Mystical Türkiye

Türkiye is our 11th country with our boat over the last 18 months.

We successfully checked out of Greece and paid an agent to do our check-in into Turkey.

We have not been in a Marina for some time. D-Marin Marina in Didim is really nice, its green, has lovely yachts and well lit port & starboard entry markers.

The Marina also has restaurants and a nice Hotel with pool, which we were allowed to use. We watched an English couple getting married there. Check out one of the weeding guests Punk hair. Haven't seen it for a long time...

Below a map of our anchorages in Türkiye to date

Didim

We visited the Temple of Apollo (an ancient Greek temple.)

Sven marveling at the falling pillar supported by rocks.

An Apollo temple visit was followed by a beer for Sven and Turkish coffee for Caroline. The coffee house had a lovely view onto the temple.

Well, it gets the best of travellers. We both have been in Türkiye (and similar places) many times and know the drill. A lovely Turk, who has worked in Germany told us, that he just wanted to practice his German. He confirmed that he clearly understood, that we will not buy anything. We were in no rush and accepted a home made Orange flavoured tea in his shop. To cut the story short ....after 30 min of exchanging pleasantries, he asked us "which carpet we liked best if we were buying" . The indicated carpet (which we clearly stated we would not buy) was quickly wrapped up in paper and put into a plastic bag (price was dropped from Euro 650.- to Euro 50.-.) Well, he was really good ...but was a bit taken back when we did not take the already wrapped up carpet we did not want. We really like the beautiful Turkish Kilims but we live on board and have no place for things like this.

The Turkish shops are amazing.... but...

We have no space on the boat...

we have no space on the boat....

lucky for us we have no space on the boat!

We did not have the patience to negotiate a backgammon game we liked and went to have a Turkish breakfast instead.

First stop after breakfast was Ephesos, an ancient port city with well-preserved ruins. The city was once considered the most important Greek city and the most important trading center in the Mediterranean region. The Turkish ice cream sellers are performers. This is not just a simple ice cream you buy. This becomes a "catch the ice cream" game between seller and buyer.

House of Virgin Mary: Catholic pilgrims visit the house based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, lived there for the remainder of her earthly life. The Catholic Church has never pronounced in favour or against the authenticity of the house, It is a holy site for Christians but is also a place for those who want their wishes to come true (wishing wall shown on picture)

Notice what we did?

Most cars here are white, meaning of course less heat absorption and emission!

A long sloppy painted fence, in the middle of the city main street, adds some character... and, believe it or not, we both like the squat toilets. We find squatting over a hole easier, than hoovering over a toilet ring you have no intention to sit on. Streets are full of fake items, including Birkenstock costing Euro 5.- (feels like being in Asia).

Drove to Sirince, a village with 600 inhabitants and only 6 km away from Ephesos.

A Turkish lady cooked our meal over the open fire

Lucky for Sven he can snooze anytime, anywhere. He enjoys sprawling out on a bench, using me as a comfortable pillow. As always, he fell quickly into a deep sleep accompanied by deep, happy snoring. A cat tried to get some affection from me but still unsatisfied, aimed for higher grounds.

Warning: Foul language (R-rating) and not suitable for children under 18 years of age

Unfortunately I missed to capture the snoring bit beforehand!

One of the many lovely houses in the village.

Locals trying to sell their handmade items.

Sirince also has lots of shops in the village centre. There were mainly Turkish travellers in late September, but it is not very busy anymore.

Love the Turkish coffee made in sand. The fine coffee grinds and water are added to a special wide-bottomed pot called a cezve, then mixed and placed in the hot sand. The sand creates an even heat, and the coffee foams to the top almost immediately. The cezve is removed and added to the sand three to four times and served in a small cup.

Colourful scarves

Dried vegetables and soap for sale

Interesting wines, ranging from banana to orange flavoured. We bought a bottle of Cherry flavoured wine, 12% alcohol for appro Euro 6.- . You cannot stop but drink the entire bottle. Very dangerous. Check out the warning at the back of the bottle!!

Sven tells me that this cherry flavoured wine is not for women who don't want to get fat (see 2nd picture...)

Cave of the seven sleepers of Ephesus recalls the story of 7 young men who sought refuge in a cave outside Ephesus to escape persecution under Decius, around year 250. The group refused to obey the greedy king, which had forced his entire kingdom to worship idols he selected himself instead to pursue their faith in God.

They woke up only 200 years later. One went to town trying to buy food with an old coin. He realised what had happened and went back to the cave to inform his friends. They all went back to sleep and never woke up again.

Drink in a beautiful place after visiting the seven sleepers of Ephesus. Tried fresh blackberry juice with the result of Caroline's teeth looking like she chewed on betel leaves.

One lady was making and cooking breads,. Another peeled piles of tomatoes. cooked them in pots over the open fire then bottled them.

Another early start the next morning. We drove through villages where we could only see Turkish men drink tea (no women). This culture and the Turkish Tea house tradition has been around for years. I am sure that the women are happy to catch up with female friends, kids and family and have their men out of the home. It is their life, their tradition and their culture. We decided to sit outside in a coffee style place to embrace the culture. (Caroline was also the only woman here)

After breakfast we were ready to drive to the Dilek National Park for a walk.

There was a big lagoon with very shallow waters, with many Flamingos and other bird life enjoying it. We could read the sign at the entry of the park, but as everything is only in Turkish, we did not understand it.

We should have postponed our walk until later. We both really liked Bafa Lake. We drove as close to the monastery ruins as possible. The rocky mountain ranges look amazing and we came across many old ruins. Elderly women in the the Kapikiri village were trying to sell handmade items to us. The locals are lovely and all want to chat.

According to the legend, it was here that the goddess Selene fell in love with the shepherd Endymion and she asked Zeus to keep the young shepherd in perpetual sleep and bore up to fifty children from her nightly encounters with the sleeping young man!

We asked this lovely fisherman what the foul smell was He told us that it comes from rotten plants, but also a far away cotton factory which is spoiling the water. Some cotton is grown around the area.

We spoke to these ladies on the way up, so was lovely to cross them again.

Ladies waiting for us to pass so they can sell home made crafts to us.

We saw many pig signs and unfortunately also a dead one on the road.

Turkish people typically consume beef, lamb, fish, and poultry.

We had a bumpy ride from Didim to our next anchorage. View of the Waves from the toilet window.

Our new neighbour. The boat is called Solaris and is owned by Russian Politician, Billionaire and oligarch Roman Abramovich. He is the former owner of the Chelsea Premier League football club in London, England.

Consulted Wikipedia to find out how he made his billions. Who needs a TV!

Bodrum

Known in ancient times as Halicarnassus was once home to the Mausoleum (also known as the tomb of Mausolus) and one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (It was destroyed by successive earthquakes from the 12th to the 15th century). Some of the old stones were used when building the castle.

Nice anchorage in front of the castle.

Nice backdrop to do some silicon replacement on plate bottoms and enjoying the night view from our lounge.

Very convenient, attached dinghy in front of our breakfast table before visiting the castle.

We were the first at the castle and alone for 90 minutes!

On the castle wall looking down.

The castle was surprising and the displays very modern (including films and drawings about different pieces, events and history).

The view from castle onto our boat.

Enjoyed the old town of Bodrum with its Bazaar like streets. Lucky, that we visited Bodrum end of September and not in August....

The last pictures is one of the many backgammon games we looked at. We are keen to get one for some Winter entertainment.

Çökertme

A lovely small village. We had a late lunch/early dinner and stayed on anchor overnight.

Knidos

Archaeologists date the ancient city of Knidos back to the first half of 2.000 BC.

It was amazing to anchor right in the middle of this archaeological site but even better to walk around. (Thanks Karin and Heinz for this and many other tips)

The amphitheater at sunset with our boat in front.

and at sun rise the next morning.

Walk around before sunset.

Spot the difference

These two human figures were carved on this limestone block showing man holds woman's chin (he is not strangling her), and the woman the man's phallus. This is a love scene (Hieros Gamos/Sacred marriage). It dates back to 550 B.C.

The 2nd picture was the sign above the rock explaining the history (minus the hand and its content) which is clearly visible on the stone carving.

Quick paddle with our SUP to the restaurant.

These photos were taken 10 minutes apart after drinks. What a stunning display of changing colours.

And another nice treat the next morning.

No name bay (a bay near Mugla )

Sven wanted to find a bay just for us, which he did.

We walked 7 km to the next village. A dirt road led us past some lovely green trees and houses.

At night we gazed up at the star-studded sky and the milky way (no city lights interfering),

Datça

Our next anchorage was in Datca, a lovely place with a nice harbour and sooo many lovely places to eat and drink.

The atmosphere between mosque prayers and the music from bars and restaurant was truly lovely. Every restaurant had beautiful lights everywhere.

It has become more challenging to find english speaking people. Instead of asking for Turkish chicken sish, we try to find restaurants where we can just point. This way we get to try a bit of everything!

Another no name bay to ourselves (opposite the small Topan Adasi Island/Rock and near a bay called Dirsekbükü, Ağıl Koyu. Third time lucky when trying to get the anchor to hold (added lines to shore).

Interesting rock formation and stunning colours of the rock.

Calm and very clear water. The view the next morning. We stayed here for 2 nights.

Bozukkale

We moored at the jetty in front of the Loryma Restaurant in Bozukkale Koyu

The mooring was free, but you are "invited" to eat there, which we did. Wasps are still around.

We got entertained by loud donkeys, geese and goats.

We walked over loose rocks to visit the castle. The different rocks were just stunning.

Walked past some cows and donkeys at the beach and watched two donkeys play.

Was surprised to see a nice toilet in the middle of nowhere.

The view from the castle back towards the bay.

Bozukkale Castle , Bozukkale means "broken castle), it dates back around 700 BC,

Changing landscape on our way to the next stop

Ekincik

Anchorage in Ekincik Koyu.

Wow, we can't believe how green it is here.

Two huge Turtles welcoming us, swimming under our dinghy.

Unbelievable, still so hot. 37 degrees end of September and warm during the night.

Researched how to get to the tombs, but dinghy's are not allowed. We therefore booked a local authorised boat. Finally opened the Croatian Fig Likor- yum.

A guy came by and offered his services. It was just the 2 of us in the huge boat. The entire trip was 5 1/2 hours (which of course included sightseeing and lunch time)

Amazing Tombs of the kings in Dalyan (2400 years old). We loved the ride up the river and lunch with a view.

A boat with a different in the River (covered with plants)

Kaunos (ruins of an old city) - next stop with our hired boat and stretching our legs

We liked this old amphitheatre. The Olive trees are growing in between these old rocks and goats are running around.

Amphitheatre with castle walls on the top of the hill

Our "private" boat waiting for us. The driver deep asleep :-).

Found some Knorr soup in a local shop. Sven was looking forward to this Garlic soup, as the picture promised ..... However when we googled "iskembe corbasi", it turned out to be tripe (Kutteln in German)!! We are not a fan of it.

Hammam Bay

This bay is a very large protected Bay. It was still really busy in early October!

Our timing could not have been better. The spot right next to Cleopatra's bath became free when we arrived.

Seems that this ancient baths was built by Marc Anthony as a gift for Cleopatra (he was a Roman general and an she of course the Egyptian queen). It was once a thermal spring supplied by the waters of a crater lake located behind the mountains.

Walked to the restaurant on the other side of the bay. It was our most expensive meal to date (and not that special either).

We just managed to get the last light for our walk back to the boat, There were many well lit yachts next to us.

Fethiye

We saw the Mirgros boat several times. Caroline grew up shopping at Mirgros in Switzerland so was happy to witness this! It looks like a normal shop from the the inside. This is really great!

This city is known for its natural harbor, blue waters and numerous rock tombs including the 4th-century B.C. Tomb of Amyntas, carved into a bluff overlooking the city.

Walked around Fethiye's old town

At the fish market you choose your own fish and the various restaurants cook it for Euro 1.- per person (you pay extra for drinks and salads)

A lady peeling a bucket of garlic, a man carrying bagels on his had. We discussed going to a Turkish batch, but decided to give it a miss.

Fethiye's Kayaköy Village, the "Ghost Town"

Kayaköy was forcefully abandoned at the end of the Greco-Turkish War (end of 1922). A Muslims and Christians were exchanged between Greece and Turkey so that each country could claim one major religion toward ethnic and national homogeneity.There used to be 20.000 Greek people living there.

We hired a scooter as weather is still between 21-28 degrees,

The Australian actor Russell Crowe filmed the last sequences of the film The Water Diviner (Last Hope) here.

We had a drink in the village below the Ghost town. The restaurant looked like a family home and the lady prepared herself some Omelettes over the open fire.

Pamukkale

Pamukkale is a 3 hour drive from Fethiye. We tried to hire a car but were told, that due to increased visitors from Russia, all cars had been booked out months ago. We therefore took a tour bus.

Advertising picture of Pamukkale below. We knew that it would not look like this anymore (in particular that colour !). We also knew that there was not much water at the moment.

Even thought the place did not look like the advertised picture, it was still better than we expected and is very unique. We enjoyed our day in Pamukale. It is due to the combination of the mineral-rich thermal waters flowing down white travertine terraces and the adjoining Hierapolis, an ancient Roman spa city founded around 190 B.C. Ruins there include a well-preserved theater and remains of the ancient 2 km city stretch. The Antique Pool is famous for its submerged Roman columns, the result of an earthquake (but this pool we happily skipped, it was just too crowded).

Why is it white in Pumukkale? The calcium-rich water comes back to the surface from various sources when it is warmer than 35 degrees Celsius. When the weather cools down, the carbon dioxide disappears and white sediment is left that forms a limestone terrace.

Walking towards the ancient town.

My very unwilling model - what to do with him?

Before and after- Sven's makeover - Caroline has a new man!

After having his nose hair removed, his ears waxed, beard shaved and hair cut he smelled like a perfume counter girl! Sven was nearly unrecognisable after 40 minutes of being scrubbed and polished,

Next location: continue coast of Türkiye then sail to Cyprus, then to our Winter location in Rhodos