Turkey Overview by Chris - June 2010

Well we are now in Corfu, about to pick up our yacht.  Turkey was excellent and we have had great weather all along.  Really enjoyed Gallipoli, Ephesus and our villa in Kas.  Istanbul was heaving with tourists and had lost a bit of appeal.  Still fabulous sights to visit though.  Kas was lovely, a still very traditional village even though they are catering to lots of tourists.  We thought it very cute during the day, bougainvillea clad buildings on old cobblestoned narrow streets, and then we visited one evening for dinner and it was all lit up, music playing, lots of people out walking, local turks sitting outside on rolled up carpets and it basically went off the top of the cute scale!  

Did I mention that it was about 24 degrees at 11pm when we were out wandering - and the shops don't shut until midnight.   It is a lovely place to be based for a week or so.   We thoroughly loved our day trip out to Kekova - we rented sea kayaks and went for about a 7km paddle - first to a little beach, gorgeous warm water where we swam, then we kayaked along the coast where the buildings are in the sea - hard to see as teensy bit choppy but really interesting.  Still not sure of the actual reason - our guide was a bit Turkish (although trained by a guru Kiwi in kayaking!) and we understand there was a big earthquake - not sure if buildings subsided into the sea or the sea level rose.  More research required!   

We also visited the ruins of Myra - fantastic theatre and rock tombs and rather bizarre scary faces carved into all the columns.  Driving here is absolutely fine, probably easier than Italy, as they don't drive very fast and the roads (the main ones) are actually pretty good.  Every Turkish person we have met has been SOOO friendly - it is truly amazing and we have really enjoyed their company.  We have loved tootling about in our van also.

Our villa was stunning - very well fitted out and incredibly stylish and comfortable.  We also went for a day trip to Patara Beach, apparently one of the best in Europe! - it was rather gorgeous, 17km long with great cliffs at one end and the entrance is another set of ruins.  The water is incredibly warm and it had some nice waves so lots of body surfing and sun lazing, drinking Efes (local beer) that comes in Big bottles 500ml  - pretty nice way to spend the day.