A sublime week aboard the Gozdem I!Leading up to our going away, it was our sincere hope that a few of our friends would be able to join us at some stage or another during our travels.
It wasn't long after we left that our mate Laura attacked this goal with her usual single-minded determination and organised a dozen friends to meet up with us on a 26 metre luxury yacht to cruise the Turkish Mediterranean coast from Gocek to Kalkan and back. An absolutely Herculean effort and it was amazing that she pulled it off!
It was simply too easy for the rest of us as Laura did the majority of organisation – all we had to do was cough up the cash when required, read her detailed emails about what we could do during our cruise and make sure that we were in Gocek on the 2nd of August to meet up with the boat.
Steph and I left Goreme on the 1st of August and (taking another gamble) picked up our Indian visas and passports in Ankara without incident in the half hour timeframe we were given on a Friday afternoon. We then caught the overnight bus to the coast and were dropped off on the side of the highway, just outside the small port town of Gocek's city limits, at about 7:00am in the morning.
We made our way to the marina and found a cafe where we could kick back and wait for everyone else's arrival from the airport in Dalaman, about 20 minutes away. I dug into the first English fry-up breakfast that I'd had since...well, since I left London!
We met up with Dan, Lisa, Kurt and Laura at around 10:00am and, in true Lunoe form, Dan suggested we celebrate the reunion with beers over breakfast. It was also Kurto's birthday, so an exception to the rule of no beers before midday was made and we toasted our health and the great week that lay before us.
After dropping our stuff off on the boat, the "Gozdem I", we headed over to the restaurant back at the marina where Kasey, Trond, Fred, Ja, Melissa and Mark were waiting for us, rounding out the dozen embarking on the cruise. We celebrated Kurto's birthday with seafood tapas, salads and wine. The restaurant organised baklava and candles while we sung “Happy Birthday”.
Baklava with candles - this is NOT a Turkish birthday tradition
We returned to the boat and met the crew, Mehmet (the captain), Gurkan (the cook), TJ and Jimmy (the deckhands – their names were a little more complicated than this, however this is what we called them for the week).
Left to right, TJ, Mehmet, Gurkan and Jimmy
The Gozdem I - fantastic!
While we were having lunch at the restaurant, the crew had bought what seemed like an absolute mountain of food and drinks, however after the accountants had gone over the bill (we had three of them on board), we decided that it seemed pretty reasonable...we thought...ah well, it was done and too much thinking on holiday sort of defeats the purpose.
Looking over the shopping bill.
Our sleeping quarters for the week - although many of us slept outside on deck.
After the food was loaded, the captain manoeuvred us out of the harbour (no mean feat as the marina at Gocek is tiny) and we set out into the blue of the Mediterranean. We stopped in a cove for the evening and took the first of many swims that we would have over that week. The water was absolutely beautiful and a perfect way to beat the heat of a Turkish summer.
Finally underway!
You may see Lisa and Ja in London 2012!
All-in!
That evening we realised that the decision to have all of our meals on the boat was a great one. Gurkan had cooked for us an amazing dinner, with salads and veggies for starters followed up by meat with sweets to finish. His cooking was exceptional and we were to greatly relish all of our meals on the boat that week.
One of many fantastic dinners we had on the boat!
The week progressed in a typical fashion, we would wake up, most or all of us would have a pre-breakfast dip, followed up by a smorgasbord of options for breakfast. We would then lounge about, swim, rest while we either stayed at anchor or moored to another idyllic location, so we could lounge about, eat, read, swim or rest with different, beautiful surroundings.
Swimming in beautiful turquoise water
Lunch was always vegetarian, with salads and hot veggie dishes. Dinner would be more veggies, with a main course of either fish or meat on the BBQ. Life really doesn't get much better then this, surrounded by the sublime views, of the Med and rugged Turkish coast, with great company on a luxurious wooden gulet, competently crewed so that we literally didn't have to lift a finger all week (unless it was to lift the esky lid).The week was also punctuated with some shore excursions.
On day 2, we headed out to "Butterfly canyon" for a walk, amounting to some minimal exercise so we would feel less guilty about lying around on deck, eating and drinking beer. The canyon itself is beautiful, however not a butterfly to be seen - we read somewhere that they were mainly active at dawn and dusk - not midday which is when we were there.
Following the trail...
...up the steep sided canyon...
...and the end of the line. One can continue onwards by climbing up the waterfall with a rope, but we opted out (Lonely Planet mentioned injuries were common).
That night we visited St Nicholas' island, dotted with ruins dating back to the 5th century when the island was a residential area during Byzantine times. The island is named after one of the more famous residents, St Nicholas of Santa Claus fame, who is reputed to have lived here for some time. It was an absolutely fantastic spot to watch the sunset, which is what we all did.
Some of the ruins on the island - this is one of four churches.
Watching the sunset, the whole team (L to R) Trond, Laura, Fred, Melissa, Mark, Lisa, Dan, Kasey, Steph, Ja, Me and Kurto.
Sunset from the top.
Day 3 was a visit to Kekova - a developed coastal town with expensive hotels, however some good shopping. The boys ended up in a cafe for beers - it was nice to have this option, as when Steph and I are travelling alone together I was usually dragged along to add obligatory comments - "Yep, the shoes are nice" and "Nope, I don't think it's exactly like you're other blue top".
The best shopping trip I've had all year!
Day 4 involved a visit to the ancient Roman town of Lycia, near the present day town of Myra. You can see many of the mausoleums that were built into the hillside, as well as a restored Roman amphitheatre.
Taking the tender out for a shore trip...
...to Lycia! Impressive mauseleoms and beautiful stonework.
After exploring Lycia, we headed into the town of Myra, which is also big on the Santa Claus tour. The church of St Nicholas is located here, the highlight being his actual tomb.
Santa Claus wall hangings - these were the LEAST cheesiest souveniers!
The church of St Nicholas
St Nicholas is of particular importance to Russians, being one of the patron saints of the country. For anyone who has travelled, they will know that Russians are kings, queens, princes and princesses of the "Package Tour" and there were bus loads and bus loads of Russian tourists all over town! Here is a picture of many of them trying to touch the tomb of St Nicholas with their personal holy objects such as necklaces, rosaries or medallions. Somehow, I don't think the protective screen around the tomb was really stopping them.
The tomb of St Nick - behind the "protective" screen - and masses of Russians.
Yes - we are officially in Santa Claus town - and it's not the North Pole!
It was a big day - a whole half day away from the boat and the water - so we eagerly headed back to the boat for lunch and another dip.
We also did a brief sail-by of the "Sunken City". It's an area where swimming and diving is no longer allowed, as such, all you can see is the sign and a few bits and pieces of buildings sticking out of the water - a bit underwhelming, however you get that.
No swimming = not much fun
The furthest we would get from our point of origin in Gocek was on Day 5 when we arrived at Kalkan, an idyllic little village (development has been strictly controlled) topped by an ancient castle. We hiked up for another stellar view over the coast and magnificent sunset.
Kalkan - village with built-in castle.
Hiking up the hill...
...and the sensational view from the top.
On our second last night on the boat, we stopped in at Fethiye for a night on the town. We started with cocktails and watching the sunset at a corner bar. We then moved on to dinner.
Hiking up the hill...
...and the sensational view from the top.
Beers and cocktails were the order of the day.
We wanted to sample the famous "salt-baked fish" and quickly found a restaurant where this was the specialty. The basic idea is that the fish is baked in salt, then set on fire where everyone can oooh and ahhh at it! I have to say that it beats the sizzling mongolian lamb at our local Glebe Chinese restaurant back home!
Fish on fire!
Breaking open the salt shell for the beautifully cooked fish inside.
We also met up with Oscar, one of Laura's Turkish friends (from her previous visit here), and his girlfriend from eastern Europe, Kristina. After we had finished up with dinner, we headed to the local nightclub to dance with the local 12 year olds...no, this is not a reflection on me feeling old, I swear that they let 12 year olds in here!
Ladies in a nightclub - form a circle and hunker down.
Is this one called "Blue Steel"? Laura, Kristina and Steph hamming it up.
Biiiiig smiles - yes, we have beer!
We moved on to a bar where there was a Spanish guitar player and keyboard guy playing some cracking Gipsy King songs and Buena Vista Social Club items. You know you're maturing when this is so much more preferable to pumping doof-doof music!
Getting into the latin theme.
Steph got bored so decided it would be good to froof my hair. I don't think an afro makes me look more Spanish...maybe Spanish/Maori, but definitely not Spanish.
Our last day came around much too quickly! We ended our amazing relaxing week doing what we did best: cruising the waters, swimming and admiring the view, surrounded by the beauty and tranquility of the Med.
A rare sight - a boat under sail, not motor!
What else can we do in the water....I know, let's form a big circle out of the foam noodles and get Laura to jump through it!
However, lazing about was much more relaxing.
We managed to convince TJ to take the tender out and get a group shot of us all diving in off the boat. The collage shows the "rapid fire" of the shots, (the "best" view of our jump is the lead photo of this blog)! Fun!
I'm not sure if it was the Med saying goodbye, however the sunset that night was particularly breathtaking and we reflected on what a fantastic week we had just spent over yet another fantastic dinner from Gurkan!
This beats any pool - hands down.
Our last sunset on board.
We got dropped off early the next day, back in Fethiye. The group split up with the girls going shopping and the guys heading to the barber for a much needed shave.
Getting shaved, for guys, is a bit of a luxury and an experience of stepping into "ye olde" past. You sit back, get lathered up and then the barber uses an old fashioned razor to expertly shave every scrap of hair from your face.
Eyes closed in prayer...jeez, that looks sharp!
Steph was fascinated by the process!
They also use some flame to get the fine hairs off your ear lobes and high cheeks - a little bit scary, a little bit smelly, however very effective!
A bit of flame to get rid of those pesky fine hairs (funny how I never thought they were pesky before this)!
For the rest of the day we said farewell multiple times as groups of us left to make connecting flights back to our various ports of call. We had a great week together and everyone got along so well, all in all a fantastic bunch of people to go travelling with.
For Steph and I it almost felt like we had been home for a little while and now we were getting back on the road to complete our travels: a much needed mid-year break!
We were the last to head out of Fethiye; being backpackers we were taking the overnight bus back to Istanbul (everyone else was flying) and then connecting up with our flight to Mumbai. We even managed to meet up with Kurt and Laura in Istanbul for literally 5 minutes so that Steph could give Laura even more stuff to take back for us to Australia as well as a DVD with the whole group's photos on it (everyone got a copy of this, and many photos in this blog have to be credited to other individuals on the cruise!).
We spent our last day in Turkey tying up some loose ends, buying a Turkish lamp (another thing to carry around for weeks) and taking deep breaths of the relatively fresh air before heading to what we were expecting to be a full-on and very different travelling experience in India!
