On Monday, our friends had a late flight from Dalaman airport back to the UK. Rather than us sitting around, waiting and moping all day, we decided to make their last few hours in Turkey a bit more entertaining. We hired a car so we could spend some time in Göcek and Dalyan.
You may remember we spent the day in Göcek in January of this year; again when we were taking friends back to the Dalaman airport. I posted photos of an empty marina on a dull, rainy day and we huddled inside the only cafe that was open and enjoyed an Efes Pilsen and a burger together.
Monday was a different scenario. It was hot, sunny, the skies were blue and the gülets and luxury, private yachts were crammed, as they are every summer, into Göcek marina. And that’s the strange thing…
The boats are there, the bars, restaurants and shops and supermarkets are open…but where is everyone? We’ve been to Göcek many times during the summer months but it’s usually on a Sunday when it’s market day and all the day-trip boats descend on the little harbour town from Fethiye. What happens on the other days? Does Göcek come to life during the balmy evenings as the yachters disembark to dry land?
It reminded me of summer days wandering around Kaş where you almost have the place to yourself. In the case of Kaş, it gets so hot, the people staying there either head to the beach or stay by their hotel pool all day. Göcek is more low key and smaller than that though. We’re curious to see it at night when surely, there must be more people around, otherwise how are all these businesses staying open?
On a selfish note, it was great to be able to wander around the waterfront and stroll along the empty streets and browse the shops of Göcek. You can see why we had such a culture shock when we experienced the mass tourism of Rhodes! On a par with Paspatur in Fethiye, a day trip to Göcek is perfect for winding down, relaxing, chilling out…especially if, like our friends, you’ve already got the dreaded post-holiday blues on your way back to Dalaman Airport.
It’s always neat when it seems you have a whole place to yourself!
You have some really fantastic pictures!
@ Belinda: It happens a lot on the Turkish coast because people don’t want to walk around in the daytime heat.
@ Sailor: Thank you. 🙂