Fethiye Events - 2010 Çalış Carnival

The merry month of May has all but been and gone - and it's passed by super quickly and almost unnoticed for us. You may or may not have noticed a lack of daily blog posts and that's because we're out and about with friends and family who all seem to have chosen May to come out to visit. If that sounds like a complaint, it's not meant to. We've had and are having a great time and after Thursday, when our friends leave, it's back to washing and ironing and other normalities of life.

The very pleasant swimming pool at the Golden Moon Hotel

A benefit of having friends out is that they always want to stay at a hotel that has a swimming pool and it's only polite that we go to visit them at their hotel and thus make use of the hotel facilities. This is the swimming pool at the Golden Moon Hotel in Çalış and, although a tad on the cold side at the moment, it's lovely. We're swimming pool tarts really - there aren't many in the area that we haven't sampled. If you ever stay at the Golden Moon by the way, we can recommend the mixed toastie as a snack. Yummy.

Performers at the Çalış Carnival, Saturday

As we were all lounging around the pool and chatting, we could hear music coming from the beach area and then we remembered it was the Çalış Carnival week. Now, if you know this area at all, you'll know that it's nigh on impossible to miss all the posters and events that make up the whole Çalış carnival thing but like we said, May has been a bit of a blur and we had forgotten all about it. Anyway, we decided to go for a stroll and have a nosey at what was going on. These two guys on the photo above were entertaining everyone (not a bad spot to perform in, is it?) just before the parade.

The carnival procession 

We walked along the beach front and decided to sit at Bahane Bar on Çalış Beach while we waited for the procession. Fortunately, the Fethiye weather was behaving itself and it helped the atmosphere of the day. Last year was a bit cold and wet and it just wasn't the same. 

The carnival procession

It was lovely to see al the local school kids parading in their costumes and waving at all the spectators.

Yesterday was the final day of carnival week and there was a free music concert throughout the day and into the evening...we missed this because we had booked to go on the Göcek market boat trip. We're playing catch-up now so we'll post about that tomorrow. Our friends have gone over to Ölü Deniz today so we're going to meet them later on, mainly because we want a Kumsal pide again for tea!

Fethiye McDonald's Open - And a Round Up, Too

Well here it is in all it's glory - the brand new, open McDonald's Fethiye. We took this photo whilst walking home from Deep Blue Bar in the small hours of the morning on Wednesday night / Thursday morning and it was still open. We've got no idea of it's going to be open so late all the time or if this was just a one-off because it was the opening day but we did see a customer coming out. 

If we're feeling the need to consume some solids on our way home from a night out, rather than go to McDonald's, I think we'll be going for fantastic Turkish soup at one of the 24 hour lokantas or we'll buy kokoreç. Don't get us wrong, we're McDonald's snobs - we just think that if we're paying for a burger it might as well be a nice big meaty one on lovely fresh bread. We don't enjoy any of the big chain burgers so if you want to know what the interior of this new place is like, you're going to have to pay a visit yourself.

Open all hours?

May has been a funny month for Fethiye with regards to the weather. Hot and stuffy whilst my dad was here and then last week was windy and on the cooler side of warm. Yesterday absolutely poured down and even when it wasn't raining, it was cloudy. However, we reckon the hot Fethiye summer has kicked in today and is here to stay now. We've woken up this morning to no breeze, blue skies, sunshine and it's already about 30 degrees I reckon.

Typically, we have to do boring things today like going to pay bills and other normal life activities so no time to go to see our friends at their hotel and of course use their pool for a cool off. Ah well, we have a full summer ahead of us for enjoyable things like that. We've got a couple of days out planned for the coming few days as well. We're hopefully going to sail across to Göcek on Sunday with our friends and we mentioned a few posts ago that we insist on everyone seeing Tlos and Yaka Park when they come to visit us. If all goes to plan, we're going to hire a car to take our friends up there one day next week. It has to be done.

Well, one good thing about writing a blog is that it's fluid and we can update as and when. In Fethiye things are changing all the time. For one thing, it's a fast growing town/city and also, when it comes to bars and restaurants, new ones are replacing old ones all the time and ownership changes. A while back, we did a post about Buffalo Steakhouse in Fethiye. Well, we have no idea what's happened or the reasons why - and we probably never will -  but this is now closed. We also don't know if it is a permanent closure. We never did get to have a steak there! If you know Buffalo and their famous steaks, you'll know they have a restaurant in Ölü Deniz so all is not lost. Maybe we can try there one of these days.
*Update December 2011 - Buffalo Steakhouse has now reopened :))
*Update June 2012 - Buffalo Steakhouse has now re-closed :((
*Update February 2013 - Buffalo Steakhouse has been open all winter. We'll keep you posted for summer! 

A Day Out on Ölü Deniz Beach

Hooray, the sun came out in Fethiye yesterday and as we've got a friend out at the moment who loves beaches and sunbathing, we thought it only right to have a beach day at the beautiful Ölü Deniz. May is the best time for us to go there because neither me nor Barry are particularly great when it comes to lying in hot sun so yesterday was very bearable - well for an hour at least. We got bored after that and went to the Sea Horse Restaurant for a drink while Charlotte continued to soak up the rays.

Yesterday was the first outing of the year for the bikini - but it was purely for sunbathing purposes. I had no intention of getting it wet! Barry was determined to have his first swim of the year and described the water temperature as 'refreshing' (otherwise known as freezing) so that confirmed what I suspected. It is not swimming weather yet. Charlotte had a swim too and as it took her a good few minutes to get into the water, my mind was definitely made up to stay toastie under the sun.

Yes, it might be touristy but there's no denying Ölü Deniz is beautiful!

Apart from the acceptable May temperatures, we also love Ölü Deniz at this time of year because it's low season so Belcekiz Beach (the main beach you can see in the photo) isn't completely covered in sunbeds. You can still see the natural beauty of the area and the sea is clear and an amazing turquoise colour.

Once the sun started to go down, we went to we went to Kumsal Restaurant for some tea on the sea front. We've mentioned Kumsal in the past - home of the bowling alley. This photo is of the rooftop restaurant area with views of the hills and lush greenery in the background. The view to the left is through the trees and out to sea - an amazing setting for a bit of the famous Turkish pide (like a long thin pizza). I've got to say, it was fantastic.

The beautiful roof terrace of Kumsal Pide

We ordered mezes (ezme, hummus and sigara böreği - cheese rolls) and then three medium pides. We always go for kuşbaşılı pide (tiny cubes of beef or lamb) so we got one of those. Charlotte's vegetarian so she got a cheese, pepper, onion and tomato one and then we got a cheese and spinach one too. The cheese and spinach pide was a revelation. Loved it. Rather than being open so so you could see all the topping like on a normal pide, it was completely folded over.

Wherever we go to eat out, we always ask for a plate of chillies to go with our meal. Pide just isn't pide without chilli flakes so the waiter brought us some and issued a warning that these particular chilli flakes were scorchers. He was right, too! They were amazing so we asked him where we could buy them from. Another plus point to the restaurant for us - these flakes are not bought in. They're from the chillies grown in the owner's garden. They're then dried and chopped with a little oil. If you like spicy and if you ever get the chance to go to Kumsal Restaurant, ask for the chilli flakes.

Of course, what we should have done is take a photo of all this fantastic food but we were on the last slice of pide when it crossed our mind so it was all a bit too late by then. I'm sure we'll be going there again very soon though so we'll take some photos then.

(The pides come in three sizes and we weren't sure what size to order so plumped for the middle ground and got medium. We'd had the mezes so the medium was more than big enough...might have to skip the mezes and go large next time though. The diet can wait.)

Turkish Breakfast & Unsettled Fethiye Weather

Well, after the mild winter we had in Fethiye, we would have expected May to have been much nicer than it's been. The last few days have been really unsettled, cool and cloudy and as I write, we're being engulfed in a big black cloud - oh, and now the big, heavy raindrops are just starting to plummet to the earth like miniature torpedoes!

None of this particularly bothers us of course - a bit of rain never did anyone any harm - but our friend arrived at 3am this morning and she left a very hot and sunny Blighty behind to come to a very cool and cloudy Turkey. Oh well, she'll just have to enjoy the pleasure of seeing mates she's not seen for ages. The sunbathing can wait for another day or two.

Turkish breakfast - eggs and bread to come

The photo today is of our 'brunch' we had this afternoon. We only made it to bed at 5am so it was a late start today. We took a photo of it because Charlotte was taking photos of it and it looked like a good spread for brekky/lunch. There was bread and also boiled village eggs but they were still inside before we took the photos. It's not quite a traditional Turkish breakfast but not far off. Cucumber, tomato, cheese, eggs, bread, olives, jam are the staples but there's always room for manoeuvre with the Turkish breakfast. Barry made kızartma last night and I made a potato salad from the new potatoes that are out on the market at the moment and a quick cacık (yoghurt and cucumber).

It did the trick anyway - till now. We're all feeling a tad hungry again so we're all fighting over the shower and getting ready to go out to eat and enjoy another evening at the lovely Deep Blue Bar.

Fethiye Rumours - Yes It Is!

Look at this - two posts in one day. Well, it had to be done. On a dull and stuffy Fethiye day, we walked up to the Friday market to get some supplies for our friend's arrival...and also to see what the McDonald's looked like. Well, it looks like the Fethiye rumour that became a definite and then got demoted back to rumour status is now definitely a definite. 

We passed it on the council bus on the way home and there were a couple of sets of Brits on the bus. One of them wanted to jump off the bus there and then saying they were having withdrawal symptoms (each to their own) and the other set of Brits groaned in disbelief. Who'd have thought something like this could cause such a stir? Well, as this is a positive blog, at least it's created some more jobs in Fethiye.

Just as we suspected

While we're on the subject of Fethiye rumours, my other post about the strange contraption in the sea at Fethiye from this morning has generated three replies (all from blokes who must know about these types of things) and all said the same thing. We had a reply on Twitter, one as a direct message and the other one is a comment that you can read at the bottom of the post. It's basically some sort of huge drill for laying jetties (sorry to the people who replied for simplifying that in such a bad way). The comment under the post is more detailed than that and thanks to all three of you for the info. We're learning loads from doing this blog!

We've been hearing rumours for years and years that the harbour is going to be prepared for cruise ships and last week we heard that the cruise ships were going to be docking...right where that machinery is at the moment (it's in the middle of the bay at the moment opposite the little fishing boat area). Hmmm, have the preparations begun then? Answer - not a clue but we'll keep our eyes open - it's just a rumour!

The Continuing Fethiye Puzzle

Curiouser and curiouser. You may remember that I wrote about a couple of pontoons being lowered into Fethiye bay a few days ago. We lost track of where the little motorboat was pulling them to so we've got no idea of their destination.

Then, a couple of days ago, this vessel (we have to say vessel because we've got absolutely no idea what it is? Any ideas anyone?) arrived in the harbour and has since moored itself against the little fishing boat area just where the new Fethiye harbour road ends. Is this connected to the pontoons, the harbour or just none of the above? On the same day, another lorry chugged slowly past our house with another pontoon on its trailer. It stopped a little further down, lowered the pontoon into the water and again, a little motor boat started to pull it out to sea.

A strange contraption in Fethiye

But, the motor boat then did a left and dragged the pontoon across the bay and up towards Fethiye boatyard and the Mediteran Hotel. We're going to have to go and explore that one because we don't know if the other two are there as well. And if all three pontoons are there, why put them into the water at this end of the bay? Why not at the boatyard where huge gülets are lowered into the water all the time? As we said, curiouser and curiouser.

Well, you might have noticed that at the moment, I'm failing miserably in my attempts to do a post a day. May was always going to be a toughie as we have friends out throughout this month. We've got a friend arriving tomorrow night / early hours of Sunday morning as well. She was worried about the weather after the rainstorm on Tuesday but it's all gone back to its May loveliness now. Breezy and sunny - good sunbathing weather. 

Also speaking of friends, a couple of friends who are out at the moment texted us yesterday to say they were in town and the McDonald's banner is there! So that's us off into Fethiye a bit later on to have a see for ourselves. We're assuming it's the building next to the Tuesday market.

Seasonal Food in Turkey - Erik

Well, the plan was to do this post on erik yesterday and we went to Fethiye Tuesday market with the aim of getting photos of these shiny green morsels. As you might know from yesterday's post about Fethiye Market, the rain just took over and caused much amusement and so we just had to do the post on that instead.

Erik - meaning 'plum' in Turkish - is one of those Turkish seasonal foods that really baffled us when we first moved out to Fethiye. We've mentioned in the past about çağla - unripe almond. Erik is another example of the strange Turkish love of unripe fruit. Why on earth would anyone want to eat unripe fruit? The British life education has been that this is going to cause your stomach no end of grief! Well, erik are the little green balls you can see in the photo and these unripe plums are loved by the people of Turkey.

Erik and the first cherries of the season

If you live in this part of Turkey, you'll know that we're a bit late with this post on this particular seasonal food because the erik have been out for a few weeks now. For us though, they are in their prime now, well, as far as unripe fruit can reach its prime - which all seems a bit odd. Can unripe fruit reach its prime...and then does it have another prime when it's ripe? See, these are the potentially philosophical things you have to ponder when you move to a different place and strange foods appear on the market to challenge the senses. But if you click to enlarge this photo, you'll see that the sign says 'tatlı' on it and the price has come down a bit...the plums are on the turn from sour to sweet.

A week or so ago, erik were 4 and 5 lira a kilo on the markets and were tiny, crunchy and sour - as any right-minded person would expect unripe fruit to be. When they're like this, they're bought to eat as nibbles and dipped in salt before you take a bite. It prevents smarting of the eyes and contortion of the face. At the moment, they are reaching 'tatlı' (sweet) stage. You can get an idea of their size because they're next to bananas in the photo but they're getting bigger and a bit less 'tangy' on the tongue. We were with friends the other night and had erik as our nibbles. They get very moreish at this stage. You still need the salt to sprinkle over the odd rogue one, but they are now at the stage of starting to taste like a tangy Granny Smith's apple. They go well with an Efes Pilsen whilst chatting the night away - you have that on the good authority of us!

Hard to think these little green balls will grow up to be lovely, juicy plums that, whilst still sold on the markets in Fethiye and Çalış, don't seem to be eagerly awaited (except by us). Maybe erik are considered to be past their best once they turn into purple, ripe, juicy, sweet plums. Just what is it with the Turkish love of things unripe? 

Fethiye Market...At The Wrong Time of Day

Well, we woke up this morning to a very still, cloudy day in Fethiye. Still very warm and humid but the cloud was sitting really low over the mountains so we were expecting maybe a bit of rain. We've gone through the whole of winter without getting drowned at any of Fethiye's markets (last winter, it seemed to be pouring down every time we went) and now today - in May - everyone was caught out. We set off without jackets thinking we'd maybe get caught in just a little shower. None of these photos show how heavy the rain was or how wet everyone was by the time we got there. It became comical in the end because there was nothing else to do but laugh.

Gathered rainfall just about to create a waterfall at Fethiye market

We only went to Fethiye market to get some potatoes, onions and tomatoes and the food section wasn't busy at all. We think most people had the good sense to stay at home but the clothes section was absolutely packed with holidaymakers today and coaches were parking up dropping more and more people off. What made it comical was that if you're on your holidays, you wear your holiday clothes...no matter what the weather's like! So we had blokes in shorts, vests and flip flops and women in little strappy / strapless sun dresses and sandals. And this was the weather that greeted them.

Taking shelter from the torrential rain under the tarpaulin covers

Because the rain was so torrential, it was just gushing from the edges of the tarpaulin covers. Us Brits love a bit of 'weather' so there were lots of 'Ooohs' and 'Ahhhs' and applauding (a bit like when you watch a firework display or an aeroplane manages to land) as the stall holders poked at the tarpaulin to push the collecting water over the edges, just missing unsuspecting bystanders - we didn't see anyone get caught under it, unfortunately. A great spectacle - and we're not being cruel because we've been a victims of this ourselves in the past. Highlight of the stall holders' day!

And so, the Brits continued undeterred in their mission snap up whatever Turkey bargains they were after, despite the rain. Fethiye market was starting to flood in places so we saw lots of blokes in bare feet, flip-flops in hands. Improvisation was the way forward. One woman had made a hat from a carrier bag but the best one we saw was a bloke who'd bought a washing-up bowl and walked round with it on his head! Great idea. Lots of goose bumps around too. Wherever this rain had come from, it hadn't come from one of the warmest parts of the world. It was great big, icy cold droppers - not strappy dress, shorts and vest weather.

Rain? What rain? The sun shines once more over Fethiye Marina

Squashed with many other people under one of the only pieces of tarpaulin that hadn't sprung a leak, we started to wonder how and when we were going to get home...and then this happened (see photo above). Deafening rain pummelling the tarpaulin covers and then all of a sudden, birds tweeting, sun shining, blue sky and the occasional waterfall - never forget there is collected rainfall lurking on top of them there covers if you get caught in a rainstorm at Fethiye market and then it stops!

So, we strolled home in the warm sunshine as if the rain had never happened - and you'll be pleased to know that the Fethiye weather is now back to behaving itself. It's a beautiful evening.

Fethiye Goings On - What Is It?

What do you suppose is going on here? This lorry appeared on the coastal road between Fethiye and Çalış pretty early on this morning. 

Pontoons arriving in Fethiye

The two huge concrete contraptions on the back are the same as the pontoons they have used to make the new mini marina where the fishing boats and smaller yachts are now moored. We were very curious so I took a photo because we were wondering where they could possibly be for.

Fethiye's floating pontoons

An hour or two later, we went to spy again and we saw this little motor boat pulling one of the pontoons out to sea. Now, you'd think we should be getting good at noseying by now but after this, we intended to have another look - and then forgot all about it! Typical. The only ideas we can come up with are that either Şovalye Island is getting a new jetty or Red Island (Kızıl Adası) may be getting one for the restaurant there. Going to have to wait until we go on a boat trip to find out we reckon.

Day Trip From Fethiye - Tlos

My dad has been out for a visit and he returned to the UK yesterday. Over the years, we've been everywhere we can think of that a day trip from Fethiye allows with my dad and so when he comes now, we leave it to him to choose. He can either have a chill week around the pool and the bars or he can choose which day trips he wants to do. Every visit he does (either once a year or twice a year), at least one of the day trips has to be to Tlos and Yaka Park. He doesn't really like hot weather so Yaka Park is perfect for the coolness and he loves rugged countryside - especially with a few ruins thrown in - so Tlos meets those requirements too. We had a great day up there a couple of days ago.

Lycian rock tombs and the Roman fortress from the roadside, Tlos

If you've been to Tlos before and you show a keen interest in your ruins, then you'll probably spot from these photos from Friday that the scenery is looking a little different. That's because there have been more archaeological digs going on over the last two or three years. We didn't do any exploring on Friday because my dad and his friend are not very mobile so we just stopped at the side of the road in the car to get a couple of photos. The area you can see in the above photo has just been uncovered - it was submerged in scrubland previously. It's a shame it was so hazy on Friday because it's an amazing view of the Xanthos Valley from here.

The recently excavated Roman precinct below the fortress, Tlos

Why do we love Tlos so much then? Well, you're surrounded by the huge Akdağlar mountain range and even though you're so high up at Tlos, you are still in the foothills, overlooking the beautiful Xanthos Valley, yet still dwarfed by the mountains. There are countless amazing places to see in the world that we have still not seen (and possibly will never see) but the Xanthos Valley area is right up there (for us) for what we've seen of the world so far.

That sets the scene then. What's there? Lycian rock tombs nestled amongst the substantial Roman ruins. A Roman fortress on top of the hill overlooking the whole valley, Roman baths with equally stupendous views, theatre...you can see most of these from the road as you drive along but it is worth parking up, paying the entrance fee and spending at least a couple of hours there. Climb up to the top of the fortress or explore the baths and the theatre. Even if ruins aren't your bag, these ruins are in a breathtaking setting. One of the very famous guidebooks for Turkey says the Lycian rock tombs at Myra are in the most dramatic setting - but, having visited both the (beautifully intact) Myra tombs and the tombs at Tlos, we strongly beg to differ.

Roman water cisterns that fed the baths further to the left, Tlos

If you're staying in the Fethiye region, there are different ways you can get to Tlos. We said yesterday that you can spend an hour or two round the ruins here and then continue on up the road to Yaka Park for a cool down, refreshment and a bit of food. If you've got your own transport, this is possible. Other ways to get to this area are as part of a jeep safari or as part of a dolmuş tour from the dolmuş station in Fethiye. The jeep safari (an experience in itself - not for me but loved by many) and the dolmuş tour also take in Saklıkent Gorge, which is just down the road, on the same day. If you want a pit stop tour of the area and you don't want to drive, these options are probably the best. If you want a good mooch around, without time limits, then you need to get yourselves up there.

Update: The excavations mentioned in this post revealed some intact statues which you can see in this post about Fethiye Museum.

How To Get To Tlos / Saklıkent Gorge From Fethiye:

• To get to Tlos from the Fethiye area, you need to get yourself onto the D400 - the main Dalaman road - and head in the direction of Antalya, NOT Dalaman. Basically, wherever you hit the D400, you need to turn right. 
• Head along the road - you can see the Akdağlar mountain range ahead of you - and eventually, after 25 minutes or so, you'll come to a junction with traffic lights where you can bear right towards Kaş and Patara. Continue straight on here, towards Saklıkent - it's all signposted. 
• About a mile further on, you will see a sign for Tlos and Saklıkent pointing to the right. Take this road and continue along it for about 4 miles (we've never measured the exact distances). You'll pass over a couple of bridges, crossing the river which is usually dry in summer. 
• After the bridges, keep your eyes peeled for a road to the left which is signposted for Tlos - it's not a very obvious sign. Once you're on this road, you're just heading up the hill until you get to the ruins (you can't miss them) and Yaka Park is about 5-10 minutes further along. 
• If you miss the Tlos turning, you'll end up at Saklıkent Gorge so you'll still get a great day out anyway and you can always attempt to get up to Tlos on your way back! It's about a 45-minute journey from Fethiye to Tlos / Saklıkent Gorge.

Day Trip From Fethiye - Tlos & Yaka Park

Ahh, the lovely Yaka Park. No day trip from Fethiye to Tlos is complete without a visit to Yaka Park Restaurant. When we first came to Fethiye for our holidays in 1998, we met a couple of friends who took us up here and we've been coming ever since. We'll never get bored of the restaurant or the area that it's in - it's stunning. When friends come out to visit us, it's obligatory for them to come up here because you just know they're going to be amazed by it. Always nice to send people home with a 'wow factor' in their heads and this is definitely one of them.

Cooling shade at Yaka Park

There's no shortage of fresh spring water in the Xanthos region of Turkey and when you go to Yaka Park, all this has been channelled around the area so that there are streams and waterfalls and all you can hear is the sound of the force of gushing water. It's especially good when you drive up in the mid-summer heat, enter the restaurant and the temperature suddenly drops. You're high up above the Xanthos Valley, the trees are shading you and you can feel the coolness from the force of the icy cold water. Natural air conditioning.

Yaka Park used to have a trout farm as well. This seems to come and go and it wasn't there yesterday. They do still keep some pretty huge trout in one of the pool areas and they also have baby trout swimming through the spring water stream that runs through a channel carved into the centre of the bar. 

Beautiful Yaka Park

Because this area is so beautiful and remote, it has become jeep safari country and we know some of the companies do use Yaka Park as a stopping off point. If you want to go when it's really peaceful (yesterday was bliss) then early and late season might be the best times to go. Having said that, even if you're there when everyone troops in from the jeep safari, the stop-offs are quite short so the groups will have been and gone before you know it and you'll soon have the place to yourself again.

Also, as is the norm for this area of Turkey, the success of Yaka Park means more of these places have popped up along the road. Yaka Park is the original one and (in our opinion) the best. If you do want to go up there after a hot afternoon mooching around the ruins of Tlos, keep driving up the road from Tlos and ignore all the other signs. Lots of these signs have 'Yaka Park' in the name (Yaka is the name of the village) and people pull into these restaurants thinking they are at the Original Yaka Park. We're sure you'd still have a lovely time at the other places so this is no big disaster - it's just a shame the people who run these places haven't thought of more 'original' names for their restaurants.

Trout enjoying a tickle

Yaka Park now has road signs that say 'Original Yaka Park' on them and it is the highest one of the restaurants so you know to keep driving and then you will see the big stone archway, leading you in. There's a full bar and simple, but quality, Turkish food. Gözleme is on offer, köfte (meatballs), chicken or, of course, trout. The köfte looked fantastic yesterday - my dad ordered it - but we just couldn't face it because we were feeling ill from the night before so me and Barry shared a gözleme. And very good it was too. Never fear if you're vegetarian. The gözleme is completely vegetarian and there are also lots of meze (traditional Turkish side dishes) and salads to choose from.

We mentioned that the jeep safaris come up to Yaka Park and to the other restaurants too but for us, if you want the full peace and tranquillity experience, come up here under your own steam then you're not being shunted in and straight back out again. :We haven't gone into too much detail about how to get to Yaka Park because we're going to post about Tlos tomorrow so we'll link the two together and give proper directions then.

For directions to Yaka Park From Fethiye, click the link to see our post about the Lycian and Roman ruins of Tlos.

A Busy Day Along Fethiye Harbour

I quite like these before and after photos of the new Fethiye Harbour road because they look very (accidentally) stylised. We've got the rubble and the pathway marked out - and the dull sky. And then we've got a lovely new cobbled road and pavement - looking super duper because the sun's shining. 

Akarca, Fethiye, before

Anyway, we have now got the road you can see in the photo close to our house. The obstacle-free walk into Fethiye is tantalisingly close and if we ever actually manage to go running again, hopefully the track will be longer. Neither of us have been for a week and a half now. I've had no time and Barry still has shin splints that he can't shake off. I'm determined to start next week afresh and go for a run on Monday.

Fethiye Phase 2 After

Today is an example of busy busy days in summer season in Fethiye. We invited my dad and his friend for a barbecue tonight so we were busy sorting that, I got through a massive pile of ironing - hallelujah - and Barry went into Fethiye to get his hair cut and try to sort out our incorrect water bill. The water place told him to go back at 4pm (barbecue arrival time) so he came back here, quick lunch and chicken wing preparation. Also, both of us had to go back to a friend's apartment to put some beers in the fridge for their arrival tonight and then Barry went off back into Fethiye while I waited to greet our guests.

The water bill saga I will post about some time soon. It's a palava that's now almost sorted and hopefully all will be well but it's just been one of those classic examples of, it doesn't matter how much Turkish we try to learn, this one was always going to be nigh on impossible to try to explain.

And so, I'm going to finish this post and then go and curl up in bed. Mmm, dreaming of bed now. My dad and his mate have gone off to watch the football in Çalış, leaving us with a decent bedtime...and the washing-up can wait till tomorrow!

Another Fethiye Cruise Ship

The World coming into Fethiye Harbour this morning

Yeahy, how exciting. We got up this morning and opened the curtains to see another cruise ship inching its way very slowly as far as it could into Fethiye bay. I mentioned in the previous Fethiye cruise ship post that over the years, I have become a bit boring / obsessed with these cruise ships just to see which one it is that's coming in. I rushed off for my camera to take this photo of her arriving. She's currently docked in front of Letoonia and the shuttle boats are going to and fro, taking the ship's residents ashore.

After I zoomed in on the photo, I could see the name on the boat and it's called (rather unimaginatively?) The World. We have seen this boat in Fethiye before. It might have visited since but it was here three summers ago and stayed in the harbour for about 2 weeks. We found out that most of the people on the boat were American pensioners doing a world cruise. This is where Paspatur comes in handy. If you sit outside of Deep Blue Bar long enough, you see all these people strolling around the shops and when they leave, you get the low down from the shop owners.

It's the Fethiye shop owners in Paspatur that would really get the benefit from the cruise ships if they were to come in regularly so here's hoping for a for a few more to come in this summer.

We had to have a quiet night last night due to my 'illness' yesterday morning. I was really tired so we left Fethiye early. A gentle few at the Deep Blue Bar and then my dad wanted something 'kebabish' so we went to Paşa Kebab. Just fantastic and getting more and more popular. We had to sit inside last night because there was no room outside - and it's only May! Anyway, we all had Adana kebab and there were no leftovers!

The weather in Fethiye is definitely heating up now too. Last night was the first night I've not had to put a small jacket or cardigan on as it's got later. Arms out all night! Think it's going to be a hot summer - well, hotter than usual.

Okay, we're off to Çalış now on a dad hunt. I wonder where we'll end up tonight...

Rising Temperatures in Fethiye

Phewww, it's a hot one in Fethiye today. Yesterday was cloudy and rainy but we awoke this morning to a still, hot and sunny day. I haven't taken a photo of this hot day yet so I thought I'd share with you a paraglider against the lovely blue sky and mountain backdrop of Ölü Deniz. It just looks summery.

Paragliding at Ölü Deniz

Great Auntie Jessie has left us this afternoon and is probably sat at Dalaman Airport as I write. No delays for her as far as we know. We went round to see her off and I just about made it after spending most of this morning being very rough. We're getting too old for entertaining our guests I think. My body / liver can't take it. I'm talking about my dad and his mate being out. I'm just about feeling human now and have managed to eat a couple of sausages about half an hour ago - and as soon as I've done this, we're going into Fethiye to meet them again. Diet Coke for me for at least the first couple of drinks! Hair of the dog doesn't seem remotely appealing at the moment.

Having people out to visit means normal life halts until they leave and you realise that normal stuff has been happening while you've been on your visitors holidays with them. For instance, the road along the harbour is now fully cobbled. I'm going to take my camera into town later and get some photos as we're on the way. Also, we were leaving the house to go and say bye to Auntie Jessie and horror of horrors - all my pansies and other flowers were all wilted, lying in the soil, begging for a drink of water. How neglectful of me! They look a bit happier now. Poor things.

Day Trip From Fethiye - Rhodes

'Rhodes, Every Day From Fethiye.' 

If you know the Fethiye region either from living here or coming for your holidays, you will have seen advertising hoardings on the roadsides, displaying that phrase and a picture of the Flying Poseidon shooting across the sea. It always makes us chuckle when we see it because of the 'every day.' 

Hydrofoil leaves for Rhodes

The first time we used the Flying Poseidon hydrofoil from Fethiye was about three years ago. We needed to go to renew our visa so we took ourselves off to one of the travel agents in the centre of Fethiye to arrange the booking.

'We'd like to book on the hydrofoil to Rhodes please.'
'Okay. Which day would you like to go?'
'Which days does it run?'
'Every day.'
'Okay, can we go on Sunday please?'
'No, not Sunday.'
'Why not? Is it fully booked?'
'It doesn't run on Sundays.'
'So it doesn't run every day then?'
'Yes, it runs every day.'
'But we can't go on Sunday so it doesn't run every day.'
'Yes. It runs every day - except Sundays.'

And so that was the conversation and we ended up going one day in the week. Throughout July and August, the Flying Poseidon is highly likely to be running every day (assuming that that is with the exception Sundays of course). Early and late season, it leaves a few days a week taking you for a lovely little outing to the Greek island of Rhodes - specifically, Rhodes Town. And if you fancy this little outing, we're sure the islanders of Rhodes will be very pleased to see any visitors they can get this year.

We hope to be visiting one day - not Sunday - this season as we haven't been for a while. We normally use our little Greek trips from Fethiye as a pork fix. You can get amazing gyros in Rhodes which is basically a döner kebab but with pork instead of beef, lamb or chicken and they put a few chips on it too. 

However, we have had a great pork fix this lunchtime as my dad is out visiting at the moment. He never comes empty handed so lunch was a bacon half bread with HP sauce. Mm Mm Mmmm. Our mention of the bacon butty also got a good few comments on the Turkey's For Life Facebook Fanpage.


Compare rates for popular Rhodes hotels on Turkey's For Life

Turkish Food - Sucuk (Turkish Sausage)

Sucuk (pronounced sujuk) is just gorgeous. It's traditional Turkish sausage and you'll see it described on some English menus as 'garlic sausage.' We think this is misleading. It's a spicy sausage and the nearest taste to it is the Italian pepperoni like what you get on a pizza.

A fantastic and simple Turkish dish is to fry a few slices of sucuk (it only takes about a minute) and then to crack eggs into the pan so that they fry and set around your sucuk slices. Yummy!

Sucuk - a versatile cured meat!

It's also really good (ssshhhh!) if you put a few slices into kızartma. However, do not do this to impress your Turkish friends. We made it once for a barbecue and asked a Turkish friend to try it. His face was a picture. 'You don't put sucuk in kızartma!'
'We know that but it goes really well. Try it.'
'Kızartma doesn't have sucuk in it.'
'Well, let's call it something different then...' and so on. Kızartma doesn't have sucuk in it, he's right...oh, but it's good!

You can buy sucuk in the supermarkets but it's really expensive. If you do get it from the supermarket, buy it from the deli counter. It's cheaper and more 'real.' The chicken and egg stalls on Fethiye markets also sell it. We usually go for the acı (spicy hot) variety and prefer the harder, more cured ones to the squishy sucuk. There's also a really decent butchers that we use a lot in the fish market in Fethiye. The shop's called Hilmi and he makes his own sucuk and it's really good. We've not been cheeky enough to ask yet but we thought about asking to make a special spicy batch up for us.

Brits Abroad in Fethiye - Oh Yes, We CAN Do Politics

Wow! Well, this photo was taken this morning just because we needed a daily photo. Quite an apt photo in that it's a very hazy / foggy Fethiye scene (directly ahead, you can normally see hills quite clearly in the distance). AccuWeather said it was 'dense fog' but it was just a morning haze. We both got up at 5am this morning (3am GMT) so we could watch the UK General Election results as they came in and we're sat here at 21:20 (19:20 GMT) none the wiser as to who the next British Prime Minister will be. All very foggy and hazy - as in the photo.

Fethiye - no hills

A strange election this time. We're both quite into our politics - not always agreeing - and this is the first time we've watched the whole process from Turkey. We found out (too late) that we could have had a postal vote but there's still a debate for us about that. If we choose not to live in Britain (even though we are British citizens) should we have the right to put our cross on a slip of paper to say who runs the country? Well, we both agree on our answer and that's 'probably not.' One to ponder for us for the future.

Anyway, we got up at 5am this morning and the TV has been on since apart from a quick respite at Carol and Güven's in Çalış. The TV is still on and Britain still doesn't know who the prime minister will be for the next term, of office. All very exciting as far as we're concerned - a chance to show the 'can't be bothered' potential electorate that politicians have got half a brain between them and can work hard to sort this situation...But what an amazing democracy Britain has that is (maybe) taken for granted. Maybe the hung parliament will prevent voter apathy in the future. 

People in Turkey have to vote. Is that good for preventing poor turn-out and determining the correct result? Again, another one to ponder. And after people were turned away in some of the British constituencies for various reasons, could Britain handle it if everyone turned up up vote? Errr, probably not as the system stands.

There have been a few highlights of today:

• David Dimbleby and Jeremy Paxman doing a good 20 hour shift of live TV and still constructing a decent sentence at the end - only on the BBC. BBC at it's best.
• Alistair Campbell being introduced on the BBC as 'the former communications leader for labour' by the BBC. 'Former' being the operative word as he stood being interviewed at 8pm tonight, very boggy-eyed, collar all over the shop, and we happen to know that instead of sleeping in bed, he was dutifully 'Tweeting' through most of the night about Labour retaining seats...maybe he's just showing an interest...
• Jacqui Smith (former Home Secretary) losing her seat and leaving the hall with the bottom lip dithering. Yes, we got to see the person, not the politician...might have felt sorry for her if she hadn't claimed on her expenses for her husband's pornographic videos...hmmm.
• The nationalist parties of all varieties and countries lost a good few seats and therefore momentum. Good news.
• The one and only Boris Johnson (he's got Ottoman grandparents so there's a link to Turkey there) being interviewed by Jeremy Paxman about 12:30 GMT. You're never going to remember Boris's exact words but something along the lines of 'we can put together a Meccano group of politicians to sort out ruling the country but as the Tories won, think of a Wall's sausage. We (the Tories) would have to be the meat in that sausage.' Paxman's face was a picture and he asked if that would be a chipolata sausage. Does this sort of conversation only happen on Britain? We expect so!
• David Cameron's overture speech to Nick Clegg at 2:30pm GMT - keywords: Strong, Solid, Stable, Open, Big - there mustn't be enough left in the Tory warchest for a second election and a Roget's Thesaurus.

A final ponder - should Britain have Proportional Representation? I can't decide - I can see that it's more 'completely' democratic but does that work in practice? Obviously Nick Clegg has a good case for driving for it; they increased their share of the vote last night but still lost 5 seats. Mr Lembit Opik was apparently their big banker but lost his seat to the Tories - well, Lembit, if you ditch your weather presenter lady for one of the Cheeky Girls, what do you expect?

Turkey don't have PR. Too many parties would be after bits of power otherwise and that's the problem with PR in Britain too. A country needs strong leadership...and so we wait to see what will happen in Blighty.

And on that note, just off to watch Jimmy Ruffin on Jools Holland on e2...ahh, Fridays are lovely if you're not a political party leader!

(PS Hasn't Jimmy Ruffin got big hands?)

Bowling in Ölü Deniz - Kumsal Bowling

Kumsal Bowling & Pide Restaurant

It's definitely the start of the summer season now in Fethiye because Deep Blue Bar is now open in the daytime too. Well, we felt it only right that we go and christen the beginning of the season by taking a few photos of Paspatur and enjoying a couple of Efes beers in the dappled shade. We had the couple of Efes but I forgot my camera - a shame because it was the first time we'd seen everything open and the whole area was looking particularly chilled and lovely. Oh well, there'll be many more opportunities I'm sure.

Today's photo is of Kumsal Pide and Bowling in Ölü Deniz. Kumsal is one of the original eating places in Ölü Deniz, before there were any hotels and the area was just a quiet bay for camping. Quite impressively (we think), it has lived to tell the tale through all the construction of the big hotels, bars and restaurants and if you do find yourself in Ölü Deniz on a budget, they have kept their food prices very reasonable compared to other places on the seafront - Kumsal's pide (Turkish pizza) and lahmacun (spicy Turkish flat bread) is yummy. The great thing for us is they are one of the only places in the area that stay open through the winter so it's been a little haven for us quite a few times after we've been trekking. We didn't go inside when we went to Ölü Deniz the other day but it looks like they've done a lot of refurbishment and you can just about see in the photo that they've put a roof terrace on which must give amazing views of the sea.

The Kumsal bowling alley has been open for quite a few years now (it's through the archway on the photo and straight down the stairs) and we've spent many an hour in there when it's been a rainy day. It's not bowling as you might know it in your own country. They do keep trying to get strict with the bowling shoes but it just doesn't wash with people here. Bare feet, flip flops, trainers, we've seen them all, and I like it that way because I've got a bit of a thing about wearing shoes that other people have worn. 

We're not sure on the prices for a game because we haven't been yet this year but it was never extortionate. There's a bar down there and the added bonus is that if you start feeling a bit on the hungry side, the staff are happy to send up for a pide, chips, salad or whatever for you and they'll deliver it to you downstairs so you can carry on playing.

Getting to Kumsal Pide & Bowling Alley

• Kumsal Restaurant, Bar and Bowling is at the far end of Belcekiz Beach. 
• If you arrive to Ölü Deniz by dolmuş, with the beach facing you, turn left past all the restaurants and paragliding landing areas and it's about a 5 minute walk along the shore - its one of the last buildings.

**Update: We have since visited Kumsal Pide and sat on the beautiful roof terrace whilst munching on Turkish meze and pide. Take a look at the pides and roof terrace.

Fethiye Bits n Bobs - A (Good) News Update

All systems go along the new harbour now. This section is very close to where we live and is the first sign of a road we've had in around three years. We also saw on the way up to Fethiye market today that they've started to lay the cobbles and join the old part of the running track to what is going to be the new bit. Wow, we won't need to walk far to the track soon.

We've got a road

We were very happy the other day to see 'the little boat' (Çalış-Fethiye water taxi) had started chugging its way across the bay again so imagine our excitement at about 9 o'clock this morning when I heard a dull rumbling...another sound of the Fethiye summer season. I rushed to the front to have my suspicions confirmed. The Rhodes hydrofoil has started running. Not the prettiest looking vessel along the marina but she looks great in the distance first thing in the morning on a calm sea, rising up on her stilts. 

Barry was on his way back from the shop and came in to tell me the hydrofoil had gone out. Obviously, I'd seen it too and so now, we can't be sure who saw it first. Ahh, little competitions. Think we need to get a life! Anyway, it looks like the Fethiye rumour of the new catamaran is going to live on for a while longer yet...probably till next summer no doubt.

In Paspatur news, Cem (one of the brothers who runs Deep Blue Bar) is back from Germany, where he spends the winter. This is the final confirmation for us of the summer season starting in Fethiye. Why? Because Deep Blue Bar doesn't open in the daytime in summer until Cem gets back from Germany. It's always one of the last bars to open in the daytime and we just can't accept that summer's here till we can stroll to Paspatur in the afternoon and plonk down outside the bar for a lazy day, pretending we're not going to have a drink - and then having a drink! My dad arrives on Saturday so I suspect we'll be spending some afternoons there sooner rather than later. 

So, that's it then...another winter survived...it's suuuummmmeeerrrrrr!

Day Trip From Fethiye - Ölü Deniz

As it's May Bank Holiday Monday today and being that we're Brits, it's just tradition that you go out and do something nice. We were pondering what some of our friends might be doing back in England - sitting in pub beer gardens, queueing along the M58 to get to Southport, queueing along the M55 towards Blackpool, queuing along the M6 to get to / back from the Lake District - all those sorts of Bank Holiday Monday things. We became a bit inspired and nostalgic for a Bank Holiday day out so we thought we'd go for a nosey around the must see area of this part of Turkey, Ölü Deniz; just to see if there was anyone around and what was open.

Good news all round really. Ölü Deniz is definitely open for business and there are already quite a few people around - more than this time last year which must be a good sign. We remember this because our friends were here on honeymoon this time last year and there wasn't a lot open or many people around.

A peaceful Belcekiz Beach

A hot day today but we walked down the beach and Barry dipped his finger into the sea. Even he said it felt cold (he's been in the sea here in January in the past) so for me, it'll be freezing. I don't get wet (outdoors!) till at least June though so that's okay for me. I'm not an impatient sort of girl. There were people swimming but not very many, I have to say.

The one thing we were scanning for - we only went for a bit of a nosey around - was beer prices. If there's one phrase you don't associate with Ölü Deniz, it's 'budget holiday' but we've got to say we were very pleasantly surprised. Who would have thought it? We had a drink on the sea front and it was 5 lira for a beer (same as the last two years) and away from the seafront, we saw some for 4 lira. This is amazing for Ölü Deniz! The only bad news is that the dolmuş from Fethiye has gone up to 4 lira for this season. Well, we can't have everything can we? (Petrol prices in Turkey are increasing at pace so there's no surprise in the dolmuş fare increase for us.)

Hmm, more on the beautiful Ölü Deniz tomorrow...bed time.