Sailing on a gulet in Turkey provides a unique experience. Many people don't realize that the Mediterranean Sea is also a playground for tourists coming to Turkey. This area has a rich history, as it has been settled by Greek, Romans, Byzantine, and other civilizations. Over the next couple of days we took short hikes to visit some of these sites.
Our first stop is Kayaköy, a UNESCO Heritage Site. The Greeks have been living in this town since ancient times. They are Christians and later part of the Greek Orthodox Church. Following the Greco Turkish War_(1919–1922) Greek Christians were exiled to Greece. The Turkish government wanted Turkish Muslims to settle there but no one wants to because of rumors of ghost of Greeks who were killed there. It is now an abandoned town with a few buildings that are occupied. Those who come here are mostly tourists and vendors catering to tourists.
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| Getting on a dinghy to go to shore |
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| Sign explaining the history of Kayaköy |
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| Entering the village |
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| Abandon buildings |
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| The Greeks lived here |
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| Basically a ghost town |
We enjoyed relaxing times aboard the gulet, called the Barbaros. The weather was very nice, being in October, and the water in the Mediterranean was still warm enough to swim. Our meals were very generous and excellent. The crew of 5 took excellent care of us. In the evening the captain has to turn on the diesel engine to cool the cabins. It became noisy until he turned it off. Some of us slept well, some did not.
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| Barbaros Yacht |
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| Every meal was restaurant quality |
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| A sample dish of Turkish food |
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| Picking olives that the captain marinade for future meals |
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| Beautiful sunset every evening |
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| Guys on the boat |
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| Gals on the boat |
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| Visiting another ancient town |
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| An old dwelling |
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| Farmer selling souvenirs to supplement income |
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| Having fun in the waters |
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| Fun is part of the trip |
The next day we got on a smaller boat and cruise on the Dalyan river to an ancient town called
Kaunos. In the old days it was an important seaport. Today it's about 8km from the coast, It took us about 45 minutes to cruise to the town. Here we find remains of the old city.
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| Road leading to Kaunos |
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| Explanation of the Terrace |
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| More explanation about the structures |
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| Explaining the history of Kaunos |
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| Entryway |
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| Round Terrace |
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| One of the remaining structures |
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| Part of a building |
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| Remaining structures |
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| Cave dwellings along the river |
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| Where we are |
On the way back we stopped at a blue crab farm where we bought some cooked blue crabs. We snacked on the way back to the gulet and saw some loggerhead turtles. We threw some of the crab shells to attract them and a few came near the boat.
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| A beautiful private bungalow along the river |
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| Our location |
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| A loggerhead turtle |
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| A different view |
We learned many things along this part of the trip. One, to see and enjoy some parts of ancient Turkey. You have to get on a gulet and sail close to those ancient cities. Second, many civilizations have lived in these areas and have left their imprints here. Third, there have always been conflict between Greece and Turkey and it is in modern times that things have settled down, although not totally. Besides land, religion has been another big reason for conflicts here and around the world.
After four days we were ready to get off the gulet. It was a very nice experience but we are ready to go on to the last leg of our tour.
