31 May 2015. <TR> Kaş —

Today we decided to have a day off, to catch up with bookwork and writing of blog.

We watched the cruise boats setting out in the morning. The van was perfectly sited to give us a view, and to take full advantage of the onshore breezes. Most comfortable!

A bit later we wandered into town, and back to the Lola restaurant, where we had cheese omelette — Halis was having a day off, so Ismay (who never takes a day off) had put sliced tomato on the side and, with a twinkle in his eye, made a point of the cucumbers which had been cunningly sliced to create heart shapes. We sampled küneffe, a sweet dish with fine shredded wheat pasta around a sweet cheese, with walnuts and honey — could have come back for more!

We strolled around the shops — tourist-oriented, but with really good quality — just enjoying the sights. We were particularly taken by a young brother and sister walking around, hand-in-hand, under the gentle control of their proud father.

We managed to find a post office, and sent off a few rather belated postcards (from Croatia and even before!

Went back to the van, continued with our catch-up, before watching a couple of shows and going to bed.

Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 21,164 miles ( 34,061 km )

30 May 2015. <TR> Kaş —

Cruise day. We had to be on board Bermuda Boat by 9.45am.

The view from the van as we woke rivalled Villefranche!

We went down into the town, checked out the boat, and then went across to the Lola Restaurant for çay and kapuçino. The owner, Halis Sevgin, just had have his photo taken with Suzie — a long ponytail does well doubling for a generous Turkish moustache!

We then boarded the boat. The other passengers trickled on, a couple bringing unexpected friends along as well. The boat normally carries a full load of 35, but 37 made today's trip! Before we set off, Suzie checked out the view from the bow, and Warren tested out the lounges for sleeping comfort! Finally all were on board, and we set off at about 10am.

Our ports of call for the day

The first stop was at Inönü for a swim. The intrepid Hams decided to opt out of this part of the cruise — it was much more fun watching the antics of the others in the water.

Then we continued on to Akvariyum (Aquarium, so named for the large number of fish in the water here — but, with the number of tourists who come through, the fish have decided to make themselves scarce!). And then on to Tersane (Shipyard) for a swim and for lunch. We were most amused by the efforts of the captain of one of the other boats there to get his barbecue lit — we watched him for about half an hour, dousing the thing with accelerant, fanning it with a dustpan, all the time with no apparent success. On the other hand, our skipper, Engin Muslu, got our şiş piliç (chicken 'shish kebab') under way most professionally. Must say that a hair dryer was part of the combustion routine! To go with the şiş piliç we had kuskus pilavı, hot bean salad, cacık (chopped cucumber in garlic-flavoured yoghurt), çoban salatası (mixed tomato, peppers, cucumber and onion salad), hot green peppers, and bread rolls.

We watched this gentleman getting redder and redder!

After lunch, another swim.

Then we sailed along Kekova and Batık Kent (the 'Sunken City'), so named because in an earthquake in 141 AD the whole city dropped by a couple of metres, so the entire harbour area is now submerged. Because the water is so clear, you can see it all just by sailing along the old harbour. But the city went further up, and you can see evidence of habitation all the way up the hillside. At one point there is a gateway bearing the typical Byzantine cross, evidence that habitation continued untill well after this devastating earthquake.

We then came to village of Kaleköy (Simena), where we went ashore for an hour to explore. This village has no roads or streets — you get around by walking up and down sets of steps, with linking laneways. Not surprisingly, there is no vehicular traffic here at all! Some of us went up to the citadel above the village, others (like us) simply explored the village, shopped, and sampled the magnificent home-made ice cream in Cafe Ankh — Warren liked the hazelnut, Suzie preferred the banana! We watched as another boat came into the harbour, and all on board started taking photos of the village!

Our departure was delayed when three of the passengers — three generations, grandma, mum and her 7-year-old daughter — got involved with picking flowers and didn't get back within the hour. The boat had actually pulled out, and it was fascinating to watch rhe skills of our skipper as he backed his craft neatly to the landing to pick them up.

From here, we went on to Üçağız Köyü, where we didn't stop, but simply made a flying visit to drop off three backpackers who wanted to walk the Lycean Way from there. Then on to drop past Yağlica and put in to Eleksi for a final swim. They put on çay for everyone at this stop, but Engin made it clear that no-one who failed to take a dip would get any — fortunately for us, he relented!

And then back to Kaş — the weather had closed in by now, and we were getting rained upon, and the sea was by no means as calm as this morning. Suzie was a little queasy, but so long as she could keep her eyes on the horizon, she was okay.

Rock formations similar to the Giants' Causeway in Ireland, and similar structures in Scotland

On the way in to Kaç we caught sight of the Amphitheatre and — just to its left — there was our van waiting for us!

A wonderful day, and we got back to the van to wind down for the night.

Distance driven — today, nil; to date, 21,164 miles ( 34,061 km )

29 May 2015. <TR> Acipayam; Çavidir; Kaş; —

Today was a day of driving, from our stop-off at Acipayam to Kaş.

We were driving down the D-585 (E-87) until we turned onto the D-350 (which we noticed in the road atlas had a few rather steep climbs, but we now trust Gertie to get us there, albeit slowly), and then onto the D-400 and into Kaş.

On the way we passed fields of white poppies — obviously Turkey has a thriving opium industry.

We stopped off at a service station at Çavidir which had a rather good restaurant (Koca Yusuf) — Turkish, but American enough to make us feel comfortable, While we were there, the heavens cut loose with an intense hailstorm, with thunder and lightning accompaniment. No, no photos — the camera was in the van, and we weren't going out to get it, no-how! After the storm, we went over to the front of the site, where there was a watering point much like all the ones we see throughout Turkey. Suzie went out to fill a large bottle there with fresh drinking water.

We drove past varying scenery — rocky mountainsides, one point where we overlooked this incredible valley. At every possible point on the way, someone had set up a little wood-fired stove and was offering çay — tea — at the side of the road. The Turks cannot get through a day without numerous glasses of çay!

And then we hit the Mediterranean coast again. Wow! We've driven the Aegean in Croatia, but the Turkish Mediterranean is just as good! As we came into Kaş we noticed a tourist beach, set up with banana lounges and beach umbrellas. This is the way to live.

We came into Kaş, went round to the campsite to find that it was fully booked out for the next two days — to a yoga group of all things! — so we drove about 200 metres down the road, where we found a good spot overlooking the islands, just below the ancient theatre of Antiphellos (dating back to the first quarter of the 1st century BC). This spot rivals our favourite one in Villefranche-sur-Mer — the view was magnificent, and the sea breezes kept the van comfortable, and only a 10-minute walk into town.

Warren went down into the village and found a place — Bougainville Turizm — where he was able to book us onto an islands cruise for tomorrow.

And so to bed.

Distance driven — today, 141 miles ( 227 km ); to date, 21,164 miles ( 34,061 km )