Exploring Antalya



The beach at Olympos

14^th April 2015. We managed to escape from working on the boat for a few days when we hired a car and explored some of the historical sites around the city of Antalya. Our first day was spent driving up into beautiful green mountains then back down again to the coast to visit the ancient sites of Olympos and Phaselis.
 

The riverside remains of Olympos
 

At Olympos we had the place to ourselves as we wandered along the side of a river where Lycian and Roman remains are almost hidden under the tangle of pine trees, vines and Oleander bushes.  At the mouth of the river there’s a lovely sandy beach where we paddled before admiring the Lycian tombs that sit above it. On the edge of the beach we found an impressive sarcophagus that belonged to a sea captain called Eudemos. There is a ship symbol on the front and a representation of the Goddess Aphrodite whose job it was to protect sailors. The inscription on it aptly reads: ‘The ship sailed into harbour and anchored to leave no more…’

The sea captain's tomb

The ruins of Phaselis were much busier, with tour buses neatly lined up in the car park, but the setting is stunning, as the city was built around three small sandy bays backed by pine trees. We walked along an original Roman road and admired the baths, theatre and the remains of the viaduct that originally brought water down from high in the mountains.

Impressive viaduct at Phaselis

 

This was our bedroom in the restored Ottaman  house

We got completely lost trying to find our hotel in the narrow, one way streets of Antalya old town but when we finally arrived we found it was a real gem. Three ottoman houses have been beautifully restored and surround a leafy courtyard with a small swimming pool. The family that run it were very friendly and keen to ensure we had a good stay. The next day we headed to the museum. We were expecting to see one or two things of local interest, but instead we discovered an absolutely stunning collection of statues and stone carvings from local sites – so impressive in fact that we decided to spend more time exploring the sites themselves.



The ancient city of Perge

Our first stop the following day was Perge. This was a wealthy city in Roman times and the remains are impressive, but I would have loved to have seen just a few of the statues from the Antalya museum back in their original location on the site. We then moved on to the theatre at Aspendos which is one of the best preserved Roman theatres in Europe. We were lucky to arrive just as a Japanese visitor burst into song and delivered a perfect operatic aria from the stage.  

The restored theatre at Aspendos

Our next stop was Side – we had mixed feelings about going back here as we first visited the village in 1976. Then it was just a collection of guest houses set amidst the open ruins of a Roman city that was disappearing into the sand dunes and you could swim in the sea below the ancient stones of the Temple of Apollo.  Today it’s a big, sprawling resort - our hotel was in a road with tacky kebab houses,  tattoo parlours and hair salons  - but the ruins have been carefully restored and the old town still retains its charm.

The Temple of Apollo in Side

On our final day we drove up to see the ancient site of Termessos. This meant driving high into the mountains of the Güllükdağı Termessos National Park, but it was worth it. The city hasn’t been excavated and the remains have been damaged by earthquakes, so after a steep climb from the car park there was much scrambling over rocks to explore. We eventually reached the amphitheatre which is set on an outcrop and we enjoyed the wonderful views back down to the valley.  

Amphitheatre at Termessos

Exploring the tombs at Termessos

 

Back to Finike via Istanbul



Wintry Istanbul

20^th March We decided to break our return to Turkey with a long weekend in Istanbul with our friends Melanie and Derek.  The weather wasn’t ideal – we ended up wandering around the beautiful Topkapi Palace in torrential, freezing rain – but we managed to pack a lot into two days and visited some beautiful mosques.

The stunning Suleymaniye mosque

The highlight for me was definitely the food. On the first day Melanie and I did a very good cookery course where we prepared a four course authentic Turkish meal. The cookery school doubles as a restaurant, so Cliff and Derek were able to come along afterwards and enjoy the products of our afternoon’s work. The next day we joined the locals on the banks of the Bosphorous and had a delicious lunch of freshly caught mackerel, barbecued and stuffed in a baguette. On our final evening we found a restaurant near our hotel in Sultanahmet that served traditional Ottoman recipes – an excellent end to our short break!

Karniyarik (stuffed aubergines) ready for the oven

Melanie attacks the Lavash - a tasty 'balloon bread'

We arrived back in Finike on 23^rd March to find ourselves surrounded by snow topped mountains. We had hoped it would be a bit warmer than Istanbul, but Spring was late arriving so it would be another couple of weeks before the t shirts and shorts came out.  Meanwhile there was a long list of jobs to be done before we could start sailing again.

The yard at Finike with snow topped mountains behind it

Spring finally arrived in Finike

After the usual polish and antifoul, Cliff got to work trying to fix the connection to our external VHF speaker. Unfortunately, in the process of trying to fix the problem he managed to blow the fuse in our autohelm unit, which can only be accessed by removing the holding tank (for non-sailers, that’s the tank that stores the toilet waste). Sorting it out was a long, horrible job, but at least the tank got a good cleaning while it was out! Next Sandpiper had her mast taken off so that it could be fitted with a new divider to stop the lines tangling inside it. It was very strange seeing her ‘topless’.

Sandpiper looking naked without her mast

 7th April While Sandpiper was in the yard having the mast fixed we made a last minute decision to have the teak decking in the cockpit replaced. If we had appreciated quite how dirty this job would be we would have arranged to move off the boat. Instead, for next three weeks we lived in a haze of wood dust and grit, and were reduced to crawling in and out of the front hatch when we wanted to get on or off the boat. But it was definitely worth it, as each plank of the new wood decks was hand crafted and the final result is  excellent.

The carpenters get to work removing the old teak

Each piece of teak was cut to fit then held by weights as it was bonded to the deck

From Kalkan to Finike



Kalkan bay

On 20^th October we left Gocek and continued our journey east along the Turkish coast. After a rolly night on a buoy in the bay at Karacoren we sailed on down to the resort of Kalkan. We had planned to spend just one night here, but when we crept out of the bay the next morning we were met by 30 knot winds on the nose and big waves that sent water over the deck, so we turned round and headed back to the harbour! Several other boats were about to leave, but when they heard why we had returned they decided to stay too. We soon got talking to our neighbours and found that three boats either side of us were booked into the same marina as us in Finike for the winter, and we were formally introduced over drinks on Carole and Ian’s boat, Maximillian.  

Kalkan, the torrent begins

 

The flood water in Kalkan harbour

 

The following day we had thunderstorms, and the day after brought torrential rain and flash floods. We were in the top of the town shopping when the torrential rain started, and when we tried to walk back down to the marina we saw that the road down the hill to the harbour had turned into a fast flowing river. Soon the water in the harbour turned from clear blue to a muddy brown as the red earth was washed into the sea. It was slightly worrying to see the water level in the harbour rapidly rising, but fortunately the rain stopped before it reached the top of the quay.

Kas square decorated for Independence Day

We finally escaped from Kalkan on the 26^th October and had a rolly sail downwind to Kas where we treated ourselves to a couple of nights in the well sheltered, upmarket marina while the last of the thunderstorms blew through. The town is in a very pretty setting in a large bay that faces the Greek island of Kastellorion.  While we were there they were busy decorating the town ready for Turkish Independence Day and it was lovely to see the main square hung with so many colourful flags. I also walked over to the Roman amphitheatre on the peninsular beyond the town, and was disappointed to find that it has been ‘reconstructed’ to the point of making it look thoroughly modern. But the seats at the very top of the theatre do still give you a wonderful view of the bay.

The Roman Amphitheatre at Kas

Our next sail was down to a beautiful area known as Kekova Roads, an enclosed channel protected by the 4 mile long Kekova Island. We anchored at the far western end in the almost deserted bay of Polemos Buku and dinghied ashore to walk across the peninsular to the remains of the ancient Lycian city of Aperlae.

Lycian ruins at Aperlae

 

The city was built on the shores of the bay, and some of it is now underwater. When we first reached the shoreline most of it was hidden from sight, but as we walked further along we began to see half submerged sarcophaghi and then the remains of the ancient city walls. Finally, the city itself towered above us on the hillside, now partly lost in a tangle of scrub and thorns. We could also see more ruins submerged in the water and wished we had brought our swimming gear with us, as it would have been a great area for snorkelling. We were completely alone in this vast, overgrown city and it felt quite magical as the thick stone walls glowed in the late afternoon sun.

Early morning in Kekova Roads

 

The next morning we weighed anchor and set off for our final destination, Finike, which is a small market town about 75 miles from Antalya. It was a quiet, windless day and after three hours on the motor we finally moored up in Finike marina. This is where Sandpiper will spend the winter while we are back in the UK. The marina is home to a wonderful mix of cruisers of all nationalities and offers a great social life with coffee mornings, BBQs, walks, drinks and all sorts of clubs. Unfortunately, the long list of tasks we had to complete before leaving on November 14^th meant we could only attend a few social gatherings, but we are looking forward to getting more involved when we return in March.

 

Finike marina

 

Sandpiper having her bottom washed in the yard

Tlos and Kayakoy

The Lycian tombs below the Ottoman fortress at Tlos

 

While we were in Gocek we decided to hire a car to explore the area. Several local Brits had recommended the site of Tlos, which sits in the foothills of the Akdaglar mountains, overlooking the beautiful Xanthos valley, so that was our starting point. Then we saw that the Saklikent gorge was nearby, so we added that to our list, and finally the abandoned village of Kayakoy near Fethiye, which  was the inspiration for Louis de Bernieres' novel, Birds Without Wings.

You can see Tlos long before you get there, as the acropolis stands out on a high, rocky bluff with a honeycomb of impressive Lycian rock tombs below it.  This started as one of the oldest and most important cities in Lycia, and continued to be occupied right through until the 19^th century when a Turkish chieftan lived in the fortress that had been built by the Ottomans over the acropolis.

The Roman amphitheatre at Tlos  is still being excavated

We climbed up to the acropolis to look at the rock tombs and admire  the view of the towering mountains on one side and the wonderfully green Xanthos valley on the other. Down below we walked through the remains of the agora, baths and a roman amphitheatre.  The site has not been excavated until recently, and in 2011 it hit the headlines when several impressive sculptures of Roman emperors were uncovered near the theatre. Standing beside the slightly overgrown remains we imagined what it must have been like to have found the statues, and added a visit to Fethiye museum, where they are now exhibited, to our ‘to see’ list.

Next stop was the Saklikent gorge. It was nearing lunchtime, and as we drove through the small country roads to get to the gorge the owners of roadside restaurants tried to flag us down by running into the road waving and shouting at us. When we eventually arrived at the gorge we were disappointed to find that you could only see a small section of it unless you waded upriver through the rapids which were quite deep as there had been heavy rain the day before. I had an injured ankle and wading through rapids was out of the question, so we turned back and focused on lunch. This, at least, was a success, we found a lovely restaurant with traditional seating built out on wooden decking over a trout stream and had a tasty meal of fresh local trout.

Relaxing in the traditional restaurant in Saklikent

After lunch we drove back down towards the coast to visit the abandoned town of Kayakoy near Fethiye. Until the turn of the 20 century the town (like Fethiye and many others in the area) was mainly populated with Greeks.  Then, after the Turkish War of Independence, it was agreed that an exchange of populations should take place and the Greeks from Kayakoy were sent to Rhodes and then onto Athens. In fact, once I started to research the history, I discovered that many of the Greeks had been forced to leave the town long before this, as the fight for independence led to atrocities on both sides. A few Turkish people stayed on in the town, but they too left when it was devastated by an earthquake in 1957.



The abandoned town of Kayakoy



Today the site is an official historic monument, and over 2,000 stone houses stand abandoned on the two hillsides. It looks and feels like a huge cemetery, and as we walked through the narrow streets between the empty, roofless buildings we agreed there was an unsettling presence – it was almost as if you could feel the ghosts of the long departed residents.

Statue of Emperor Hadrian from Tlos

The next day we caught the bus for a hair-raising ride on the mountain road around the coast from Gocek to Fethiye, where we had lunch by the harbour then went in search of the museum. We eventually found it in a back street on the outskirts of the town, tucked between two schools.  It was worth the visit as it has an interesting collection of finds from Tlos and other nearby sites. We also got to see the five, impressive statues that had been unearthed at Tlos of the Roman emperors Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius, and Antoninus Pius, plus his daughter Faustina Minor and the Goddess Isis.

 

Umbrellas shading one of the pedestrian walkways in Fethiye

 

Skopea Limani and Gocek

Kapi Creek

On 5^th October, after a long motor-sail through sloppy seas, we finally moored in Kapi Creek in Skopea Limani, a gulf near the town of Gocek. We had spent a week on a chartered yacht here with our friends Melanie and Derek in 2008, and we think it’s one of the most beautiful areas in the Eastern Med. There are twelve wooded islands in the gulf and a wonderful choice of sheltered anchorages. We had often imagined sailing our own yacht in these waters , so it felt good to finally be here.

We arrived in the middle of Kurban Bayram, a four day religious holiday, so the anchorage was full of Turks. The odd thing was, their yachts were flying the American flag. We were puzzled by this until our neighbour explained that most Turks now register their yachts in America to avoid paying local taxes!

Tersane anchorage

We spent the next two nights on Tersane Island. The island is craggy and quite austere, but the water in the deep, narrow creek is crystal clear and the bay is bordered by Byzantine ruins. Tersane means shipyard, so it’s likely that boats were once built here. Today, the only inhabitants of the island are Yasim and her family, who have a farm here and run the small restaurant in the bay.

The former Byzantine church is now used as a stable

We were anchored between a Swiss and a Dutch boat with lines tied back to the shore, a technique that's useful if you need to anchor close to other boats. It’s a stressful business sorting out a shoreline with just two of you on board: once you have anchored, one person has to stay on the helm and try to prevent the boat from swinging onto neighbouring yachts (which it inevitably does if the wind is on the beam) while the other person rows like mad for the shore to tie  a line to a rock or post.  On this occasion we were lucky, the man from the Dutch boat jumped into his dinghy and kindly offered to take the line to ashore for us.

The bay is supposed to be one of the most sheltered in the Gulf, but on the second day we had a thunderstorm and the wind suddenly increased from 5 knots to over 30 knots, blowing us straight towards the rocky shore.  Our anchor was holding, but others weren’t, and we had an anxious couple of hours watching other boats arrive and then panic, dropping and dragging their anchors right over ours.

A wild tortoise

Once the storm had passed we went ashore to explore the ruins. We found that Yasim had made good use of the Byzantine Church, which now houses sheep that are lambing! We were also very excited to see our first wild tortoise, apparently these are quite common in Turkey.

The peaceful bay of Boynuz Buku

We had two more peaceful nights anchored in Boynuz Buku, a fjord-like bay covered in pinewoods, before heading up to the town of Gocek to replenish our provisions. Gocek has become a fashionable resort that’s popular with yachtsmen, and there are six marinas in the area, including two that are exclusively for super yachts!  The town has a big selection of supermarkets, but we were keen to visit the Saturday market which we’d heard was good for fruit and veg.

Cooking Gozleme at the market

The market turned out to be excellent, with an impressive choice of fresh produce. We spent a very pleasant hour looking at (and sampling!) the many different types of cheese, olives, nuts, fruit and vegetables before buying as much as we could manage to carry back to the boat. Our last stop was at a stall that offered delicious Gozleme (thin pastry cooked on a griddle and stuffed with savoury or sweet fillings) served with as much Chai (Turkish tea) as you could drink. We had ours stuffed with spinach and goats cheese, and it made a very tasty lunch for just 6TL (£1.60) each.

Goodbye Greece, Hello Turkey

Datca

On 26^th September we moored on the town quay at Datca, which sits on the Turkish mainland opposite the Greek island of Simi. We like Datca, it’s a typical Turkish holiday resort with a good beach and pretty waterfront cafes and restaurants on either side of a peninsular. We were here 10 years ago to visit our friends Gill and Nursal, who live in the small village of Hirzirsah, a few kilometres out of the town. We were looking forward to seeing them again this year, but when we arrived we discovered they were back in England visiting family. Heh ho, maybe we’ll catch them on the way back next year.

The full Turkish treatment at the barber's

Cliff was in urgent need of a haircut, so a visit to the barber was a must before we left. Cliff suggested I came with him, and although I felt a bit out of place sitting in such an overtly male establishment, it was certainly entertaining. The barber was very welcoming and even popped to the café next door to order me a glass of chai (Turkish tea) to drink while I waited. At first it all seemed relatively normal, as Cliff’s hair, beard and moustache were expertly trimmed and he was given a wash, blow dry and head and neck massage. But then I noticed the barber heating some wax... he spread this over Cliff’s cheeks and nose then dipped cotton buds in the wax and popped one in each ear! Once it had cooled, the wax was ripped off, but there were still a few hairs to deal with. Next the barber lit a taper and wafted the flame over Cliff’s face and ears until the remaining hair was literally singed away. (Watching this made me wince, but Cliff says none of it was particularly painful). Then the barber produced a small, circular, pointed electric razor and gently pushed it into each of Cliff’s nostrils to remove the excess nostril hair. Finally, Cliff was given a liberal dowsing of cologne, and walked out looking and smelling like a real Turkish gentleman!

Stray cats and dogs are a fact of life in both Greece and Turkey, and in Datca we were befriended by a stray tabby kitten who tried to climb on to the boat. Much as we love cats, we aren’t keen on the fleas they bring with them, so we shooed the kitten away. Then, at five the next morning I was woken by a loud meowing. “I think the cat’s on the boat” I said to Cliff. “Impossible” he replied, “we’re six foot off the quay with the plank up, anyway, there’s no way it can get in.” The meowing continued so I got up… and discovered the kitten happily curled up in our saloon on the chart table cushion! She must have boarded another boat and jumped across, then squeezed down below through a narrow opening in our hatch. Needless to say, she was swiftly (but gently) evicted.

The beautiful Gulf of Hisaronu

After leaving Datca we spent a few days cruising the beautiful, sheltered Gulf of Hisaronu. At the southern end of the Gulf the hills are bare and red with wonderful rock formations, and at the north end they are rich and green, covered in pine trees. For our first night we sailed north and anchored under pine covered slopes in the secluded bay of Kuyulu Buku, where the only sounds were the hooting of the owls. Over the next two days  we slowly worked our way south again.

The picture-postcard town of Simi

The Greek island of Simi sits opposite the southern end of the Gulf and we couldn’t resist a quick peek at the main town, although officially we couldn’t land without ‘checking in’ to Greece again. We were pleased we made the detour, it’s a picturesque spot and we are looking forward to spending a night or two there on our way back north next year.

Stunning views from the citadel of Loryma

Eventually we sailed south out of the Gulf and round the corner into the stunning bay of Bozuk Buku, under the remains of the ancient citadel of Loryma. We tied up to the rickety restaurant jetty, then climbed up the hill to the citadel and walked along its walls, which gave us wonderful views towards Rhodes on one side and down into the bay on the other.

The next morning it was decision time. Should we turn left and head down towards Marmaris, or go straight out towards Gocek and Fethiye? The weather decided for us: thunderstorms and strong winds were forecast for Marmaris, so we set our course for the nine hour sail down to Gocek, where we were promised light winds and sunshine.

Amorgos and Kalymnos

Contented cat in Chora on Amorgos

 

After five days on Naxos the weather improved, so on 21^st September we set off south east across the Cyclades, to the island of Amorgos.  Soon after we left the harbour a pod of six dolphins joined us, entertaining us as they dived under the boat and did graceful leaps out of the water. Then it was a peaceful, six hour motor sail with hardly a boat in sight until we arrived at Katapoula, on Amorgos.

We knew we would only have one night on the island as more gale force winds were predicted, and we wanted to do the 70 mile crossing to Kalymnos the next day before they arrived. Once we were safely moored we looked to see whether we could get a bus to the monastery of Hozoviotissa, one of the key attractions on the island. Unfortunately, we had just missed it. Never mind, we had heard the old town of Chora at the top of the hill was worth visiting, so we jumped on a bus there instead.  

Chora on Amorgos

It is a lovely old village, all whitewashed houses in narrow, Bougainvillea-covered alleyways. We walked through it to the top of the hill, and when we got there I spotted a sign by a gate saying ‘Hozoviotissa Monastery, 40 mins’.  Great, I thought, we can see the monastery after all! As we walked through the gate, we found the path took you almost vertically down the side of a mountain to the coast below, where it joined a road that (we assumed) led to the monastery. At that point we had a small disagreement. It was 5pm and the bus back to the port left at 6.30, so Cliff wasn’t keen on doing the walk as he thought we wouldn’t make it there and back in time.  I thought we could (just) make it.

Stunning view from the top of the path to the monastery

 

Eventually we agreed to disagree. Cliff stayed at the top of the path while I did a speedy hike downhill and jogged along the road. Suddenly, as I turned the corner, the monastery was above me, a magnificent, towering white building literally built into the cliff face. The sun had already dropped below the mountain, so the monastery was in the shade, which wasn’t great for photos, but the view was still breathtaking. I sat for a few minutes taking it all in, then turned back to face the gruelling uphill climb.  I kept up a good pace and eventually reached the top at 5.50, so in the end we had time for a drink before the bus came!

The monastery of Hozoviotissa

 

When we got back to the boat we found that the inter-island ferry had moored alongside us, right over our anchor. Clearly we would be going nowhere until the ferry left! A quick check of the timetable told us that it would be leaving at 6am the next day, just before our planned departure at 6.30am.

We were up early the next morning and hauled anchor as soon as the ferry left. But as we did so we found the neighbouring Norwegian boat had laid their anchor over ours, so Cliff spend a frustrating 15 minutes untangling the chains until we were finally free.  We had light winds for our journey but the currents were with us, and we sailed into Pothia harbour on Kalymnos just 10 hours later.

Pothia on Kalymnos

 

Kalymnos is in the Dodecanese islands, close to the island of Kos, and only 10 miles from the Turkish mainland. The island used to be famous for its sponge fishing, but in 1986 a mysterious disease killed most of the sponges in the area, so now the islanders rely on fishing and tourism for their living. We stayed there for a couple of days and found it a friendly, peaceful place. However Turkey beckoned, and on the 26^th September we said goodbye to Greece and sailed across to the town of Datca on the Turkish mainland.