The Turkey travel log is still coming, my focus was way more on food the second week, so keep on hanging on in there!
Datca
After a somewhat misguided trip to Symi, we had a long and bumpy sail up to the small Turkish town of Datca. It was our first visit of the trip to a Turkish town, so there was a lot on offer to do and see.We arrived into a buzzing little harbour with lots of small restaurants and shops all vying for our attention. On first inspection the waterfront looked very touristy but after we ventured further up the town, there was a lot more to Datca. A long street leading from the harbour front out of the town was packed with little Bazaars, herb shops, bakeries, kebab restaurants, and newsagents which sell their bread in fabulous little cabinets
Just before dinner Sofie and I went for a quick walk into the town and stumbled upon a massive parade taking place down the main street. We followed the people marching into a large square, overlooked by a massive portrait of the first president of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
We later discovered it was a festival of International cultures, and folk dancing groups from Romania, Sierra Leone, Poland, and Turkey were all in attendance fully dressed in traditional folk costume. It was the perfect opportunity to get some really great pictures.
With so many people crowding around the different groups, I was hardly noticed snapping away! The atmosphere was great, everyone including the participants looked like they were enjoying every minute. It was really easy to see why festivals like these, which celebrate different cultures, have become so successful.
As the evening began to close in, the crowd slowly dispersed and disappeared.
Later that evening we followed the noise of loud music across the harbor to where a mass of people were milling around an open air amphitheatre. We went through a large door to discover a massive concert for all the locals. We sat down and from what I could see it appeared the concert was in honour of local dignitaries who were sat right in front of the stage and even joined in the festivities by dancing right in front of the band!
Bozuk Buku
Our next stop was more along the lines of the little bays and ports we were used too, in Turkish waters. The tiny little bay is overlooked by the ruins of a large wall which make for a pretty stunning backdrop right on the mountain.
The water here was really clear and perfect for snorkelling. In most of the smaller bays which have restaurants run by the locals, rickety old jetty’s are built to offer mooring to the passing yachts.
In the afternoon when the sun’s heat had finally reduced, I dragged Sofie on a big trek to the top of the hill to see the ruins of the wall. She wasn’t impressed with both the heat and the fact that I insisted we walk through the campsite the locals lived in.
But I’m glad we did, as you really get a feel for how the people who run these little places live. A couple of goats and chickens roamed their little enclosures, while an old woman slept right under one of the close by trees!
The ruins were really impressive and the views from the top made the long walk very worthwhile.
We were joined only by a cat who seemed to happily have made the old walls its home. The small restaurant onshore had a great selection of Turkish Mezze and fresh fish.
Kumlu Buku
After a long series of stops which were a little on the rustic side, we pulled in to Kumlu Buku, a small bay just outside Marmaris. A small up market restaurant sits right on the shore, and a few really stunning straw huts full of giant cushions sit on the beach. Sofie and I made a beeline for these, and spent most of the day lounging on the comfy cushions.
Hard life right?
We ate in the restaurant on shore and to our surprise it had a fairly extensive Chinese menu! I may have mentioned it here before but I have a big thing for Asian cuisine! After solidly eating turkish mezze and grilled meats for 5 days on trot, it was great to have something different. I’ll be honest I really wasn’t expecting this small restaurant to produce the best of the best, but all the dishes that we ordered were absolutely delicious and really fresh.
As the sun set the staff at the restaurant lit large, open flamed laterns right down the beach. The jetty, we were moored up to, was lit up with under water lights, and the whole place looked really spectactular!
We were leaving the next morning but I could have easily stayed another night there!
