SAILING INTO THE ANCIENT WORLD

Oct. 30, 2000

The Gulet Kardelen, Adrasan, Türkiye

The Lower Düden Waterfall

Yesterday, we took our time getting up because we didn’t have much to do. We wandered down to see Bayram and Nevsut. We chatted with them for an hour or two while they filled the boat and then they took us to the Lower Düden Waterfall. We sailed east from the harbor, along seemingly endless suburbs of high-rises lining the cliffs almost all the way to the falls. There were a number of sunbathing clubs set into the cliffs along the way. The ride took about two hours. We chatted with a nice German couple most of the way.

We didn’t get back until after 14:00 and we had to meet Bayram at the hotel at 15:00, so we grabbed a quick Iskender kebap lunch and rushed over to the hotel. Bayram and Murat picked us up and took us to the private boat marina, about twelve kilometers east of Kaleiçi.

The Gulet Kardelen

We had been told we would sail on the Rana but, when we arrived at the harbor, they took us to the Kardelen. They couldn’t find enough people to fill the Rana, so they had switched us to a smaller boat. Unfortunately, the Kardelen lacked certain conveniences like towels and showers. Deanna had gotten it into her head that we had been promised two cabins, which we had not. When she saw our one little cabin, she pitched a fit. There wasn’t anything anyone could do and I was embarrassed because we had to live with these people. They got us towels and gave up trying to milk us for an extra $10 when I pointed out that we had already paid $15 extra for the Rana, which we didn’t get. Deanna also complained that we had to pay an extra $8 for transportation to Myra. Personally, I wouldn’t have picked a fight over $8. We finally stopped arguing and went for a walk around the marina and had a beer at an outrageously expensive restaurant with bad service.

When we got back, the other passengers came aboard. They were all from Belgium: a Flemish couple and a group of eight Walloons, five women and three teenage girls. They were nice but spoke very little English. We ate dinner and danced a little before retiring.

The Chimera

The next day, we had breakfast at the dock and set sail at 9:00. We lay in the sun and read all morning and then anchored in a small cove east of Olympus for lunch. Some people went swimming. After lunch, we continued to Olympus where we almost had a mutiny because we all wanted to see the chimera and that wasn’t in the program. We went ashore on the most fleabitten little fishing boat you can possibly imagine. I was certain the thirteen of us would sink it in the fifty feet to shore. The captain ran it up onto the beach and we leapt off onto the (mostly) dry sand. Fortunately, our captain saw the light and arranged a minibus to take us to the chimera. From the trailhead, we hiked a couple of kilometers up a steep hill to the site. Flames were still shooting out of the rocks there, just like gas fireplaces. These flames were the source of the idea of the Olympic flame. They used to be much bigger and were visible from the sea, hence the legends of monsters changing shape and breathing fire. By the time we visited, many of them had gone out. There was also a ruined Byzantine church, there, where you could see the remains of frescoes. We spent a few minutes examining the church and then hiked back down.

Dusk Near Olympus

It was much more difficult to get back on the little, ratty boat without getting wet feet, so I had to remove my shoes and socks. All of this had taken some time and, since the time had just changed, it got dark early. We got no tea and arrived in Adrasan after dark. There was a nice, natural harbor in Adrasan, but we never got to see it. We ate dinner and danced until 21:30 or so and then I went to bed. It was very dark and we could see many stars. It was strange to see them so close to the place where all of the constellations had been named.

The anchorage got rolly in the middle of the night and we left before dawn. We never got to see Adrasan in the daylight. When I arose, we were somewhere off the coast on the way to Demre.

 
Nov. 1, 2000
The Gulet Kardelen, Kaleköy, Türkiye

Lycian Tombs at Myra

We got to the harbor at Demre about mid-morning. After some argument and haggling, we agreed on a price of 7.5 million lire each to take us to see the sights. First, we went to the ruins of Myra where there is a nicely preserved roman theater and some Lycian tombs hewn out of the rock face. Next, we went to the Church of St. Nicholas. The church, which dates back to the third century, is now covered by a vast roof of corrugated fiberglass. There were elaborate mosaics on the floors and a couple of remaining wall mosaics. The tomb of St. Nicholas is there, although his bones have been removed to Italy. There is a nice statue of Santa Claus in the plaza overlooking the church.

The Church of St. Nicholas

The Tomb of St. Nicholas

We looked through the shops near the church and a bought a small plate for 2 million lire. It was odd to see an entire town devoted to Christmas in the middle of a Muslim country. We walked to the center of Demre and observed the kale from afar.

Our Anchorage

The launch which had taken us to shore was a vast improvement on the first one. It even had enough seats for all of us and didn’t smell of fish. We landed at an actual dock. This same boat took us back to the Kardelen about 11:00 and then we had lunch. After lunch, we motored up to Kekova. We anchored next to a small, rocky island and moored the stern to the shore. I went for a swim. The water was chilly at first, but warm enough to stay in once I adapted. I swam to shore and then did a lap around the boat. We spent the night there. The mate, Mustafa, made a wonderful dinner of chicken, mantı in alfredo sauce, and potatoes and carrots smothered in thick yoghurt. After dinner, we played cards with Chris and Yvonne, the Flemish couple.

Kaleköy

The next morning, we had breakfast at our anchorage and then motored slowly over the ruins of an ancient city. It looked like there had been a series of warehouses along the shore of the island, but the buildings were now below the waterline. After we passed the ruins, we crossed over to a peninsula on the mainland and tied up to a dock at Kaleköy. Chris, Yvonne, Deanna and I climbed up to the kale, part of the old city of Simena. The village of Kaleköy was very quaint. It scrambled up the rocky slope to the kale and the ground was too steep for streets. There were only rocky paths and stairways. We climbed around the kale, which contains a tiny amphitheater, with an old woman in plastic shoes as our guide. She climbed easily up and down the rocks, carrying a basket of trinkets as she went. We bought a couple of beaded necklaces from her as a thank-you. We had a round of soft drinks in a café overlooking the harbor and then set off for our next destination.

The Kaleköy Harbor

View from the Kale

Nov. 1, 2000
The Gulet Kardelen, Üçağiz , Türkiye

Our captain brought us into the harbor at Üçağiz, where we wandered along the beach and saw a few more Lycian tombs. Deanna dropped her video camera which would lead to all of the footage being rendered useless. There were a lot of beachfront cafés, but most of them were closed for the season. We played with a couple of adorable puppies and then came back to the boat to read and await our fate. We were supposed to leave that day, but were also supposed to be in Kaş. Deanna refused to leave the boat unless they got us to Kaş.

Cafe in Üçağiz

Puppy in Üçağiz

Eventually, they decided to take us back to Antalya with everyone else. We discovered that we had paid as much as the other passengers, anyway. I had mixed feelings because we would waste another four days and have to go back to Antalya, but it might be the only gulet trip we would get, so maybe it was better to stay. I would have preferred some company other than the Walloons, though. They pretty much stuck together. They and the crew shared an awful taste for techno-pop. I was tired of dancing to bad music with a bunch of women.

The Captain and the Walloons

Nov. 2, 2000
The Gulet Kardelen, Finike , Türkiye

Our Lunch Stop

Today, we sailed after breakfast. We left the bay at Üçağiz and worked our way around the peninsula to a gorgeous, little bay where a fuel tanker was anchored. We rafted up to the tanker and took on fuel. When we left, all the boats in the bay honked their horns and made a huge racket.

All morning, we cruised back down the coast. A little after noon, we stopped in a pretty cove for swimming and lunch. It was pretty windy and I resisted swimming, at first, but ended up going in, anyway. It was cold, but I felt warmer when I got out. Lunch was a failure, today. I ate only a serving of couscous. The rest was vegetables boiled to mush in red grease and pickles.

Our captain went to sleep after lunch and slept until 15:00. I painted a picture of the cove. It was the first time I had painted plein air. Usually, I work from photos.

I found being on the gulet very boring. Chris and Yvonne were nice, and I would have gone nuts without them, but the eight women were very loud, had awful taste in music, and their behavior sometimes offended the crew. With no sailing to do, it got old motoring around when it was too cold to lie on the foredeck.

Mustafa served tea early, mainly to keep us from throwing the captain into the water to wake him up. Mustafa really didn’t like the leader of the Walloons and shook his head at her drinking, chasing after the captain, and topless sunbathing.

Our fellow passengers wanted to go to Finike, so we went there after tea. It was a dull place. We walked around with Chris and Yvonne, bought some biber (Turkish red pepper) in the market, and tried to use the internet cafe but could not get a connection. Deanna and I were not thrilled to walk around yet another Turkish town, so we left Chris and Yvonne and came back to the boat. Deanna went to take a shower at the marina and I stayed in to write.

 
Nov. 3, 2000
The Gulet Kardelen, Phaselis , Türkiye

We stayed at the Finike marina, last night, so I got up early and took a nice, hot shower. We sailed after breakfast and covered a lot of ground. I tried to read but ended up sleeping in the sun most of the morning.

We stopped for lunch in a beautiful cove with a nice, sandy beach. It was too windy to swim before lunch and I had hoped it would be calmer after lunch, but we left right away. The coast in that part of Türkiye was very beautiful, but pretty much the same everywhere. The steep, limestone mountains reach into the sea, creating numerous islands and caves. There are many pine trees. The water was unbelievably blue. Between the color of the water, the mountains, and the pine trees, I always felt like the water ought to be fresh. The scenery seemed more like Lake Tahoe than the Mediterranean coast.

Aqueduct Arches Being Restored

Theater at Phaselis

After lunch, we motored on to Phaselis. It rained on the way and our cabin leaked like a sieve. We moved the bedding and caught the drips in plastic bags until Mustafa could cover the cabin with plastic tarps. When it stopped raining, we took the shore boat to Phaselis. Deanna stayed behind. Phaselis is an ancient, Greek city founded in about the fourth century, B.C. The city is not large but is very lovely. The main street stretches from coast to coast across a peninsula. There are many large pine trees and their odor was heady after the rain. There are the remains of a small theater and hamam (bath) complex. There are also a number of arches from an old aqueduct that were being restored. I explored with Yvonne and Chris. Phaselis has three harbors, one of which has been in continuous use since it was constructed by the Phoenicians in the 7th Century, B.C. We waited for the Walloons, ate tangerines, and watched the sunset with the boatman. We returned to the boat at dusk, just as it began to rain, again.

Dock at Phaselis

It was very uncomfortable in the salon with all of us crowded in there. It was damp and stuffy and people insisted on smoking. I stood out in the rain for an hour or so. Mustafa took pity on me and fed me tidbits while he cooked. He made a delightful dinner of fried chicken, mantı, spaghetti, cacik, and potato salad.

After dinner, the francophones were playing stupid games and being very loud. We managed to ignore them and had a pleasant evening playing “43” with Yvonne and Chris.

Nov. 4, 2000

White Garden Pensiyon, Antalya, Türkiye

Chris at Red Island

We took our time leaving Phaselis, this morning, and we still got to Red Island by 12:15. I slept in the sun in the stern most of the way. I went for a last swim in the Med before lunch. The water was warmer than the air. It was chilly at first, but I was warm enough by the time I did a lap around the boat. We ate lunch at Red Island and then set out for the harbor about 14:00. Red Island is not far from the Antalya marina.

We packed up our things and settled our bills with the captain. We said goodbye to Mustafa and gave him a tip of 10 million lire each. We planned to take the shuttle bus to Antalya at 16:00, but they refused to take all twelve of us, since we weren’t employees. They would probably have taken some of us if there was room, but there was not. We took a cab with Chris and Yvonne to the White Garden Pensiyon. The owners, Metin and Esra, were very surprised and happy to see us. We introduced them to our friends and showed them around. We dropped off our baggage, took our clothes to the laundry, and then tripped off to show Chris and Yvonne Kaleiçi. We took them to the tower and then down to the harbor. We introduced them to Bayram’s brother, Nevsut, and then they left to go explore while we went to talk to Murat. It didn't take much convincing to get Murat to buy us tickets to Kaş. We left and went for a beer at a bar overlooking the harbor. Then we went back to the Chinese restaurant, where everyone was very glad to see us. We gorged on garlic calamari, curry beef, spicy eggplant, and gyoza. We returned to the White Garden and it felt like coming home. We would finally travel to Kaş the following day.