Journal
1: Aussie Adventures 1
Journal 2: Aussie Adventures 2
Journal 3: Indonesian Escapades
Journal 4: Singapore & Malaysia
Journal 5: Langkawi, Malaysia
Journal 6: Thailand Trekking 1
Journal 7: Thailand Trekking 2
Journal 8: Indian Ocean, Maldives, & Oman
Journal 9: Oman & Yemen
Journal 10: Pirates, Eritrea, & Sudan
Journal 11: Egyptian Adventures 1
Journal 12:
Egyptian Adventures 2
Journal 13: Egypt to Israel
Journal 14: Cyprus Crossings
Journal 15: Turkish Tales 1
Journal 16: Turkish Tales 2
Journal 17: Greek Odyssey
Journal 18: Italy & Spain
Journal 19: Why Go
Cruising?
Journal 20: Airplanes are Faster
Journal 21:
Barbados
TURKISH TALES 1
Finike & Olympos -- June 24 - July 8, 2005
We have finally arrived in Finike Turkey with our friends on Duetto after a
smooth 2 day sail from Cyprus. It looks absolutely beautiful here with clear
azure blue water and amazing mountains rising up all along the coast. What
we have heard from friends is that Turkey is the place to cruise in the Med.
While in Turkey, we are planning on getting the boat hauled out, cruise the
coastline, and hopefully work our way inland for some touring adventures.
Turkey has a long and varied history. If I went into all of it, I could go
on for pages and pages. There have been 5 major empires in Turkey over the
past 5000 years and a lot of stuff in between -- the Hittites (known for
their underground cities and the development of written language), the
Greeks (they built many cities here such as Ephesus and Troy), the Romans
(allowing the spread of early Christianity), the Byzantines (Emperor
Constantine made his capitol in present day Istanbul), and finally the
Ottomans (who were responsible for the spread of Islam throughout the Middle
East).
Modern day Turkey developed out of the dream of a man named Ataturk. After
the decline of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century and Turkey's
involvement in World War 1, the Empire was divided up among the Allies.
After the War of Independence in the 1920's, General Kemel, a war hero from
Gallipoli, was made the head of the new government. He decided that their
needed to be a complete break from the old Ottoman traditions -- polygamy
was abolished, the fez was prohibited, western style legal codes were
introduced, Islam lost its status as state religion, and the Arabic alphabet
was replaced by a modified Latin one. Until that that time Turkish Muslims
did not have a family name. General Kemel decreed that all Turkish families
should choose a last name. The Turkish Parliament gave him the name Ataturk
-- Father Turk. Ataturk continues to be held in high regard by all Turks
today.
Turkey today is an up and coming country. They have a population of 68
million people and have the youngest population in Europe. The Turks even
hope to join the EU within the next few years. 98% of all Turks are Muslim,
but not of the variety that we have seen in much of the Middle East (with
separation of men and women, head scarves & abayahs ... etc). They are some
of the friendliest people that I have met yet on this trip.
Finike is a great little town. It is the orange capital of Turkey! The
streets and avenues are even lined with orange trees! People here are
extremely friendly and an invitation for tea seems to be the standard. There
are lots of little shops and restaurants all around the marina. The marina
is loaded with cruisers and every evening we have been getting together for
drinks and snacks. It's been a great way to meet people and learn more about
the Med. We arrived in Finike just in time for their summer festival. All
this week, there will be music acts performing, vendors setting up shop in
the streets, ... and much more. David and I were able to check out
some of the local music. It sounds a lot like the Arabic music we have been
hearing since the Red Sea, but with more of a pop twist. They had a guy
sing, who I would swear was a carbon copy of Rick Martin! We were able to
enjoy the huge weekend market which sells everything from fruits and
veggies, to pots and pans, clothing, cleaning products ... The locals come
into town early in the morning and set up canvas tents stretching out for
kilometers! I love summertime!
David and I decided to have a little adventure on the side and took a day
trip to the town of Olympos. This small town is known for the Chimera
Flames. According to ancient Greek Legend, there was a monster called
Chimera who so scared Zeus that he set Chimera on fire and buried him,
thereby creating Mt Etna. Eventually, Chimera was killed by Bellerophon and
buried under Mt Olympos. However, flames shoot up from the ground where the
monster was buried. Today, scientists know that gas comes out of ground and
spontaneously ignites when it hits the air. Supposedly in ancient times,
these flames were so high that mariners could use them as a beacon. David
and I decided this was something that we needed to check out. So off we went
on a bus for Mt Olympos. We were a little surprised when the bus pulled off
the road at a ramshackle little restaurant and informed us that we would
have to take a mini bus from there down to the town of Olympos. After
waiting for an hour, we hopped on our next bus. Down, down, and down we went
into the valley at break neck speed skidding around corners and hairpin
turns. Thankfully we made it in one piece to discover a beautiful valley
lined with pine trees and sheer cliffs. We had arrived in backpacker heaven
... there must have been hundreds of backpackers enjoying the hiking, the
beaches, the ruins, rock climbing, white water rafting ... and any other
extreme sport you can think of. We headed down to the beach and discovered
the ruins of the ancient walled city of Olympos sitting right on the beach
cliffs. The city was actually destroyed by pirates in 80 AD. We climbed all
over the cliffs and ruins, and had a relaxing time watching the sun set.
The other thing Olympos is known for is its unique living arrangements! All
along the road were hotels, hostels, and pensions that had Treehouse
somewhere in their name! We weren't planning on staying for the night, but
we missed the last bus out. So we headed for Kadir's which started the
Treehouse trend over 10 years ago. They had a funky set up with tree house
dormitories, log cabins, and a eclectic mess hall. All the buildings had
different names -- the Star Wars Room, the Alice Springs Surf Club, the
Penthouse, ... et al. We signed up for their tour of Mt Olympos and the
Chimera flames. At 830 pm we set off with a busload of other Treehousers for
the National Park. It was pitch black when we arrived (Good thing I brought
a flashlight with me) and we started our hike up the mountain. Our tour
guide was pretty pathetic -- he led us to the trail up and a plaque that
told the story of Chimera. We hiked up the mountainside for about 30
minutes, huffing and puffing and sweating ... We crossed the tree line and
suddenly we could see what looked like campfires lighting up the
mountainside. There must have been about 15 fires merrily crackling.
Stupendous! One resourceful German had even brought some sausages with him
to sizzle! We got some great footage. I cannot emphasize how incredibly hot
it was on the mountainside between the hike up and the fires. And then David
kept telling me to get closer and closer to the flames!! It was well worth
the hike up, but next time I think taking hot dogs and smores up would be an
awesome idea!
The next morning we headed back to Finike. The only problem was that we
missed our bus!! No worries, declared David, we will just start walking up
the HUGE hill to the main road and the next bus will pick us up. In theory a
great idea! However, the next bus decided to pass us by!! So we continued
walking and walking and creeping along ... we finally decided that enough
was enough and that we would give hitch hiking a try. I had no sooner put
out my thumb which a car pulled up. Hallelujah!! A lovely Turkish family
offered to give us a ride up to the main road which was 15 km away and up
the mountainside. Man, I didn't recall it being so far away, was David's
reply!!
We made it back to Finike Marina just in time for Exit Only to be hauled out
of the water. Every 1-2 years, a boat needs to be hauled out for a thorough
cleaning, inspection, and paint job. We were hauled out of the water for
about 1 week. A huge travel lift lowered straps under the boat and then
lifted it out of the water as gentle as a baby. It's a nerve wracking
experience for a boat owner. As Donna put it, "A boat is supposed to be in
the water, not 10 feet in the air." The boat was just suspended there for
about 10 minutes until the marina staff was able to set it down on some
blocks of wood. Dave and David took the hard jobs which were sanding and
painting the hull. Very time and labor intensive. Plus every day, the
temperature seemed to get up into the 90's. They must have put in at least
10 hours a day. We also waxed and polished the upper portions of the hull
from a rickety scaffold, as well as applying new striping down the sides.
After a few days of waxing, you discover muscles you never knew you had!!
Never again will I consider waxing and polishing my car a major job!! The
most enjoyable part of the experience (apart from seeing the beautiful end
product) was having our ice cream breaks!! We also discovered doner kebab
sandwiches -- meat roasted in a spit and then shaved into a sandwich with
onions, tomatoes, and lots of other yummy condiments! It would not be
unusual for us to wolf down a few sandwiches in a day!!
Our other source of entertainment was the finale of the Finike Festival. All
of the last day activities were based in the marina. They started out with a
marine parade with the local fishing boats all dressed up. Then there was
the swimming competition for both young and old. They would pack in as many
kids as they could on to a teetering fishing boat, blow the whistle and off
they would go. One of the funnier competitions was to catch a duck. About 50
guys jumped in the water to chase after a poor helpless duck. The duck shot
across the water here and there out of the reach of the swimmers. It just
kept going and going and going. Some of the swimmers decided to give up.
When it got close to the docks again, some bright young man decided that it
would be easier to jump off the dock and catch the duck instead of swimming
towards it. He finally caught the duck about half a football field away from
where everyone else had started. The last competition was the Greased Pole.
I don't know who in their right minds would consider that fun -- hitting
your head on the pole, slipping and slithering around, falling 20 feet into
the water, having hundreds of people gawk and laugh ... Well, there were
about 40 young men who decided to participate. Obviously, testosterone was
hard at work in this instance! Their strategy was speed!! Make your way as
fast as you could towards the pole, take a few scrambling steps, try not
to slip, and then launch yourself towards the flag on the end. There were
some amazing belly flops that evening. Someone even managed to capture the
flag after about 45 minutes of slipping and sliding!
Now that we are back in the water, we will be heading out to cruise the
turquoise coast of Turkey. There will be loads to see -- ancient cities,
crowded bazaars, beautiful anchorages. We look forward to sharing more with
you!
|
Peaceful Finike Marina
David checks out the local produce
at the weekend market
Waiting for Gozleme -- Turkish pancakes
filled with cheese and veggies
Adventures on the side with David & Sarah
Exploring the ancient ruins of Olympos
Scenic Olympos Beach
Ruins of an ancient walled city
line the beach and cliffs
The ancient city of Olympos was destroyed
by pirates in 80 AD
Mysterious sarcophagus tells the story
of an ancient sea mariner
Gorgeous sunset among the cliffs
Trying to decide where to stay in Olympos
can be a little difficult!
Kadir's Treehouses -- Could this be a
new trend for the Hilton Empire?
After hiking up Mt Olympos for 30 minutes
we arrived at the Chimera Flames
Roasting next to the Chimera Flames.
Gas escapes from underground to
spontaneously ignite into flames
Ancient Greeks believed the flames came from
an angry monster called Chimera who was
trapped beneath Mt Olympos
Boat Haulout time!
80 ton travel lift cradles Exit Only
Exit Only was washed, sanded, waxed,
painted, polished, patched ...
Water consumed: 30 liters
Diet coke consumed: 20 liters
Doner Kebabs consumed: 20
The marina staff got the fun job of
using the high pressure water hose
to clean off the hull
How many men does it take to
sink a fishing boat?
Swimmers prepare for the 50 m
Finike's Greased Pole competition
All I can say is Owww!
And these guys do this for fun!?
|
