Sleeping in boats, treehouses and caves in Turkey

Fethiye - Kas - Olympos - Chimera - Cappadocia

Merhaba!

Firstly, I’m safe and well after being left without internet access or newspaper, though I did hear about the London bombing whilst on the boat (amazing how news reaches the remotest places). Also, the bus bombing in Kusadasi was no where near me (the closest was when I was in Selcuk, which is 50km away, which I left a few days before it
happened). So all is well.

Secondly, I’m writing this while a little inebriated, so forgive the strangeness of my writing...


THE BLUE GULET CRUISE
Went on a Turkish gulet boat cruise for 4 days, sailing along the southern coast of Turkey from Fethiye to Olympos. We passed through stunning coastal scenery, little villages, and swam in isolated lagoons, including the "Blue Lagoon" where I did my paragliding. The chef on board was a wonderful cook - I never ate so well in my life (sorry mum) with the simplest of ingredients, absolutely divine!

You would think that being the only single guy on the boat I would end up with one of them, but unfortunately/typically for me it did not happen, even though the 5 girls that I ended up travelling with became known as my harem!

Kas was a nice coastal town, with pretty good nightlife. I encountered some locals who told me the best place to go, but said that because they had no girls with them they couldn't go in (neither did I then as the girls went to bed early). So I told them what about letting us in with me because I am a tourist and want to see the wonderful Kas
nightlife. This line along with my best puppy eyed innocent expression and we were in! The Turkish party pretty wild, although they do not consume as much alcohol as we do, they sure know how to dance, occasionally forming circles and having danceoffs!

Four days later, fattened up, nicely tanned (I sometimes get mistaken for Arab now I’m so dark) and very relaxed, we went for more relaxation in Olympos....


OLYMPOS - LAND OF THE TREEHOUSES
Olympos is basically a place where one truly does nothing. With a beach nearby (which one has to pay to walk through ruins to get to - scandalous!), and everywhere being pensions with wooden huts on stilts next to trees (so really it is a tree - house), restaurants, and clubs, all one does is chill out on the beach or the hammocks/pagolas
lined with rugs and carpets (a nice get up I want to set up back at home), smoking water pipes or playing backgammon (which I have really become addicted to - the speed the locals play is astounding, and the
skill - lost terribly to a local girl I met on the beach - yes we brought the backgammon board to the beach also!). Or go drinking and partying in the many clubs, one club being the Orange club, which is an open air courtyard, with towering mountains lit up with strobes and laser lights above - cool place but trance music terrible. Another club, according to another local girl, voted best club in the world 2003, called the Bull Bar, which is another courtyard club with a bonfire in the middle. Music was mediocre.


CHIMERA - THE NATURAL ETERNAL FLAME
Went to visit the Chimera at night, which is a natural phenomenon. Basically, gas (of an unknown composition) rises from the ground and when it makes contact with air, ignites into a flame, creating the mysterious flames that litter this area as if the ground has been set alight by a campfire nutter. Pretty cool (hot) stuff!


WHITE WATER RAFTING IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE
Went with 2 of my harem (2 lovely south Africans) to go white water rafting. We thought it would be nearby, but 4 hours later and 3 blown rear tyres, we ended up in some national park in the middle of nowhere. The rafting was so much fun though, no more than grade 3 at most rapids - At one stage we got to get off the raft and jump into one of the rapids, floating terrifyingly fast downstream before swimming to the bank. We also made sure that we attacked every other raft nearby with water, making some really spectacular water fights I’ve been in.

CAPPADOCIA AND THE FAIRY CHIMNEYS
Left Olympos with only 2 of my harem left to Cappadocia in the center of Turkey. This landscape is also a natural phenomenon, due to volcanic upshifts of basalt and other factors, the land is now dotted with rock pillars that look like massive stone witches hats dominating the earth, many of these pillars with carved steps, caves and churches
with 11th century earthen frescos which the Hittites lived in the past. Also remarkable are the 8 level underground cities/fortresses, booby traps and all, which the people hid in when invading armies kept coming into their land. It is speculated that only 11 out of 36 have been found, all interlinked by dark tunnels, all able to contain over 10,000 people!

Hired a scooter to drive around the area scouting out the fairy chimneys and exploring, which was alot of fun, though couldn't go full speed due to the girls putt putting along, resulting in my engine constantly stalling...


HOT AIR BALLOONING IN CAPPADOCIA
Went on a hot air balloon ride to see Cappadocia from above, which was absolutely stunning (as you can see my trip in Turkey has been more of indulgence and thrill seeking than actual exploring of cultures etc). We rode the third largest balloon in the world in the place regarded as the best place in the world to hot air balloon in. The pilot was an experienced Belgium pilot who took us up high and down low close enough to the valleys where we could reach out and touch the trees or the rock cliffs - definitely worth the steep price tag.


AND NOW
I am in Istanbul again, having gone on an spending spree, getting a good deal on a backgammon board and a patchwork quilt in the famous covered market, and enjoying the sights and sounds of a city which is fast becoming one of my favourite cities in the world....

Tomorrow I head to Bulgaria, possibly Varna on the Black Sea coast, otherwise Sofia....stay tuned...

Gule Gule!