Olympos

The beach at Olympos

The first place I visited in Turkey (after Ankara of course and Istanbul) was Olympos. Drawn by the idea of sleeping in a tree house by night and lying on a beach by day, Heather and I took the long bus ride to Olympos. Upon our arrival we were horrified at the tree houses because they weren't bug proof (I'm not sure what we were expecting to be honest) so we quickly changed our room choice and got a bungalow instead. But seriously, who wants to awaken in the middle of the night with a big-ass insect on their face, an insect most likely intent on inserting poison or eggs in to their ear? The bungalows in Olympos offer air conditioning (woo hoo) and a toilet and shower. The shower is pretty much unusable since it is positioned directly above the toilet, but it's nice to know that it's there.

Lycian ruins

Olympos is not a town, it is merely a street lined with pansiyons - all offering tree house accommodation, and, for the less adventurous and bug haters like myself, bungalows. Most of the hotels (or all of them) offer a room, breakfast and dinner included in the price so it's actually a pretty good deal. The pansiyons are not located right on the beach because of the Lycian ruins but it is a beautiful walk to the beach. You have to pay to use the beach (but its really cheap) and that ensures the protection of the ancient buildings. As you walk to the beach, you will see ruins: walls, houses, bridges etc and if you venture further back in to the foliage you will find streets, more houses, some mosaic floors, tombs, an ampitheater and a very impressive gate. The ruins have never formally been excavated and it's very interesting to explore the ancient city in the state that it is in now, without any reconstruction.

The Chimera Flame

I love Olympos, not because there are tons of activities to do, but because there aren't. It's a good place to hike, relax and swim. There are boat trips available as well as sea kayaking (great fun but hard work). At night people can walk to the Chimera - a place which has natural, continuously burning fire coming out of the rocks. It's pretty cool. I've heard stories of people coming for a day and ending up spending weeks there - it's just that great.

Kaş and environs

Lycian tomb

"Kaş" means eyebrow in Turkish but it's also the name of a little town on the Mediterranean, one of my favourite spots in Turkey. Once a picturesque fishing village, Kaş is now mostly populated by tourists, although there are still fishermen (I watched a man catch a sting ray when I was there). Nestled between the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean and some mountains, Kaş is also a photographer's dream. Look look up the hillside while you wander the cobblestone streets filled with vine covered houses/shops and you will see many rock cut tombs carved in to the mountainside and you will wonder how they got there.

In my opinion, Kaş is the ultimate destination. It's not a place of excitement so if you want nightclubs, creepy Turkish men hitting on you, loud and obnoxious British, Russian and German tourists and overpriced food, take yourself down to Alanya (a.k.a Hell on Earth), Antalya, Kuşadasi (where you can eat all the bacon you want), Bodrum or Marmaris. However, if you want relaxation, good fish, mezes (cold starters), friendly people and relaxation, Kaş is the place to go. Kaş offers great outdoor cafes where you can challenge the tavla (backgammon) champion of Kaş to play with/beat you, where you can chat with local people, and where you can simply enjoy life. There are also some really nice shops in Kaş and a great jewellery store located off the main square, at the beginning of the street leading up to the big Lycian tomb. Kaş is also an ideal base to explore the surrounding area and I recommend renting a car if you aren't scared of facing Turkish drivers and the fact that there are NO road rules in Turkey. Trust me: NONE.

Place for suntanning and swimming in Kas

Kaş does not have a beach but it has some nice (free) suntanning terraces which jut out in to the water and which you can swim off of. If you want a beach, Patara beach is about 20 minutes away (by car) and is absolutely pristine: huge, golden sand beach completely unspoiled by tourism development. Patara is a protected area and you can only suntan in certain places as it is also a sea turtle (Caretta Caretta) refuge and so it should remain that way. While driving to Patara beach, you will encounter the remains of the ancient city of Patara. The Lonely Planet and other guidebooks don't say much about these ruins but I can tell you that they are stunning: there is a lot to see, a lot more to be discovered and there are NO tourists (unlike Ephesus where you can't even see the ruins because of all the tourists!).

The ruins of Patara - ampitheater and surroundings

Another ancient city to visit (just a little past the Patara turnoff) is Xanthos. I didn't think it was as interesting as Patara, but my opinion about ancient ruins should not be trusted: after three years in Turkey and trips to Italy and Egypt, I am pretty much "ruined out".

On the way to Patara and Xanthos is another cute little seaside/fishing town called Kalkan. Kalkan is smaller than Kaş and, unlike Kaş, it has lots of seaside restaurants, one of which also served "Turkish Sunshine". Kaş' restaurants and cafes are mostly located in the main square, in the winding cobblestone streets and on rooftop terraces. Kalkan did, however, seem more expensive than Kaş. I really liked Kalkan and plan to go back to spend a night there at some point.

Come to the Turkish Mediterranean and this is guaranteed!

If it's adventure you seek, Kaş is one of the biggest scuba diving centers in Turkey, and it also offers paragliding adventures, and boat tours. The boat tours take visitors to Kekova where there are Lycian tombs which seem to float in the water and the "Sunken City" - the ruins of an ancient city from the 2nd century AD which was sunk by an earthquake. The boat tours also offer chances to swim in beautiful bays... but beware, boat tours in Turkey usually come equipped with a creepy Turkish man (always a boat staff member) who will spend the day hitting on you and making you generally uncomfortable. If you can deal with that,then the boat tours can be quite fun.

Another interesting place to visit (by car) is the ruins of Myra (located close to the uninteresting town of Demre) which has some very impressive rock cut Lycian tombs and a very well preserved ampithater. Demre is also the home of Saint Nicholas (Santa Claus) who was the bishop there - you can go visit his church if you are so inclined, I wasn't and therefore have nothing to tell you about said church.

Rock Cut Lycian Tombs - Myra

I love Kaş. I would love to own a holiday home there or perhaps a small pension. It's a great place to relax and explore the surrounding area.

I've been to Kaş three times and on each visit I stayed in the Kayahan hotel - it was recommended to me through word of mouth. It's an affordable, clean hotel, located about a five minute walk from the town center and a two minute walk from the suntanning platforms. The rooms all have airconditioning and balconies and you should ensure that you get a sea view. There is a great rooftop patio which gives fantastic views of the harbor and the Greek island of Meis (you can take day trips there if you want). The hotel price includes a big buffet breakfast on the rooftop patio. Deniz, the owner, is really great and if you let him know which bus you are coming on (if you are arriving by bus) he will meet you at the bus station. Hotel website: http://www.hotelkayahan.com/en/index.php

Bozcaada

Bozcaada town as seen from the Fortress

My friend Erin visited me last week and we set out to explore some places that I had never been to. One of these places was Bozcaada, a beautiful island in the Aegean sea. Bozcaada isn't a place where one "does" anything specific, it's a relaxing place where one can wander the streets, look at the colorful doors and window frames on the white washed houses and take photographs. There are also three local wine producers who make nice wines, lots of nice grapes and tomato products (tomato jam anyone?), many cute cafes and some really good food. Bozcaada townsite also has an impressive fortress which you can tour for a whopping one lira and 50 cents! It's a great place to take some photos of the town and harbor. Apparently, the side of the island opposite to the town has some nice beaches (we didn't have time to go).



Erin and I only stayed in Bozcaada for one night but I wish I had stayed a bit longer. Bozcaada is a small island, about 6 kms wide, and having a car to explore it would have been nice. As it was, we had arrived sans car and with large backpacks on our backs. It's easy to get to Bozcaada provided that you can first get to Geyikli where you catch the ferry to the island. Erin and I were staying in Ayvalik (about 3 hours away) which I had thought would provide us with a simple enough connection to Bozcaada, but I was wrong. It would have involved taking three different hot, slow moving, chicken filled buses to get to the ferry boat and neither Erin nor I was interested in that kind of adventure (we are no longer spry, patient 20 year olds). Instead, we found a Turkish tour company taking Turks on a day trip from Ayvalik to Bozcaada. We craftily booked ourselves on to the tour, negotiating a reduced rate since we were only going one way, and arrived in Bozcaada in style with our own comfortable air conditioned bus. The tour guide was very friendly and even had the tour bus driver drop us right at our hotel which was located a ways out of town. He did, however, first force us to endure a Turkish language tour of a winery where Erin befriended a German speaking Turk who translated the Turkish to German which she then translated to English for my benefit! In all, it was a very successful way of getting to Bozcaada.

A beautiful door in Bozcaada

The hotel we stayed in is called the "Uzum Butik Otel" (http://www.tenedosbozcaada.com). We had a big and comfortable room with a sea view and a nice sea breeze coming in the (screened! A rarity in Turkey!) windows and our bathroom was HUGE and included a jacuzzi tub (not very useful during high summer though!). There is a great garden where they grow tomatoes, eggplant, peppers and spices and for lunch they made us a fantastic menemen (Turkish omelet) using these fresh vegetables. Breakfast was great with lots of nice jams to choose from, fresh veggies, cheeses etc. The hotel owners were really nice, especially Elif, who answered all our questions and drove us in to town. Uzum Otel is not located right in the Bozcaada townsite so it's either a long hot walk to reach it or a taxi. The taxi ride is about 11 lira. The hotel is located close to a small beach and it's a great, quiet place to stay!

This is the view from the Uzum Otel

Cappadocia

Dome and pillar shaped formations dotting the land, underground cities where people hid in times of war, fairy chimneys where you could easily imagine seeing a smurf or an alien, and cave houses/ churches: Cappadocia is a land of visual wonderment – a land of strange and intriguing formations created by volcanic eruption and the subsequent erosion. The people of Cappadocia carved these “chimneys” in to homes, Christian churches, stables and anything else that they needed. When the area was under attack by large armies, the Cappadocian people fled to the underground cities that they had dug for times of trouble. Cappadocia has a colourful history, a history involving conquering armies, Christians hiding in caves and, according to heresay, is where Saint George slew the dragon. (To find out more history of Cappadocia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappadocia). Today, Cappadocia is a huge tourist destination offering hot air balloon tours, nice wines, ATV rides, bike tours, underground city exploration and much more. Cappadocia is also where George Lucas shot the scene of the Sand people’s homes in the first Star Wars.


I keep coming back to Cappadocia because I think it’s fantastic. I’ve visited Cappadocia four times, each time bringing a new visitor with me. I always stay in Goreme because it is a fairy chimney town, people still live in them, you can eat your meal in a fairy chimney, or you can stay in a cave hotel (hotel rooms carved in to fairy chimneys). Arriving in Goreme is like arriving on the moon or in to Smurf ville – I always half expect to see a little blue man with a large hat dart out from behind a building. On my first trip to Cappadocia I invested in a balloon tour. I say “invest” because this was quite an expensive experience – around 130 euros – but it was well worth it. I had arrived in Goreme at 11pm the previous night and hadn’t seen anything, just the outlines of the fairy chimneys as we made our way to the hotel in the dark. My balloon tour was the next morning, with a 7am pick up from the hotel. This is, in my opinion, the best way to start your stay in Cappadocia. The balloon takes you up and over the various valleys and you get a great chance to see the awesomeness that is Cappadocia. The balloon company will pick you up and take you to a large field where they serve you some tea or coffee and some little cakes and where you can watch the balloons being inflated. Then you will clamber in to the balloon and be whisked over the amazing Cappadocian landscape of which you will snap hundreds of photos (in my case at least) and take in the sunrise over the fairy chimneys. The balloon tour lasts between thirty minutes to forty five minutes and finishes with a toast of cheap champagne (which, in my case they will spray all over you) and a flight certificate. It’s an amazing experience but make sure that you dress warmly as those Cappadocian mornings can be quite cool.



In addition to ye ole balloon ride, Cappadocia offers lots of other adventures. Let’s start with horse back riding. My advice: Don’t do it. The horses are not well trained, prone to breaking in to a run, especially down hill, and also prone to biting and kicking each other with a rider still on their back. Worst of all, the guides don’t care. I’ve tried horse back riding in Cappadocia twice with two different companies and each time was a terrifying experience for both myself and my friends.



Visitors can also partake in various guided tours. I participated in the one which takes visitors to the Ihlara Valley for a hike and lunch, an underground city and the Selime Monastery – an amazing archaeological feat, carved high in to the rock. The tour is nice if you don’t have your own transportation and you can easily book them through your hotel, I believe that they are about 50 lira.

Goreme offers an interesting open air museum, a UNESCO world heritage site, where one can wander through ancient churches built in to caves and admire what remains of the paintings (note that all the faces of the saints have been scratched off because the Muslims who arrived much later don’t like faces in their art).

Cappadocia is also the home to wineries, hiking and biking trails, and for those of you who enjoy damaging the environment: ATV tours. It also boasts many souvenir stores and is a good place to buy carpets and onyx.

As for accommodation, I have stayed in a number of places in Goreme. The first time I went, my friend and I stayed at the Shoestring Cave Pension (http://www.shoestringcave.com) . It was inexpensive, clean, had a nice breakfast and offered us a stay in a cute little cave room with a private bathroom. It’s carved in to a cave and has a very nice ambiance. We stayed there at the end of October and the nights were COLD and the room was just not warm enough. We ended up sharing a bed for warmth, cuddled together in a shivering ball; however, I think it would be a perfectly comfortable place to stay in the summer time. My real complaint about this hotel was that we received a warm welcome until it became clear to the owner that we weren’t going to book any activities through him (we had done it all ourselves beforehand) and he quickly lost interest in us.

The next two times that I visited, I stayed at Kemal’s Guesthouse (http://www.kemalsguesthouse.com/home_en.html) which provides a gorgeous breakfast in a beautiful garden as well as a very tasty dinner (extra cost) if you want it. The owners of the guesthouse are very friendly and welcoming and will help you answer any questions you have about the area. The rooms are a little unexciting but comfortable and I would definitely recommend this hotel.

The third and final hotel is the Elif Star Cave hotel (http://www.elifstar.com ) which was a step up from my usual Cappadocian hotels because my parents were visiting. I really liked this hotel, from the welcome when the hotel’s owner surprised us by meeting us at the bus station and driving us to the hotel and the beautiful, tastefully decorated rooms, to the warm showers and fantastic breakfast (the first time I have ever had French toast - with maple syrup- in Turkey!). The hotel is beautifully designed and carved right in to the rock – I loved it!

As for eating, try the local specialty: Testi Kebab – chicken, beef, lamb or vegetarian mixture cooked in a clay pot which you break before consuming it!