Let's Talk Turkey, Part 1

Marmaris- Antalya- Olympos

Yesterday morning, Mike and I woke up in Rhodes and took a cab to the port in the early morning. The wind was so harsh, my hair was continually in my eyes and my coffee cup almost fell over. We waited in line to pay the port tax and to have our passports stamped before waiting for the boat to depart. The ocean was so rough, I thought I was going to be sick, so I climbed to the top of the boat, falling on multiple people along the way. As the Turkish mountains were unveiled from behind mist, I became more enchanted with the exotic trip I was taking. One of the sailors climbed on top of the ship and raised the Turkish flag, scarlet with the moon and star on it, to allow us entrance into the port at Marmaris.

The bus station was unlike anything I had ever seen before. A man from a bus company carried our bags from the taxi and put them in the ticketing office, I paid for our bus fair and we were put on a bus leaving for Antalya within ten minutes. Once aboard, the bus began whipping through pine forests and hills while the attendant periodically passed out ice cream, tea, or cookies. When we were halfway to Antalya, we stopped at a roadside restaurant and had an authentic meal prepared buffet style for about 4 dollars each. I had stewed meatballs with peppers and tomato, rice, bread and tea. Back on board, Mike let me listen to his music so that I could tune out the bus’s terrible Turkish pop music. We listened to Bach’s cello concerto while overlooking farms at the foot of great mountains. The Turkish farmers are mainly women, dressed in long sleeves and long shirts with hair covers. When they weren’t harvesting or tending to the plants, they were picnicking under the shade of a tree.

We came through the mountains and forest to Antalya which, like a tide pool brimming with life, burst forth from the ocean. After some confusion with a security guard, Mike and I were able to buy Tickets for a bus to Olympos which left in 20 minutes. I wanted to visit Olympos because it was a beach city featuring ruins and the Chimera fires. Visitors to Olympos stay in tree houses or bungalows and take adventure tours during the day. I thought this sounded really fun and exciting, so I insisted we check it out. After a 7 hour bus ride from Marmari to Antalya, a 2 hour mini-bus ride from Antalya to a restaurant outside of Olympos, and then a 30 minute mini-bus ride from the restaurant to Turkmen Pension, Mike was not happy with me. Mike was even less happy with me when they were out of air-conditioned bungalows and we were left with a tree house. Mike and I were both taken aback when we realized that “tree house” in Turkish means “shack made from the wood of a tree.” It was a little bit bigger than our bed with a padlock for security, though the window wouldn’t even close. Mike was not pleased, but I thought it was quite funny.

I left Mike to lie down and went to explore Olympos, which is charming but not worth such a long trek. I walked past many pensions like ours with restaurants and little shops along the way, but nothing terribly impressing. I continued walking and saw the ruins tucked in between the boulders of Olympos, but no matter how far I walked, I never made it to the beach. I finally gave up and returned to the pension for dinner to find a very upset Mike Falcon. Together we decided to “get the fuck out of here as soon as possible” and went down to dinner, which was an extravagant Turkish buffet. They had so much eggplant, couscous, yogurt, potatoes, broccoli and meat that I had to stack food on top of food, which got me some really funny looks. When we were done we sat and tried to watch King Kong in Turkish and then registered for a tour of the Chimera.

The Chimera was a legendary monster, part lion, goat and dragon, to whom Zeus set fire and buried alive under the earth. This is the explanation behind the flames that seep out of the earth. They are mostly methane gas that ignites when it comes in contact with air, but it is quite interesting to see at night when the flames seep through the ground like a gas fireplace. By the time I arrived back at the “tree house,” I was dripping with sweat from the climb up the hill and so tired from all of my rocky travels, that I did not care about the lack of air conditioning. Mike and I showered and collapsed in our tiny little room and slept soundly until the next morning.

Olympos-Fethiye-Olundeniz

A rooster didn’t wake me up at the crack of dawn. When I stormed outside of our “tree house” to chase away whatever creature was howling at us, it was a flock of mangy chickens running from a rooster that made those terrible choking sounds. I chased them up into the next level of shacks, but that did little to help the noise. I went back for a hot and muggy few more minutes’ sleep and admired the view of a purple dawn brushing against the mountains outside our “window.”

We checked out and ate as fast as we could to “get the fuck out of there” and get to our next destination without wasting too much time. This goal turned out to be a bit unrealistic as we had to take three different buses to get to Olundeniz, but it was a beautiful drive and we had air conditioning most of the way. I drove along the Turkish coast with its red and chalk cliffs beside a turquoise sea. Though it was a lot of driving for 2 days, I loved seeing the beauty of the coast. I didn’t get to stop there, but Kas seems like a city that I would like to see later on in life.

After 5 hours on the mini-bus, we arrived in Fethiye and took another mini-bus to the beach town, Olundeniz, where we got a really nice room with air conditioning and our own bathroom to try and make up for the rough night before. We went out for lamb shish and Turkish ice cream served out of a melon cut in half.

Olundeniz

Olundeniz is a famous Turkish resort spot for British tourists, so there are a lot of non-local tourist traps to work through, but with enough patience and an eye for authenticity, it’s a really cool place to spend a few days. If you look up at any given moment, there are over twenty people paragliding from the cliffs around the beach. They also have a huge lagoon that hugs the beaches and little coves where private yachts are docked. The lagoon mirrors a beach, both of which are crowded with people lying under the shade of high bushes or trees. You can see Turkish Muslim women in their head scarves and traditional clothing out on the beach as well, though they are usually under the shade of an umbrella.

We took a boat from the shore to Butterfly Valley, a 40-minute journey that exposed a lot about the Turkish sense of life. The sailors loaded people onto the boat using a small ladder that was periodically being thrust 3 feet in the air, as the waves were crashing into the shore. This made loading difficult for people; imagine my face when I saw them pick up and load a refrigerator! It seems that the shuttle service to and from Butterfly Valley also stocks the valley with supplies that they need from town. Loaves of bread, bottles of water, liquor, cigarettes, and cheese were hauled over the toppling waves along with clients for what turned out to be a little commune.

As we rolled up to the shore of Butterfly Valley blaring Tracy Chapman, a crowd of people swarmed on the pebble beach by the bright blue water. I was reminded of the movie “The Beach” where the people never leave: it seemed like travelers had visited the Valley and traded a tent and a vine-covered veranda for civilization. To get to the butterflies, we followed hand painted signs through a farm and garden, along boulders and towering cliffs to a waterfall. We saw very few butterflies, but the trip to the waterfall and refreshing bath made it worth it. We made our way back through the sunflowers and marigold gardens, past the cow and goat, to the veranda where Mike and I played a game of chess and waited for the boat.

We crossed the bright blue bay back to the beach of Olundeniz. It was rush hour when we pulled up, so boats were pulling up right next to each other to unload on the beach. Our captain had to run to the back of the boat and kick another one away so that it wouldn’t damage his prized vessel. I had to jump into the waves wearing my dress and holding my backpack!