Trips to Cappadocia and Mt. Nemrut

On the 17th October we hired a car and set off to do some sightseeing inland. We drove to the town of Konya where the shrine of Melvana is situated which is the birthplace of the whirling dervishes. We visited the shrine and ceremonial hall and then explored the town which is a fascinating mix of old traditional Turkey and new modern buildings.

The following morning we drove to Cappadocia which is perhaps one of the most famous areas of Turkey. The region was formed by the eruption of 2 volcanoes approx 10,000 years ago, erosion by wind and water has created the most fantastic landscape. It was also the area where many of the first Christians settled so there are numerous churches carved into the rocks and these still have some marvellous frescoes. There are also approx 36 underground cities of which 4 are open to the public. We spent 3 nights here staying in a cave hotel and visited the underground city of Derinkuyu which went down 7 floors but unfortunately that meant climbing back up lots of steps. The people would retreat to the underground when they were under attack; there were stables, schools, churches and wineries. The ventilation system is incredible providing extremely fresh air throughout the city. We also visited the monastery and cathedral at Selime which is again just carved into the rocks. We walked through many of the valleys to look at the fantastic rock formations but the highlight of our visit was a flight in a hot air balloon. We had a female pilot and she was very skilled, she was able to put the balloon down into the valleys and just skim over the rock formations. We had a fantastic ride followed by champagne on touchdown, a very enjoyable experience.

Our 3 days passed quickly and we were on the road again, this time to Sanliurfa 600kms further east. We were making excellent progress on clear roads when we saw a car facing the wrong way on the dual carriageway – it was a police car and we hadn’t slowed down so were stopped further along the road. The policeman said welcome and shook Rays hand; he was very polite but then issued a fine for 222 ytl about £90 although this is reduced by 25% if paid in 15 days.
We continued on our journey and Ray was more careful with his speed for the rest of our journey and we reached Sanliurfa without further incident. This is the place where Abraham was born, he is also regarded as a great prophet in the Muslim religion (Ibrahim) therefore it is a great place of pilgrimage for Muslims. We were something of a curiosity here as they get few individual tourists but we were treated with friendliness and courtesy There weren’t many people in western dress and there was a great mixture of costumes, women in black birches others in richly embroidered dresses and some in what we would call harem pants. One restaurant we visited had a separate screened area for families with women as they cannot sit with other men. We were only 50 kms from the Syrian border and one could see the influence this had on the dress and culture of the town. We were also only 50kms from Harran which is mentioned in the book of Genesis, it is said to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited spots on earth. When looking at the landscape one can just imagine Moses walking towards you.

Our main purpose of reaching Sanliurfa was to visit Mount Nemrut which is probably the star attraction of Eastern Turkey. The summit of the mountain was created when a pre roman king (Antiochus) cut two ledges in the rock filled them with colossal statues of himself and the gods and then had an artificial peak of 50 metres of crushed rock piled between them. It is thought his tomb is below the rocks. Earthquakes have toppled the heads from most of the statues and the bodies sit silently in rows with the 2 metre heads watching from the ground. We eventually reached the base car park but then you have to climb the last 600 metres which are rough and very steep. We managed with a number of stops on the way but we tried to hurry as the sky was black and we could hear thunder and see rain in the distance. We eventually made it to the east terrace and what a wonderful sight met us - the carvings are just fantastic and the setting so wonderful we could see for miles. We then walked round to the west terrace where it is not so well preserved, some of the bodies have fallen and the carvings on the heads are more eroded but still fantastic. We would have liked to have just sat there to drink in the atmosphere but we could feel the odd drop of rain and the wind had increased. We arrived back at the car park as the heavens opened so we were glad to get back on our bus for the long ride back to our hotel. It was a long journey to Nemrut but well worth it, it is a sight we will never forget in fact the whole trip has been memorable. We have seen the Euphrates and the Tigris and the area which was originally Mesopotamia, the people have been welcoming and friendly. One crazy sight sticks in my mind, we were high up in the mountains and a man and woman were ploughing a steep sided area with a donkey pulling the plough, their house was a tin shack but she had a mobile phone stuck to her ear.

We headed back west the next day breaking our journey with an overnight stay at Mersin which is on the coast and was a convenient place to stop. The next day we did the final long leg back to Kemer.

We were pleased to be back on board but now the work starts as we get the boat ready to leave before returning home on 20th November.
We hope we will see as many friends and family as possible whilst in the UK.

Best wishes to you all from a Turkey still basking in temperatures up to 30 degrees C.

Marmaris to Kemer

We are still alive and sailing in Turkey. This is a brief summary of our activities since we returned to the boat on the 27th August.

We had a great holiday with our eldest son Paul and his family in Majorca where we were joined for Sandra's birthday by our other son John and his family so we had a wonderful day. We enjoyed a restful 2 weeks barbecuing and swimming in the pool and just generally messing about with the family.

It was still very hot when we returned to Marmaris so we were glad of our new sun awning which had been made and fitted whilst we were away. It was nice to be back and there were lots of friends around the marina so there was lots of catching up to do.

We finally left Marmaris on the 4th September and motor sailed in light winds to Gocek where we anchored for a few days. There were very strong winds further east and we caught the tail end of them but Gocek was well protected; however friends who were at Kekova experienced over 50knots of wind. We noticed the area is much busier than the same time last year.
We had a great sail from Gocek to Fethiye. It was the start of Ramazan so there was lots of beating of drums and ‘wailing’ from the local mosques at dawn and dusk.
We found that we had a problem with our water maker so had to go into the marina for water it also gave us the opportunity to clean the boat. We then spent the next few days sailing and anchoring in some of the small bays before sailng to Kalkan. We found a good bay in which to anchor as we did not wish to go into the harbour which has a reputation for fouled anchors. It was quiet all day but then a catabatic wind set in and blew all night but it wasn’t too strong so we did manage to get some sleep. We left the next day and motored (yet again) to Kas which is a lovely town. We anchored in a bay opposite as the harbour is full of large gulets and dive boats so it is a place to be avoided. We met Paul and Pauline on Karrawong who we have not seen since Rome so we had drinks with them and heard what they have been up to in the last 2 years. It is one of the wonderful things about this lifestyle – meeting with people along the way that you have met previously!
From Kas we sailed to the Greek island of Kastellorizon which is an absolute gem. We anchored in the harbour which is typically Greek and then did some shopping for things like pork and bacon which are impossible to buy in Turkey. We thought the harbour would be very quiet at night once the day trips had left but the bars and restaurants were very busy and we enjoyed a meal ashore.
We left Kastellorizon and motor sailed to Kekova Roads which has some spectacular protected anchorages. We anchored in Polemos bay and there were only 2 other boats. The next day we walked over the headland to the sunken city of Appelae. Some of the city is still on the land but much of it has sunk following earthquakes, there are also numerous Lycian tombs scattered about both in and out of the water. It was quite a walk very hot and dusty but well worth it.


During the afternoon the wind increased and we could hear thunder in the distance so we took our big sun awning down and we were pleased we did as the wind became strong and we ended up the only boat in the anchorage.
We moved the next day to Gokkaya Limani and found a good place to anchor but it became quite busy with gulets which came in for lunch and a swim but they left late afternoon. We stayed for a couple of days in this lovely spot before moving on to Kale Koy which is a fantastic place with an old castle and sunken sarcophagi.
Inside the castle ruins there is a tiny roman theatre why it was built there seems to be a mystery but I suspect the theatre pre dates the castle. There are numerous Lycian tombs and sarcophagi to the east of the castle so we explored these although it was uphill and the terrain wasn’t easy.
We left Kale Koy for Ucagiz and motored across the sunken city on the opposite side of the bay but we couldn’t see much. The large bay at Ucagiz is a beautiful spot and very well protected. We were joining some Cruising Association yachts here to cruise in company down to Kemer. They started arriving later in the day and we all met up in a local restaurant for drinks and a meal which ended in a raucous singsong.
The next day we met for a tour in a glass bottomed boat however the boat didn’t have a glass bottom. We still had a good day with a barbecue lunch and swim in a beautiful bay with crystal clear water.
The following day we sailed to Finike marina where we had drinks on board Moonshadow Star then a meal in a local restaurant. We thought the weather had been too good to last and the next day saw a change and we had a terrific thunderstorm with the usual accompanying winds which caused waves and a swell in the harbour. Our planned barbecue was cancelled so we had a quiet night on board. The next morning saw us on a bus to visit Arykanda via Lymra and the orange groves. The ruins of Arykanda are in a fantastic setting high up in the mountains like Delphi but much better preserved. This year they have just uncovered a Christian church with two beautiful mosaic floors. After climbing to the theatre and stadium we left for a lovely lunch of grilled trout by a stream and waterfall.
In the evening we had our postponed barbecue but we weren’t hungry and were too tired to fully enjoy it.


The next morning we left Finike and motor sailed to a lovely anchorage at Civeniz which has very steep sided mountains running straight into the sea, it was quite breezy but we managed to anchor ok. The rest of the CA boats arrived and managed to find themselves places to anchor we then had drinks and supper on board Ming, which was very enjoyable.
The final day of our cruise took us to Kemer and our winter berth; as usual we were met and helped into our berth between two boats we have met before so we already felt at home. After checking in we wandered around the town and were pleasantly surprised, although quite touristy it is well set out with parks, gardens and pedestrian areas. Unfortunately the next day I was ill with a stomach upset which wouldn’t clear so after suffering for 5 days I ended up in hospital for 48 hours. The hospital and consultant were excellent and although very weak I quickly recovered and prepared to enjoy the many activities organised by the Kemer livaboards.