World New Zealand Auckland

Sandra and Barry's Continuing Adventures 2009

Water, Fire, and More Water August 18-29 Sep 29, 2009

Water, Fire,and More Water - Turkey August 18-29

One of the great pleasures of this trip are the warm days, blue skies and the presence of the sea, whether it is the Aegean or the Mediterranean. The water changes from grayish in the morning to a wonderful turquoise blue by the afternoon, because of how the sunlight reflects upon it.

In order to enjoy the water, we took a three night, four-day cruise from Fethiye in southern Turkey to Olympus, which is more southeast.

The night before the cruise, we spent the evening in Fethiye, a resort town on the Mediterranean. Dinner was our highlight. There is a fish market, which demonstrates enormous cooperation between the anglers, the market, and the restaurants. Fish purchased at the market may be taken to any of the surrounding restaurants for preparation. To prepare the fish and serve it with salad and bread costs only $4.00. The fish costs about $5.00. Therefore, an entire prepared fish dinner is available for $9.00. Of course, wine is extra and special preparation of items may cost more. The food was tasty and the integration of the services from the angler to the market to the restaurant is probably a good model for anywhere in the world.

Barry had his hair cut that night. A Turkish haircut is exhilarating and involves much more than having the hair cut!! It is not the haircut as much the other services which make the experience unforgettable. The shave, with the straight razor is close and very smooth. The barber eliminates the hair on the ears by placing alcohol on a cotton swabbed rod, setting a match to the rod and singeing Barry’s ears with the huge flame burning the alcohol away. Barry’s ears have not been so clean since he last had this done - in Turkey in 1997. A lovely scalp and back massage followed the haircut, shave, and ear singeing.

For the cruise, we travelled on a motorized sailboat. The boat carried twelve guests and three crew. This ratio on this boat was not as good as when we travelled through the Sunderbans in India - when there was just the two of us and a crew of five. Of course, we wondered whom we would be travelling with and as people filed onto the boat, there was a bit of a feeling of being on an episode of “Survivor” - sharing this space with strangers for the next several days. We ended up with a nice mix of people - a couple from Greece who had previously lived in Turkey; two couples from Italy in their mid-thirties and the trip demographic, three women in their early twenties. Two of the women were friends from Glasgow University and the other from Australia who had been travelling for three years and was currently working in London.

These cruises are set up for a younger crowd as evidenced by the rock music on the PA system, the information provided that we must pay for our alcohol and keep good track of what we are drinking particularly if we are partying all night the last evening stop at the island disco.

We sailed under a warm sky on the blue water. Several times a day we plunged into the Mediterranean and kept our bathing suits on all day. Neither Sandra nor Barry are strong swimmers. We used life jackets and with our snorkels and mask looked for fish. The fish were not as colourful as where there is bright coral. In bright coral, the fish camouflage themselves in their own luminous colours. The dull grey (opaque and translucent) fish we saw were better camouflaged as they fit in with their surroundings – grey coloured rocks with some green and brown algae or seaweed. The best places to view the fish are near the rocky areas by the shore, where they eat food attached to the stones and have places to hide if they need to. Even though the fish were not beautifully coloured they were fascinating and we were able to see many fish of different shapes, sizes, and patterns. Some fish hang upside down, as they eat and others move along the sand at the bottom of the sea. At times, schools of five, ten, twenty or hundreds (little ones like neon tetras) swam before our eyes.

There is nice rhythm to plunging into warm seawater three or four times a day. We became more skilled and braver with our snorkel and life jackets. We have snorkeled many times now and Sandra says that on our next resumes we will be able to include snorkeling as a hobby.

We all had rooms on the boat with a bed, washroom, and shower. We kept our bags down in the room but slept on the deck under the stars. These sleeps were very restful. We lay down on our mattress, covered up with our blankets, watched the stars, and fell asleep as our boat swayed back and forth.

The food on the boat was of high quality. The breakfast was the typical Turkish breakfast. Lunch was vegetarian. The evening meal was fish or chicken, and pasta. By day 2, we were looking forward to the 4:30 p.m. snack of coffee or tea and cookies, following an afternoon swim.

We were on the boat for three sunrises and awoke each day in order to catch it. The last time we had been up every morning to catch sunrise was in Nepal as the sun rose over the Himalayans. Here we were waiting for sunrise over the islands of the Mediterranean. The early wake ups were very special as the early mornings were warm, calm, and quiet. An orange hue began to fill the sky, reflected onto the water and a fiery ball of light slowly rose in the east. .

Barry became more skillful at backgammon, as Theo, the retired Greek man, took Barry on as his student. Theo’s wife Sophia told Barry that she did not enjoy backgammon for several reasons. Women in Turkey generally do not play backgammon. She associated backgammon with the coffee places where men smoked a lot and she does not like the smell of smoke. Most importantly, Theo’s dad was never home because he was always away playing backgammon, which upset Theo’s mom very much. Sophia, before she married Theo, requested he not repeat his father’s behaviour. Despite Sophie’s aversion to the game, she was supportive of Theo being Barry’s mentor.

Sandra and Barry enjoy very much playing backgammon together and Barry’s newly found “Turkish-Greek” connection helps him occasionally shine through in their games.

While we had 2 stops to shop or sightsee, most of the time we were “at-sea” and could sit on the deck under an awning or in the sun, watching the world go by. We enjoyed the swimming, the snorkeling, the food, and the camaraderie that developed among the people on the boat. We highly recommend this cruise with the water, fish sky, and stars.

The cruise ended and we were on a bus to Olympus where we would part ways with Larry. It was sad to see Larry go. Barry and Larry had several good talks on this trip about their family and their relationship. This is the value of spending this time together on vacation - there is time to hang out, work issues through, and enjoy one another’s company. Larry planned to spend six more days visiting the Cappadocia region of Turkey and then head back to Toronto for his last year of teaching before retirement.

We said goodbye to Larry and headed off to Olympus. People go to Olympus for four reasons: it is where the bus takes you after the cruise; there are ancient Greek and Roman ruins; the Mediterranean, and it is close to the site of Chimera - where flames burn spontaneously on the mountain. We stayed at Olympus to see the fire.

Olympus is another of those “back-packer’s havens,” a collection of small hotels and a laid-back atmosphere. The place we stayed might as well have had “hanging out” written on the sign. The first clues were the hammocks. The second clue was the seating areas with Turkish divans, low tables under a roof (for shade) equipped with plug in for wireless internet. The third clue was the proliferation of games such as OK and backgammon available for use. It was an all inclusive, with breakfast and dinner included in the price.

About a half hour away from us was Chimera on Mount Olympus. The Turkish Antiquities Department has maintained the site in a way that it feels as if we were visiting in 1000 B.C.E. We arrived after dark and there was no lighting or guard rails along the steep, high, and uneven steps. One could easily trip and with a wrong movement, there is a concern about plunging off the top of the mountain into the dark valley below. The way up is very arduous and we had to stop to rest several times. The group of young people, we shared the bus with on the way to the site, left us in the dust. We were on our own making it up the side of a steep and dark mountain path. With our trusty flashlights at our side, we made it to the flames.

Once we got to the top, we were quite amazed. Flames shooting out from the rocks greeted us. At first, we saw two or three flames but as we climbed higher, there were four, five, six, and eventually almost thirty of these flaming places. Gas seeps through the earth and burns. The flames are very warm and a few tourists were cooking their dinners over the flames. It looks like a gas fireplace and you think that someone has turned on the valve. However, it is real and they have been burning for over two thousand years. On-going fascination with these flames has given them mythological significance. This is one of the wonders of the world. Eternal lights high on a mountain top.

Olympus is by the sea and was a thriving port for about 1000 years, from 500 B.C.E. to 500 A.D. Ruins include: tombs of Romans and early Christians; Roman temples that later became churches and the remains of houses with great mosaics Some of it was particularly moving as we passed through ancient burial sites with inscriptions on the tombs speaking to the lives that had passed. We realized how long ago these people lived and how to-day there is no memory, of whom these people were. Again, this is a reminder on the transient nature of our lives and of how little changes in the world. The wealthy leave huge markers, fancy buildings, and the poor are unknown. Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Emperor is buried in Olympus.

The stony beach is just past the ruins. We have never been to a place where you could take in an hour and a half of ruins on the way to the beach. At the beach, we swam, went to restaurant nearby from which we could view the Mediterranean and played backgammon as we enjoyed everything around us. In the evenings, at our hotel we watched people playing board games, playing ping-pong or just sitting chatting with each other. Again, we commented on how refreshing it is to see people interacting in this manner, rather than in noisy pubs with eyes glued to a television.

Our next stop was Tasucu, a place from which to take a ferry to Cyprus. Our bus ride to Tasacu took over nine hours and hugged the Mediterranean. The road was very steep with many hairpin turns and frightening edges that appeared too close for comfort. Barry is better with travelling on these kinds of roads and puts his faith into the driver’s experience. Sandra has less faith and spends more time being scared.

We have never followed the Mediterranean for so long before. One can follow the Mediterranean in Israel for about forty minutes and the views are not as impressive, as Israel is flat. Along the way, we passed through an area where bananas grow. Barry enjoys bananas very much and as the bus stopped for breaks it was like being in “banana heaven,” with more bananas to eat than one could ever imagine.

We arrived in the dark at Tasacu, a quiet place whose main purpose is the ferry terminal to and from Cyprus. We stayed at a place just a few hundred yards away from a beach on the Mediterranean. We snorkeled every morning and swam close to the rocks looking for fish, forging for food. We did not need to go out deep and could easily stand in the water. One morning, as we were snorkeling, Barry saw a stingray in the water – about 2-3 feet across and grayish-black in colour. It swam effortlessly with its wing like fins flapping, trailed by its long tail. Barry jumped up and called to Sandra to get away from the area. Sandra jumped up flustered and, as a good team member, took Barry’s instruction. Sandra had seen the stingray as well; at about the time he had called to her. Barry, as a young boy, had watched “Sea Hunt,” from which he had learned that stingrays were very dangerous. Unlike the actor, Lloyd Bridges, we did not have a spear gun and thought it best to back away from the stingray. Throughout the day, we learned there are two types of stingrays - a white and black species. The black species are the most lethal. We also learned that stingrays do not attack unless provoked. It is possible to step on them while they are hiding in the sand, which will provoke them. Barry was reticent to swim near the rocks for several days.

As it was near the end of the tourist season, we had Tasacu almost to ourselves. The few other tourists there were not English speakers. Many were tourists from other parts of Turkey. We walked along a lovely promenade, in front of the sea. Down the street was an outdoor café, with wireless internet access, where many men played backgammon and OK. People stay for hours playing games or using their laptops. Further down the road, are restaurants looking directly out onto the Mediterranean. We had two wonderful meals - under the stars, waves crashing below us, and on each progressive day the moon becoming fuller in the sky.

Nearby Tasacu is the larger city of Silifike, located on the Goksu River. Romans constructed the original bridge. Along the river, nice spaces are set aside to watch the activity on the river, feel the cooler breezes, and sip tea and Turkish coffee. We enjoyed our breaks here – out of the oppressive heat, taking in the people walking by or enjoying the same gentle ambience.

Sandra had her hair was cut, and as in Barry’s experience, the personal attention received was much more than would have been expected in Canada. There were three staff involved in the process. The first person washed Sandra’s hair and massaged her scalp. The second person was a stylist, and the third his assistant. The assistant had a role similar to a nurse during an operation - handing the appropriate instruments to the doctor, in this case the stylist. By the end of the haircut, both the stylist and assistant were simultaneously working on Sandra’s hair.

We stopped at a family owned ice cream store, which also served Turkish deserts. Turkish ice cream is sweet and it stretches. It is common for the ice cream server to have a long rod (about four feet long) and continuously place it inside the tub of ice cream and stir and pull at it. There is quite a bit of showmanship involved in the technique, in an effort to attract a crowd and sell more ice cream. It was a warm day and after we chose our cones, we went inside into the air-conditioned restaurant.

The sister, about fourteen years of age, began a conversation with us, practicing her best English. A younger brother, about five, charmed us with his shyness and playfulness. We offered the children pens that had Canadian flags on the side. The children were delighted and the mother gave us each a wonderful piece of homemade baklava to express her appreciation of our gesture.

Barry had a pair of made to measure pants tailored. Our experience is that Turkish tailors are skilled and do nice work. Again, they lived up to expectation.

Our next plan was to catch the hydrofoil on Sunday afternoon August 30, for the two-hour ride to Cyprus. We chose to go to Cyprus because the only way to fly to Tel Aviv from Turkey is through Istanbul. In other words, although we were in southern Turkey, we would have to fly all the way north l to get a plane back across the country -, retracing our steps. We could fly from Larnaka Cyprus to Tel Aviv for about half the cost of flying from Istanbul to Tel Aviv.

Sunday morning after packing up our bags, we wheeled our bags (all four of them) to the ferry terminal about ten minutes away. The 10:00 a.m. hydrofoil had been canceled for the day because of high waves on Mediterranean. We could take the midnight car ferry which was scheduled to arrive about 8 a.m.

We walked, bags in toe under the hot sun to the outdoor wireless internet café where we spent the day under an umbrella. Seven hours, $13.00, and many games of backgammon later we headed for dinner and then to the ferry.

The ferry ride was longer than anticipated, as we did not arrive at the Girne Cyprus pier until about 11:00 a.m.... The ride was uncomfortable as we slept, the best we could, on upright chairs. The air became more pungent as the nearby washrooms underwent considerable use. Our one highlight was meeting a ten year old boy who spoke Turkish and fluent English. He was visiting in Turkey with his Turkish grandmother who lives with him in England. A family friend of the boy befriended us, offering us a place to stay if we ever returned to Antalya turkey, pumpkin seeds, and making sure, we were doing okay on the ferry ride.

We landed in the morning under a warm and bright blue Mediterranean sky, with the island of Cyprus awaiting us.

Until later

Sandra and Barry

Contact us by e-mail at: sanbar79@hotmail.com or read our blog by typing into the address line: http://ama.mytripjournal.com/sandrabarry

And then enter..