"Hoş geldiniz’"

Wednesday 5 June 2013

"Hoş geldiniz’"– means "Welcome" in Turkish and is a customary greeting used by almost everyone you meet.

Patriotic bunting flying above Edirne's main street

From our first encounter the welcome has been as warm and genuine as we have always found in Turkey. Driving through Edirne, having only just crossed the border, a refuse collector hanging off the back of his lorry quizzed Dave in Turkish about our travel plans when the vehicles drew up level at the traffic lights on red. We weren't expecting to have to have a conversation in Turkish so soon but Dave managed to speak enough to satisfy his curiosity about the travellers in the van with the steering wheel on the wrong side.

Glasses of Turkish çay (tea)

On a 12km stretch of sandy beach called Panamos north of Kuşadasi we drank çay with the café / shack owner and an enterprising chap who owned a 4WD jeep fitted with a sturdy winch ready to pull the locals cars out of the sand every half an hour for 10TL, about £3, a go. We also whiled away another hour drinking more çay with a day trip ‘captain’ in Sarsala Bay who asked Dave to search the sea bed for his missing oar as he snorkeled around his boat watching the colourful fish. Filling up with diesel on Monday the attendant chatted away asking where we had been and where we were going. When he found out we had been in Akyaka the previous evening his face lit up – a popular spot with Turks visiting its sandy beach, buzzing estuary front and the cold clear river with overhanging fish restaurants. He recounted his recent day trip there which included diving off the little bridge into the chilly water and drinking a few too many rakis by the sound of it. He wanted us to stay and talk more over yet more çay but we really needed to get on.

Akyaka

Turkey has always held a special place in our hearts and we love driving around this vast country.  In the past we have travelled right out to the eastern border, along the Black Sea coast, through the central regions, all along its southern Mediterranean coast and out towards the borders with Syria and Iran. This time though, in our gas-guzzling van which eats up the rather expensive diesel at an alarming rate,  we decided to limit our travels to the western coast revisiting places we have been before but also hoping to discover new places at a slower pace.

Another country - another transport museum! Train Museum at Camlik

We have been coming here since the mid 80’s and it feels that while we have been growing old Turkey has become more youthful and modern. The improvement in the roads (although not always the driving standards) is amazing with smooth dual carriageways making long journeys so much easier and there are now a bewildering number of supermarkets with all kinds of goods available on the shelves. Some things haven’t changed though – Dave was in his element driving around the automotive area of the industrial estate in Muǧla negotiating an air filter change for the van! Half an hour later and £11 lighter we were on our way again with a new filter fitted as well as a ‘complimentary’ engine check.

Safer and speedier dual carriageways everywhere

Our trip so far has brought us across the border to Edirne from where we drove down through Galipoli crossing the straights to Çanakkale before heading south and then east towards Edremit. We stopped near Ayvalik before driving through sprawling Izmir then south towards Selçuk and a quick dash to Fethiye. We then spent a week slowly ‘bimbling’ back towards Mumcular spending time in the coastal area around Dalaman and popping into numerous coves and harbours around Marmaris and Datça. At the head of the Gulf of Gökova we ‘found’ delightful Akyaka – a place we must have whizzed past many times before but never stopped at. Slowing down and limiting the miles has allowed us to discover many 'new' places. 

Beautiful Sarsala bay (spot the van top left hand side under a tree!)

Turkey is currently hitting the headlines as peaceful protests have been turning nasty after the use of excessive force to disperse the crowds by the authorities. We’ve seen nothing of this on our travels here so far, we still feel extremely safe and in response to the ubiquitous ‘Hoş geldiniz’ greeting we always reply  ‘Hoş bulduk’ meaning ‘Happy to be here’ – and we really are…..

Busy Bozburun harbour

Driving past ruins on the road to Knidos

Rows of bee hives in the hills above Bozburun

Cluttered masts and rigging on gulets in Selimye

Tearing ourselves away from 'our' beautiful bay near Palamut

Clear blue waters - even in busy harbours

Kocagöl - marshy lake near Dalaman Airport

Amos theatre just south of Turunç

Roadside cafe in Akyaya - where we bought tea, olives and the local honey

Milestones

Monday 3 June 2013

Today was a special day on our trip. In a way it is our turning point – from here we will start on our trip home winding our way back through a few more countries. We are loving our time here in Turkey rediscovering places we already knew and finding some idyllic new spots.

Deserted bay on Datca Peninsula

Beautiful bay south of Fethiye

We have arrived at our friends home in Mumcular, not far from Bodrum, which was always part of our big plan from the outset. In the 80’s when we lived in Turkey we shared many ‘Famous Five’ trips with them and their dog Brian. Today Jake is their little four legged friend and we will be out and about on day trips enjoying the early summer weather. 

Jake taking us for a walk this evening

Over the past couple of weeks we have reached a few milestones on our trip.

On the road today, not far from their house, we clocked up 10,000 miles since leaving Shrewsbury in November. We estimated we would do about 15,000 on our trip and, depending on how long we stay in Greece and how far we travel there, we probably wont be too far off that figure by the time we get home. I don’t like to tempt fate and say we’ve had no problems but we really haven’t so far. Dave certainly knew what we needed in a van when he spotted this one. It’s kept us warm at temperatures well below freezing in the Alps and now, as the temperatures climb into the 30’s, with the mozzie mesh up and the windows open we get a lovely breeze blowing through. The hard suspension and high ground clearance has meant we can explore places well off the beaten track without worrying about ‘bottoming out’. 

Trip planning - a year ago

The van, which is 13 years old, recently clocked up 40,000 miles - an average of about 3000 miles a year. That’s quite low overall but, perhaps not surprisingly, we have put about a third of those miles on it ourselves. We bought it in Abergavenny on a snowy day back in February 2012 – one of my first posts was about us buying the van

 

We left the UK on 22/11/2012 so we have been away for just over 6 months. We spent 3 months working in France and have been on the road for another 3 months since leaving the Alps. We’ve met some lovely people on our travels and have seen some fantastic sights. We’ve also met up with family and friends and hope to see a few more before we return to the UK in the autumn. When that will be depends on whether we pick up any more work and how long the funds last.

Evening in Fethiye with Mum & Greta

Not sure where we will be yet for the BIG milestone…...my (and twin sister Sue’s of course) 50^th birthday in October.

You haven't changed a bit.......

Saturday 25 May 2013

This photo of us was taken high up in the hills overlooking Oludeniz beach near Fethiye. We reckon it was probably taken in 1984.

and here we are today in the same spot .....

We had a great laugh trying to recreate it. There are loads of hotels and bars there now and a few extra sun loungers on the beach but the view is still as amazing as it was then. As for us .......you make your own mind up!!