huge palace which was originally built for the reigning Sultan in the 15th Century and was rebuilt or expanded through the reign of various Sultans until 1839. It's a huge complex with superb views over the sea, gardens surrounding all of the buildings form various eras. We were intrigued by a building which housed the personal efffects of the Prophet Mohammed, including a handkerchief, hairs from his beard and a footprint.
There was the walking stick that Moses is supposed to have used to part the seas too.These are all considered sacred objects of course so we were creful about our reactions to them! The buildings are stunning with beautiful traditional blue tiles, stained glass and lots of gold. They had left a small section where they had renovated any of the paint or tiles so you could see the difference. The Harem for the Sultan's 300-500 concubines was marble, tiles, beautiful domes and painted walls . It's tricky to work out how often they might see the Sultan if there were so many of them! The Sultan's mother and black guards from North Africa, who had been castrated, kept them in line apparently. Fun job!

We spent nearly 3 hours wandering through the whole complex as there were pools, terraces, a parliament, a hospital and a treasury. The Treasury had some amazing jewelled boxes, rings, swords all covered in emeralds, rubies, diamonds and gold. They were so ornate they were barely able to be used for their original purpose. Ewan commented that he understood where Franco Cozzo got his style from!!
After a cold juice to help us revive we headed for the Blue Mosque. Erin and I were dressed in long pants and more modest tops so that we could go inside, as it is a functioning mosque. For those visitors whose shoulders and legs weren't covered they provided blue scarves to serve as skirts or tops. We arrived in time to have a look around before prayers at 12.30 when all visitors had to leave.

When we walked in we were amazed at the height of the roof, the number of domes and the thousands of tiles used to decorate it. Erin commented that it was hard to take it all in. I tried to photograph it but it is impossible to get a real sense of the beauty and size of it. In muslim mosques there are no paintings or statues of animals or people so they can be very bare., however the tiles here and the designs were very intricate, with the predominant colour being blue, as the name suggests. Ewan was impressed by the 17th century engineering that was required to construct a building of this size.

Erin and I suitably attired for mosque-visiting

We wandered around the Sultanahmet area passing various tombs and smaller mosques. Eventually we found a restaurant that was self-service: you point and they put it on a plate for you: stuffed eggplants, creamed spinach, fresh beans, turkish shepherds pie ( !) and other delicacies. Delicious!
Fortiified by the food we decided we could face the challenge of the Grand Bazaar for which Istanbul is famous. After a few minutes Ewan decided he would enjoy it more without tagging around with us ( and vice versa!) so we agreed to meet at the Hotel later. He soon tired of the millions of shops in the Bazaar and wandered off to check out yet more mosques and old buildings. Erin and I set off with great intentions and great concentration, which was needed to not get hopelessly lost! It wasn't as chaotic as I anticipated but there were so many shops it was overwhelming. I htink we were asked "Where are you from ?" at least a hundred times by hopeful shop keepers. I did get lured into a leather shop and tried on a few jackets, but when Erin glanced at the price tag on one that I did like, we beat a hasty retreat: it was worth well over a thousand dollars! My bartering skills are not good enough to reduce that to a reasonable price! We did manage to buy some lovely silk scarves and a pair of turkish floppy pants for Erin, but that wore us out completely so we decided to face the challenge of the tram to get back to the Hotel. It was actually very simple - you find the token machine, insert two lira which gets you a red plastic token, insert that into the gate to enter the tram stop and then you wait for the train. The first one that arrived was so full, despite having four carriages, that we couldn't squeeze in. Fortunately the next one was better and we managed to find the right stop to disembark. They are very impressive, and very frequent, so we will be using them over the next few days.

We collpased in a heap until Ewan arrived with stories of fabulous buildings and a box of fresh baklava. Yum! It's clear that I should have been born turkish because the women here, as they get older, just wear loose baggy pants and grow wider: there's something to be said for that approach to ageing!

Finally we dragged ourselves to the lane at the back of the Hotel and had dinner and then home for an early night to prepare us for another day of non-stop action.

Fishermen on the Galata Bridge
catching very small fish!

The grandeur of an ancient city - Ephesus

Saturday 13 th August: Selcuk and Ephesus ( or Efes as the Turks call it, which is also the name of their favourite beer)
Let me give you a word of advice about visiting well-known ruins on a Saturday in summer: try to re-schedule!

I've decided that tourists are a dangerous species. They cluster together trying to hear every word  their guide utters to extol the virtues of the ruins, and are oblivious to anyone else. The Japanese tend to carry umbrellas to block out the sun, but in doing so nearly decapitate or poke out the eyes of other tourists.  The babble of  languages almost drowned out the sound on our audio guides as the tour guides talk very loudly and confidently. They rely on their 'group' keeping close to them. You can see the anxiety in the eyes of tourists when they lose sight of their group: the scanning of masses of fellow tourists faces and the look of relief when they spot a familiar face at last. Usually it's because they stop to take a photo or their footwear is inappropriate (what would posess a person to wear high heels to tramp around ruins!) so they can't keep up, The coast is not far from Ephesus so busloads of beachgoers arrive for a few hours dressed in their beachgear and then retreat to the beach. Those of us dressed in sensible clothes seem rather out of place! The winner of 'The Sight of the Day' competition went to an American family consisting of Dad, Asian wife, frail Asian grandfather and some kids, one of whom was in a pusher. The Dad gave the pusher to the Grandfather to hold on to, then held on to the back of the old man's trousers and then they set off down the hill along a marble street. When the Dad caught my eye, I must have looked a bit astonished as he grinned and said "We're all good!" I wasn't so sure - I wonder if they made it to the bottom of the hill intact!

The library for which Ephesus is famous

1800 year old water pipes that still work

Ephesus is certainly worth seeing and even with lots of visitors is still a remarkable city. It's a great example of how people lived in earlly AD as it consists of townhouses, marble streets, ancient latrines, wells and fountains, drainage channels, gymnasiums/schools, an ampitheatre that seats 24,000 people, an agora or parliament and a reconstructed two-storey library. In lots of these ancient ruins the town planning is very impressive. The residents have sewerage and waste systems, easy access to clean water as well as heating, and hot and cold water for some who could afford it. There was still a clear delineation between the wealthy and the poor, who were often slaves, but life could be fairly comfortable. Sections of this city, which housed 2-300,00 people, are gone but there are a couple of marble boulevardes with the remains of buildings either side which gives you a real sense of city life.
We spent a few hours wandering around and then caught a dolmus or local minibus back to town, where the weekly market was in progress. Ewan found just the piece of hose he needed to repair the vacuum cleaner at home, but decided he couldn't fit it into his bag! We bought, figs, peaches and honey bread for a picnic in the park, before going to the Museum. As usual some of the statues etc from Ephesus were in the Museum so it's interesting to see them even though they aren't in their original location and are better-protected in museum conditions.
Finally we staggered back to the room for a snooze and a rest. The drums and calls to prayer had been very close the night before ( and Lauren rang at 4am for some reason!!) so we needed a nap before heading out for Kebap for dinner. We found more of the old aqueduct and discovered the cafe end of town and the railway station. We set off for Istanbul tomorrow - our last move before home- so we might try to catch the train to the Izmir Airport where we have a flight booked. Could be interesting!

Ruins ruins and more ruins: off to Ephesus

Friday 12th August: Fethiye to Selcuk
The Search for the One Lira Icecream Cone. Travellers assess the joys of a town or village using different measures - the food, the wine, the views, the ruins, the shopping and so on. Ewan has one clear measure and this is it: Can you purchase one scoop of ice cream/gelati in a waffle cone for the princely sum of one Lira or not?! Ewan's final judgement about Fethiye was that he had had enough of it as 3 Lira was outrageous!

So today we ventured forth to experience the bus network for which Turkey is famous. Everyone we've met raves about the buses and we have seen very flash versions everywhere we've been.

So to get from Fethiye to Selcuk we started on one of the big new buses.Erin was pleased to see that every seat had its own TV screen, but her joy was rather short-lived when she realised that every channel was in Turkish of course. I discovered the Music Videos section and spent some time updating my musical knowledge watching Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears. Eventualy I became rather tired of half-naked women gyrating around, so I reverted to reading my book - sometimes I sound just like my mother!
The buses have a 'busboy' with a very smart bowtie who checks tickets and wheels a trolley of FREE drinks and snacks up and down the aisle at regular intervals. We had no idea what the snacks actually were but ended up with cake, wholemeal biscuits and pretzels, so all good. The bus travelled inland form the coast but eevery now and then we caught a glimpse of blue water. We called in at a number of towns to collect and deliver people but just before stopping at one there was a whole lot of instructions from the driver in fast Turkish of course. As we understood only one word: 'besh' which is 5 we figured it meant that there was a 5 minute stop so Erin and I went to the loo. When we returned everyone was waiting for us and the door closed the minute we leapt aboard. Ewan did comment that the man who had been sitting next to him had left, and just as the bus pulled out he came running towards the bus waving his arms. It's the quick and the dead here! He leapt aboard and away we went After 4 hours we arrrived at Aydin and transferred into a minibus, which fortunately stuck to the highway and delivered us to Selcuk in 45 minutes.
Selcuk's major claim to fame is that it is where Ephesus is: one of the best preserved Roman cities in Turkey, so we're preparing for that tomorrow. Fortunately, the Homeros Pension and Guesthouse wasn't far from the bus station in the old part of town. It's very quaint with a rooftop terrace and laden with every turkish rug and ornament possible: slightly kitsch but cute.

After a day of sitting in buses we set off to get our bearings, starting with the Basilica of St John, which was built around the tomb of John the Apostle in the 4th Century AD and then expanded in the 6th Century. Apparently he lived here with the Virgin Mary for some years, although there seems to be some variations about the accuracy of information. Apparently this is on the Holy Sites tours, but we didn't see any busloads of tourists today. It was supposed to be enormous in its day and there is a lot of it left, with some reconstruction, so we spent a while wandering around.
When we paid the entry fee we noticed a sign saying that the Castle was closed. Erin and I were devastated as the Castle was a Citadel on a hill behind the Basilica. However we found ourselves wandering in that direction after checking out an ancient mosque and an aqueduct. A young french girl and a local man were discussing the possibility of doing an illegal tour through a hole in the fence so of course Ewan joined them.
Not to be thwarted by officialdom he ignored the signs and the locked gate and followed them up the hill to inspect the Castle. Meanwhile Erin and I rested and watched a menagerie of people and animals - horses, roosters, chickens - going about their daily business. When Ewan returned he confirmed all of our expectations about how fabulous it was and showed us lots of photos he'd taken on his phone so we didn't miss anything - how thoughtful he is!
Dinner at the Pension after a drink on the rooftop terrace completed the day. .

Fethiye: seafood and a gorgeous gorge

Wednesday 10th August: Fethiye
After a final swim , snorkel and another great brakfast - french toast no less! - we sailed through seas like a mill pond to return to Fethiye. After bidding everyone a fond farewell - how many times do you kiss the cheek of a french person?? - we staggered back to the Hotel - the Yildirim Guesthouse - to shower, collect our luggage and generally prepare for an afetrnoon of getting to know Fethiye.
We noticed, with great delight on Ewan's part, and great horror on ours, that Fethiye too has a Citadel. There was the essential Turkish flag flying on top of a sheer cliff with some Crusader fort ruins for good measure. Great!! We did want to see the tombs that Fethiye is famous for, so after some negotiations, as follows, we headed upwards from the town. The negotiations included the phrases " Don't come if you're going to complain" and "If we don't get there don't be mean to us" as examples of the fine art of negotiation we have perfected this trip.
We were delighted to see that the tombs didn't really require a huge amount of climbing and they were in reasonable condition and very interesting. I have yet to understand the motivation to bury people in rock tombs in the sides of cliffs: maybe it's to minimise the chance of them being robbed. Who knows. These were dated at 350 BC so they've survived well.
In Lycian times ( 450 BC) the local heroes and wealthy nobleman were buried, much more conveniently, in huge stone sarcophagi, which are dotted around the town. They have been left in their original place and civilisation has occurred around them, even to the point of building roads around them..

A couple of sarcphagi in a park

One of the important eating experiences in Fethiye is eating seafood fresh from the sea and the best place is the fish market in the centre of town. Unlike our markets there is a a central market area with restaurants arranged around the outside. You buy the seafood you fancy and take it to one of the restaurants. For 6 Lira (about $3.60). the restaurant cooks the seafood, and provides wood-fired bread rolls, fresh green salad and garlic butter. We tried the calamari, sea bass and sea bream, all of which was very nice. There were some local cats wandering around and the vendors occaisionally tossed them a fish: they seemed very content.
There seems to be lots of poms here, and we had to laugh when a family arrived and the daughter ( about 12 years old) took one look and said "I don't like fish!" at which point the moher said" Smile for the photo and that's all there is!". Oh the joy of family travel!
Thursday 11th August: Fethiye

We decided we would be brave and head to a gorge outside Fethiye on one of the local minibuses or dolmus. We had investigated the location of the Otogar or bus park and managed to get aboard the right bus for the 45 minute trip. Well......it was supposed to take 45 minutes! It turned out to be a multipurpose bus - not only did it transport people waiting at the bus stop or at the side of the road, it also collected people from obscure little villages away from the highway and transported various other bits and pieces - a huge stack of tolet paper, car spare parts and one small boy! On the way back we stopped at a house in a village and a man came rushing out quickly buttoning up his fly and doing up his belt! There's a story there! Consequently it took more than one and a half hours each way instaed of 45 minutes, but fascinating trips they were..

Saklikent is famous for its narrow granite gorge which, at this time of the year, can be walked if you are happy to get wet to the top of your thighs as you wade through the river. Dressed in our best sandals and shorts we were prepared - especially with the assistance of a canyon guide - to make it through. The first section is a wooden walkway above the river which leads to some steps down into the rocky floor of the gorge and the fast-flowing river. The water isn't deep but we had to hold hands to avoid being swept away, and to try and keep the bags and camera dry. Once we were in the gorge we just walked for 1.5 kilometres in mostly ankle deep water over smooth granite rocks and stones.When we came to an impassable waterfall we turned around and walked back. It was very spectacular and in the sections where there were pools and large rocks, quite demanding.
To recuperate we had some gozleme ( filled pancakes) for lunch sitting at a restaurant which juts into the river: very relaxing.
After another long trip back - this time in wet shorts- we were relieved to get back and have a siesta before wandering around town and eventually having dinner.. The temperature was in the high 30's so it didn't take long for us to dry out fortunately.


Too many choices!
The turkish delight shop



Fabulous spices and peppers

Bobbing around in the blue of the Mediterranean

Sunday 7th August - Tuesday 9th August : Fethiye and the Mediterranean
I'm sitting on the back deck of the 35 metre boat, the Ros, as it bobs up and down in a small cove not far from the coast of Turkey. I think a lack of interest in more ruins was evident when Erin and I were discussing with Ewan what was next on our schedule! We were helped along by a woman in our hotel in Goreme who had just done one of these boat trips and highly recommended it. It wasn't as expensive as we anticipated, so here we are having booked into the 3 nights/four days island-hopping cruise..
Last Sunday we rose at 5.30am (much to Erin's horror) and drove to Fethiye through a winding mountain pass. Fethiye is a small port famous for the boat trips that commence or end there. After delivering Frankie the Ford Focus back to Avis we wandered around looking for the boat. ( Actually the Ford Focus had become the Focu - as the 's' had mysteriously disappeared- but we noticed that a number of similar cars had become Focu too so there's a mystery!)

The Ros

The Ros is owned by Ros, an Australian from Hobart, in partnership with Amit, who captains the boat and looks as if he never sets foot on dry land. He apparently has been at sea for the last 103 days, as this is the high season for tourists like us. It accomodates 18 people on board including Sunny who is the cook and general roustabaout. We booked into a bunk room with only 2 beds, because Ros assured us that everyone sleeps on deck, which we so hvaing three beds wasn't necessary.
As we pulled away from the port I was disappointed to see that the water was green, but very soon it had become the most amazing deep blue colour, not like Anglesea or Port Phillip Bay. It's also exceptionally clear so despite the fact that it is very deep in places, you can see every stone on the bottom and fish swimming around without even bothering to find a snorkel and mask. Ewan and Erin did lots of snorkeling to check the fish out at close range.
So we are a motley group: quite a few Australians, but a Canadian French family, a French judge , a French med student and boyfriend, an American couple on honeymoon and so on. It's fascinating to talk to people from different places about their lives and their travels.
How have we spent the last few days stuck on the boat I hear you ask????? Well it's been a frenetic pace and far too many challenging decisions to be made. Will I throw myself in the water now or read my book? Does anyone know when dinner is on? Do I need a cold wine or some paech juice now? Would a G and T be better? Should I go snorkelling around the cove? And so on.

The beautiful blue of the Mediterranean

Our first plunge into the Mediterranean was a surprise as the water is warm and very salty so you can float and swim with ease: consequently we seem to spend a lot of time bobbing around in water chatting. You don't have to work hard to stay afloat because of the salt so if you want to actually exercise you have to make yourself do a few strokes to burn up a few calories!
Which brings me to the food which has been fabulous: Amit actually has a recipe book which we will definitely buy as he is a trained chef, as well as a dive master, marriage celebrant, Captain and heaven knows what else. The local rose has been a huge hit too!
We have spent the last few days island-hopping usually changing spots a couple of times a day and ending in a secluded and very sheltered cove so that we can all sleep. We have stopped at Butterfly Valley which was full of day tourists and at Oludeniz, where some of our lot went tandem paragliding strating at the top of a mountain with sheer cliffs next to the beach and floating down to the beach itself. It is apparently the highest paragliding experinece anywhere at 1960 metres! You'll be very surprised to hear that I didn't volunteer! It is quite an experience watching the coloured parachutes drift slowly down, and occaisionally doing spirals, from such a height.
The only downside is that when we hit the open sea between coves it gets pretty rough so a few peple including me have been sea sick. But captain Amit gives out the magic seasickness pills, and although they make you drowsy, after you've had a nap you feel a million dollars. I've had them twice and Erin once, but Ewan hasn't been queasy at all.
It has been a very relaxing enjoyable few days. Ewan and Erin have been snorkelling and spotting all sorts of fish and we've spent hours flaoting around. You don't have to do anything at all if you don't want to so it's just heaven. The islands are full of interesting ruins. The most energetic activity has been a walk to the top of a rock hill, which Ewan did whilst Erin and I went for yet another swim!
We've seen lots of boats that are just travelling around for the summer enjoying the blue water, the sea breeze and the warm weather. It will be hard to disembark tomorrow!

Sleeping on deck: very comfy!

Sunset from one of the coves where we spent the night