Thursday 1 October

It was a long way to Adem’s family village at Ulukent and we did get a bit lost getting there as the driver and the guide had never been their boss’s home village. We stopped along the way to buy and taste melons at a roadside stall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eventually we arrived and Adem’s parents and sister were waiting patiently for us. They opened their arms and their house to us with a big delicious meal of bean salad, beef casserole and desert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we strolled around the small village and met some of the locals, as well as going to his sister’s house to visit. One of the other sisters was away tending to their goat herd in the mountains. It was a pleasure to meet them and, after many photo shoots, we left the village for our accommodation in Pamukkale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The day was hot and we came back and jumped in the pool to cool down. That night we were given the usual hotel style smorgasbord and we shared a bottle of local red wine with one of the other adventurers, Kath. After dinner, belly dancing was available for those who wanted to wiggle their hips. The belly dancer got first men from the audience and then women to show what they could do under instruction from the dancer.

Tuesday 29 September (continued)

We arrive in Oludeniz late afternoon and stayed in the Magic Tulip Hotel. We immediately noticed the many hang gliders in the town from our balcony. It was a tourist town with many English tourists and so many restaurants all competing for guests to come and eat there. It was all bright lights, food and shops … lots of fun!! The hotel had a swimming pool which our room overlooked. That night, the adjacent hotel had a karaoke night which kept the singers occupied until the early hours singing Abba and other pop songs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 30 September

We travelled this morning to go on a boat trip on the river Dalyan where we stopped at another anchored fishing boat. Here we saw big long necked turtles and ordered some freshly caught and cooked crabs which were delivered to us later beautifully cooked and such a delicate flavour. We continued on to turtle beach, again on the Mediterranean Sea where we jumped into the warm waters with the hundreds of others on the beach. I met an Afghanastani man who was living in Germany and holidaying in Turkey. His wife was in the water too in a special top to toes swimsuit including headgear but in pink Lycra. Once again there were beach umbrellas and lounges to use and after the swim we boated to our riverside  restaurant for a fish lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw the Kaunos tombs on the way back in the boat. After we got back to Oludeniz, Paul and I wandered out to have kebabs and beer. There were lots of shops , restaurants and singing and dancing happening again.

When we were down at the beach promenade, it was at dusk and the hang gliders were landing on targeted areas on the actual promenade amongst all the people there. We finally found a fish restaurant to go to.

 

 

 

Tuesday 29 September

Heading to the coastal towns of Fethiye and Oludeniz, we went to the Saklikent Gorge with its Rapids. The high cliffs of the gorge made it really shady and cool. The water was gushing and, as it is the dry season, It must be massive water currents when the wet season occurs. It was necessary to cross the river to go up the gorge and because the current was strong a rope had been stretched across the river to hang on to. One of the group covered herself in mud because she heard it was therapeutic.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went to lunch on the top of the hill, after stopping for a photo shoot of some castle ruins along the way. We entered via a walkway with hanging birdhouses and set amongst big shady trees. It was called Yaka Park and we watched some women making stuffed flat bread cooked in a wood fired open oven … we tasted the delicious bread later with our meal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul decided to try the fish therapy so he sat with his lower legs and feet in a fish tank with small fish which sucked the dry and loose skin off his toes, soles and lower legs. He said it was a weird tingling sensation which lasted for longer than one hour in his feet. The fish seemed to concentrate on his right leg in preference to his left for some reason.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our next stop was an abandoned village Kayakoy which was used for the film “The Water Diviner “. It had been destroyed by an earthquake  in the 50s and never reoccupied.