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| Michael enjoying a quit moment |
We
have just finished hosting our first guest on board Sunflower since
2007, so were a bit out of practice! Needless to say a bit of
re-stowing was required to clear some sleeping space in the V berth!
Michael, a friend from England came out and he had never been on a
boat before! We spent the week exploring the myriad of little bays
and perfecting the new anchoring technique required here, of dropping
anchor in very deep water and then tying a line from the back of the
boat to a bollard ashore. This allows yachts to anchor where it would
otherwise be too deep and also to fit in more boats. The scenery is
spectacular, with pine clad mountains dropping straight down into the
ocean. An occasional herd of goats wander past announcing their
presence with the tinkle of brass bells.
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| Pancakes being made at our boat |
The
yachts here are well serviced with daily fresh bread deliveries, ice
cream boats, rubbish collection boats, mini market boats and even
fresh pancakes! We tried them and they were delicious! A little old
husband and wife on a traditional boat, he drives ,she sits up front
in front of her round gas pancake plate, a big grin on her face
gabbing away in Turkish the whole time.
After
a week of this idyllic life and Michael suitably relaxed,it was back
to Fethiye on Monday to rent a car for the day to go exploring and
drop Michael at the airport.
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| Kayakoy |
First
of all we visited a deserted village in the mountains called Kayakoy.
It is a village of about 450 houses all built of stone, with several
churches and schools. Up until 1923 it was occupied by the Greeks.
Then when Turkey became a republic most Greek Christians were
repatriated to Greece while the Turkish Muslims living in Greece
returned to Turkey. Although for some reason the Turks never settled
in this village and it gradually fell in to disrepair. The roofs were
all thatch and timber frame so nowhere near as sturdy as the stone
walls. Then in the 1950's a huge earthquake hit the area and whatever
timber was left was scavenged to repair occupied buildings elsewhere.
Slowly the village became more and more overgrown, now it is a
tourist attraction and referred to as the ghost village. A few years
ago there were plans to restore the houses as a holiday development
but the government decided to preserve it as an historic monument. It
is quite eerie walking around and peering into the houses, imagining
people living here. The mountain views are spectacular and the
village boasts the fact that the houses are built so that none block
each others views (something today's developers could learn from!)
There were very few people there which added to the eerie feeling.
The roads were all made from big stone cobbles and it was very hilly
so the knees got a good work out. There were wild fig and pomegranate
trees everywhere all heavy with fruit.
Once
we had seen enough we got back in the car and headed a few miles down
the road where there was another village of a completely different
kind. Instead of the stone bones of an old village on the hillside
there was a massive development of new shiny 'villas'. The main
street was a pedestrian zone so we got out and walked. There was a
Dell Boys bar, an Irish pub, a London bar, restaurants offering a
full English breakfast, fish and chips and karaoke. You get the
picture! The shops were even showing prices in pounds, not Turkish
lire. We were quite bemused to find an 'English' village transplanted
into the Turkish mountainside. Who on earth lived here? It was also a
bit of a ghost town with hardly anyone around.
We
had plenty of choices for lunch and surprisingly prices were much
cheaper than on the coast. Apparently it has been a British enclave
for about 20 years! It might be a bit cooler being in the mountains
although still plenty warm enough to hop in the swimming pool.
Anyway we had seen enough and motored off into some lesser known
mountain roads. The scenery was spectacular and we slowly made our
way to the airport, getting lost quite a few times as Turkish road
signs leave a lot to be desired.
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| Fetiye fruit market |
On
Tuesday we had the boat back to ourselves, but had to make an
emergency dash to a dentist as Alan had broken a tooth earlier in the
week. We thought he would need a crown and wondered how much it was
going to cost! The tourist office recommended an English speaking
dentist and we got an appointment that afternoon. The surgery was
lovely, bright and modern and spotlessly clean. We even had to put
plastic covers on our shoes before we were allowed in! The dentist
(whose surname means 7 stars) spoke good English and confirmed our
diagnosis. Luckily Alan had already had a root canal on the tooth and
a post had already been inserted, but we still thought the cost of a
filling and crown was a bargain at around $100! We go back on Tuesday
to have the crown fitted.
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| New anchor chain in the dinghy |
Yesterday
we went shopping for new anchor chain. Ours has rusted to the point
where it is making a horrible mess all over the deck. We thought if
it spent 5 months in the anchor locker over winter it would become an
unusable rusty lump, so we thought we had better replace it now. Alan
found a good deal, so it was off in Dingo to collect it! The bow
looks so much better now, especially as we have cleaned all the rust
stains off.
All
we have to do now is make the final voyage of 250 miles to Cyprus
where our free marina berth is waiting for us!
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