Great Turkish trip. Part 4. Oludeniz
Part 1. Alanya
Part 2. Side
Part 3. Antalya
Part 4. Oludeniz <------
Part 5. Cappadocia
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We went into the hotel, strangely, the pool does not look like the one in the photo and without a slide. The manager at the reception moved us to a nearby hotel, which is located across the walking path. Oh, there is a hill here, everything is as it should be. First we were taken to a room where there was a pipe break. Then, with a straight face, they moved to a room without a pipe break. The furniture in the hotel was old, and the problems of the hotel seemed to be solved by relocating tourists to working rooms, and leaving the broken ones until better times. But this did not affect our mood at all. I was the first to fall in love with this area, then Dasha and Misha pulled up. There is really around the mountain, breakfast tables are placed in the olive garden, everything is very beautiful.
I was ready to tell everyone again how much I love Turkey. True, the head was heavy from the mask syndrome (I myself came up with the name). This is if you drive for more than an hour in transport in a mask. This usually left me with a little breathlessness for the rest of the day and a slight cough. There were two strange things in our hotel. These are dead figurines of garden gnomes without a head, we later saw a factory of figurines, so they were sold there just like those killed. The second is the name of the hotel. It's called Doga Hotel. It reads "doha". On the maps, it is called Nature Hotel, and the inscription Protap Hotel is laid out in the pool. Taxi drivers reacted only to the word "dokha", but the letter ha had to be said almost silently. We swam in the pool, but now we can't wait to see the famous Oludeniz beach.
We lived approximately on the 147th line, it took 58 minutes to walk to the beach. We preferred a taxi for 10 minutes. The tariff is fixed 30 lire ($4). But if you compare the cost of hotels in Oludeniz itself with ours, then the cost of a taxi is like a grain of sand in the desert. We arrived at the beach at sunset. People are dark, ships are also dark. The water seems to be the same as in Antalya in appearance. Something is wrong, does the mask and moving syndrome really affect perception so much? There are a lot of people on the beach, apparently only we do not see all the beauty that others see. Based on the map, there should be a lagoon five minutes walk from us. Well, let's go see it, maybe there lies the whole clue. The road is pleasant, coniferous trees along the road, everything is well-groomed. People became much less. And the water here is much more beautiful. Let's swim here. But really everything is not so bad, although we have not yet reached the lagoon.
We went into the water, it became even more beautiful. Apparently not in vain, after all, there are so many chants on the Internet about these beaches. I want to take some water and hide myself. Also, these beaches are seriously equipped, very civilized showers and changing rooms. Not all hotels have such rooms) At the entrance to the territory of the lagoon, everyone checks the temperature. Now you need to get to see the lagoon. I would also like to describe a gorgeous mountain with a real piece of the desert, but I can't wait to talk about the lagoon.
I don’t want to use banal expressions such as “Bounty” or “Turkish Maldives” or “Not all Seychelles beaches were so beautiful” and the like. It can be described more briefly: “We take all the beauty of the previous beaches for the trip, multiply it by 10”. How did nature manage to create such a beautiful and gradient sea?
Is this beauty just a few hours by plane from my house? Emotions overwhelmed, it is necessary to tell everyone about this place as soon as possible. People, go to Oludeniz and go swimming in the lagoon! Not a single photo, not a single story in the world can convey this beauty. Great start to the holiday, I already like it. Now you need to figure out how to take pictures at the morning photo session so that the button in the camera does not break. All our next forays to the beach were immediately aimed at the lagoon, we no longer needed any other sea.
The color of the water here changes all the time depending on the angle of the sun. From about 9 to 10 in the morning there are practically no people here, and almost the entire lagoon is ours alone. For some reason, people get out when the sun is already completely merciless. But at this time, the lagoon begins to acquire even more saturated colors. I took some photos up to my neck in the water, and here just give the local fish a reason to take an extra bite. Fish, please, I have a camera in my hands, have mercy on me. I had to dance with the camera, due to the transparency of the water, it was clear how they began to look in a flock with a hungry look at your legs. Even here, at times, the fish showed acrobatic sketches. These places are home to real flying fish.
Here we often recalled our meme, looking at the color of the water, I say: “It's so beautiful here that I can't. Can you? ”, in response, Dasha said every time that she couldn’t either. This is one of our family jokes on trips, when it's very beautiful. For a complete immersion in the lagoon, you need to take a catamaran with a slide for an hour.
It costs 60 lira ($8) here. Since we lived far from the sea, each time we had to choose an evening program, another trip to the sea or exploration of new territories. Today we could not resist returning to the lagoon in the evening. Fortunately, in our hotel, dinner was optional for an additional fee, we were not tied in time. Restaurants in Oludeniz itself are not that expensive, they indicate prices in British pounds. The first search for a cozy and not expensive restaurant was a respite. 30 minutes without haste, then we went to the supermarket, had a bite and went on looking. There is a saying that whoever seeks will always find, I don’t really believe in it, but this was exactly the case. Near the Secret Garden restaurant, we found an inconspicuous restaurant that cooks exclusively Gö zleme of various types.
Coziness and taste immediately won our hearts and stomachs. Now we know where you can always eat. Yes, and the market was not an easy trip. We found there a couple of lira, a very tasty churchkhela, sealed in a vacuum. For all five days, we arranged such a bargain for them for this delicacy that most likely they will be able to open another market, we will even finally load our suitcase with this churchkhela in Cappadocia. And even when we arrive in Kyiv, we will still eat it. Already literally in the first days, we formed two obligatory items for every day, a morning lagoon and a churchkhela snack. The daily program was quite simple due to the scorching sun - unlimited slides in our hotel. They were practically not turned off until late at night. Later, another point appeared - relaxation in the night pool. I caught the boundless aesthetic pleasure from every second in this region of Turkey. Although there was still one case when, instead of pleasure, we had to calculate options in an extreme mode in order to remain without injury. Let me introduce you to the local Lycian trail. . .
The Lycian Way
Since we lived in the mountains, we couldn't have missed the mountain hike, could we? We waited until the heat subsided and hit the road. The route started in our town Ovacik and continued to the beach. The beginning of the route was quite calm on an asphalt road. Then a car was driving towards us, it stopped, and the driver tried to tell us something important. He constantly said the word "Yaulshark" and demonstrated with his hand like a spider. Later, we asked the locals what this word means, but no one was able to translate it for us, citing that we have a bad Turkish dialect. It is still a mystery what that meant. Of the living creatures, we managed to find a porcupine quill, but it sounds completely different in Turkish. Then there was a beautiful view of the city and the lagoon. The maps showed us that it was not long to go, so we relaxed, spent the sunset and even planned that we would be in time for the hotel for dinner.
After the survey, the road changed a lot and partially ran through the forests, disappearing and reappearing all the time. From the sand we were mercilessly attacked by thorns. But by and large, nothing critical. After some time, we noticed that the continuation of the route would look like a mountain, which is located behind a large and steep cliff with a height of a hundred meters. Maps me confidently continued to tell us that it was not long to go and led us closer to the cliff. Then it kind of started going downhill. I also noticed that some kind of path runs along a bare mountain, the slope of which is clearly steeper than 45 degrees. We carefully descended near a very dumb cliff.
The path became less and less distinct and not very safe. The descent did not last long, now the road went through the very bare section of the mountain, here there was a large crack along it, and resting on the crack, it was necessary to go about 20 meters right above the cliff. We understood what position we were in. Climbing back is also not such an easy and safe undertaking. It would be nice if we were just the two of us, but Misha is with us, for whom this is generally the first serious track. The sun has also set and it will be getting dark soon. We coordinated our actions and began to move, stepping along the crack with small steps, firmly holding hands with Misha. There were places where you had to translate it forward through yourself. The thickness of the ledge was enough for a maximum of two legs, so changing the order of those walking is the most difficult trick over the cliff. The main thing is not to make any unnecessary movements in this whole campaign. Somewhere in the middle, I realized that two minutes ago, when it seemed to us that it was very risky to go back, we made an obviously wrong decision.
NEVER try to follow the mountain route from Ovacik to Oludeniz, it is literally life-threatening. With a frozen heart, we moved over, counted that the number of limbs and fingers was correct, and with relief began to move on. Here already the path sometimes had to be imagined in my head. The first problem is that Misha stumbled on one of the rocks, he held on, but hurt his knee on a stone. Fortunately, it can go. But none of us had a desire in this life to go to at least one track. The important thing is to get out of here. When it seemed that it could not get any worse, we realized that the map had given a huge misfire on this route with the timing. We should have gone down a long time ago, but the time is not decreasing. We see Oludeniz, it is very far down in height. And since we saw off the sun about 30 minutes ago, now we will meet here the real Turkish night in the mountains.
And now the finale, my phone showed that he had 20% of the charge left, and Dashin stayed at the hotel. Analyzing the situation now, the right decision was to send our coordinates to our parents so that they know where we are. Moreover, I already had a similar situation, when I sent coordinates to Dasha just in case, but now it didn’t occur to me. No matter how hard we tried to descend quickly, the thick darkness embraced us. The paths, which were already barely visible in the rocky and sandy terrain, now began to merge with the mountains. Fortunately, there were route marks on the stones - small green specks. I walked with a telephone flashlight well ahead, looking for constantly lost marks. If we realized that the mark had not come across for a long time, then we returned to the last one, which was also not always possible to find in the dark.
On the navigator, we saw that the trail zigzags down. That is, the next label can be absolutely in any direction. The lantern still sometimes cast ominous shadows. While I was looking for marks, Dasha was practically carrying Misha. He was tired, and his shoes did not fix the foot well, which made it very difficult for him to walk. This part of the route passed through the forest, with sharp rocks. There was such a place when we combed the rocky area around the mark in an unsuccessful attempt to find the next one. As a result, I made my way through the thickets in the hope of finding the one that would be through one. Fortunately, we succeeded. Each found mark, relief inside, but then with every second the tension grows, suddenly the next one is not found. The charge showed already less than 15%. It’s very lucky that I can really hold out on the last percentages on my phone for a long time, but if the flashlight also sits here, I have no idea what to do.
I remember that sweet moment when we saw the roof of a passing car nearby, then we reached the cell tower, then we finally lost the trail and marks. But now at least we know where the road is. I went straight down to check if I could get to the track. As a result, I reached the road, but there was a wall about three meters down. But somewhere there must be a descent, since the marks led somewhere. Phew, out the stairs! I shouted to Dasha and Misha to come down to me. We went to the track, what a relief it was. We are whole. Everything is fine. No more mountain tracks here. And in general, I never want any more.
Here we go down
It was just extreme survival. Misha was in the wildest shock from this descent. We explained to him that he is a hero, he went with us the most difficult route in all our travels. We went out into the city, here everyone walks serenely, not even suspecting what we had to go through. Urgently to a restaurant on gozleme with tea. What I want to say - no more routes over the cliffs ever.
Even if you find yourself in such a situation, it is better to go back, even if it is no longer cost-effective in terms of time. On such trips, it is good to force charge the phone every day. And do not start mountain routes close to sunset, otherwise a forty-minute segment of the path can turn into a few hours of horror. Don't repeat our mistakes. The next evening, it was necessary to choose an easier route. We went to Fethiye.
Fethiye
The city immediately surprised us with its rocky Lycian tombs. Here you don’t even need to climb anywhere, you walk and admire. The second nice thing is the prices in local stores. For example, two ice creams and a large bottle of water cost us 4 liras (0.5$). And of course, the old city itself. How beautiful it is, we have not yet passed absolutely all its streets twice, we could not stop rejoicing.
It is covered here, it consists of a bazaar interspersed with restaurants. Restaurants, in turn, are clearly competing, who is more beautiful. And the best part is that all these Turkish cities do not get bored at all, but on the contrary, each one turns out to be no worse than the previous one.
And what kind of embankment is there... Apparently, the whole trick lies precisely in how restaurants can fit in beautifully, and decorate already beautiful places with themselves. And the best part is the availability of all these places, for example, we always know that we can leave by taxi at any time, you just need to find a pole on which another taxi call button hangs. Or ask in any of the restaurants to press this button at home, on average, a car arrives in three minutes. When we decided that we had worked up, we pressed the button, and after 20 minutes we were at the hotel. Talked to several taxi drivers. I see that the locals are not particularly here and travel around their country, although with such beauty and accessibility, how can you sit only in your city?
In addition to taxi drivers, we had an acquaintance with another local resident - a turtle. She very importantly slowly crossed the road to go into her house. We watched with interest. When the turtle almost reached the house, the Turkish uncle came out and carried the turtle back to the forest. The house was not hers, but the dogs.
The dog began to bark menacingly at us, and then began to wallow at our feet, so that we scratched her belly. We have long noticed that Turkey is not only a country of cats, but also of smiling dogs.
Kayakei
One of the advantages of living on a mountain is that all routes go down, not up. That evening we set off through forests and quarries to the small town of Kayakoy. The route is absolutely not difficult and beautiful enough if you like coniferous forests and eat fresh figs straight from the trees.
At the beginning of the route, I went to one of the hotels to buy ice cream in their store. The hotel staff were very happy with me, they asked how my day was going, if everything was fine with me. I already regretted that we did not stop at this hotel, it was as if they had been waiting for me all day. Too bad there was no ice cream. Despite the fact that the whole route was really easy, I was able to prove that it is not necessary to kick your leg in the mountains. A straight road and an unsuccessfully lying stone are enough.
Turtle
Unfortunately, everything around is so dusty. In general, I noticed from the trend of recent travels that a trip without a twisted, swollen or injured leg is clearly not my style. The main attraction on the route was in the city itself. There is a whole abandoned Greek town, with streets, houses and even a temple, completely without people. Sometimes you can only catch rare tourists. We have never seen empty cities of this scale. I did not even know that it happens that the whole settlement is empty. The streets were heavily overgrown in places, which turned them into real labyrinths. Moreover, the further you go into the city, the more and more it opens up. Here we spent another romantic sunset. Now the main thing is not to blunt and get out of the city before the night covers us, otherwise look like this and we will dissolve here along with the shadows. I think this place should be safely included in the must-see if you are relaxing in the area.
Remember, at the very beginning, the ear curse began to cover us? Now it has reached its climax. Dasha began to have specific problems with her ear. Although before that everything was going to improve. Now we need to decide something not only with pharmacies, but also with doctors. Then I remembered our insurance from the bank, which once paid us money for a flight delay. I did not want to contact roaming calls, skype was indicated on the form. I wrote on Skype, they immediately told me to write to the mail so it would be faster. I emailed the whole situation. They clarified at what time we are ready to see the doctor tomorrow morning and gave the contacts of the nearest hospital, where we can be urgently admitted at night if it is critical to wait for the doctor.
Dasha went to the reception to say that a doctor would come to the hotel in the morning. The guys at the reception got nervous. Now in Turkey, if a doctor comes to the hotel, it is a bad omen for vacationers. In the morning, a Russian-speaking doctor came to us, examined the ear on the spot, made a diagnosis and wrote out a prescription for the purchase of medicines. The insurance sent me an email saying that we should not pay anything to the doctor, and upon returning home, send them a copy of the prescription and a check from the pharmacy to reimburse the expenses. Once again I am surprised how insurance for 360 UAH per year can work so well. Also in all countries except Ukraine. I usually didn’t take insurance seriously, but now I understand that if you need to solve health problems abroad and there is someone Russian-speaking who is ready to solve and organize everything for you, this is priceless.
Now it's time for our final activity in this region - to ride on a pirate boat. It was a difficult decision. It was necessary to weigh the risks of this undertaking during the epidemic. But as practice has shown, it was extremely easy to keep a social distance. Everyone sat either in an embrace on the second deck, or took their places at the side on the lower one. The entire central part was free. We found the most distant “corner” in the center from everyone and based there. But then dinner was announced, and everyone began to sit down on the lower deck. And no one was worried about the epidemic here at all. People sat eight at a small table, pressing their shoulders tightly against each other. And the assistant captain went around and helped everyone find places. I told the assistant that during the coronavirus they cannot violate our social distance and, oddly enough, it worked. I’m not sure that he understood me, but after the sentence, in which the word “coronavirus” clearly sounded, the assistant did not approach us anymore, they did not offer to give anyone a seat. As a result, on the boat it was possible to maintain a good distance with everyone. And now let's talk about the bays and islands where we stayed.
I now fully understand why there used to be pirates who plied the seas on their ships. They probably loved to swim in such beautiful bays. And dive in underwater arches under the rocks in tandem with fish. Although the fish are gray, there are a lot of them here. Here, that does not stop - this is another masterpiece of nature. Now Oludeniz has finally secured the title of the most beautiful maritime part of Turkey. It just couldn't be more beautiful physically. Here, in a good way, every day you need to sail on a boat, and in the evening go to the lagoon. I'm even glad that it was Turkey that first opened the borders, and not Europe. And how everything is relative. When you arrive for only six nights, it seems how long you are here, as many as six nights. But when you have been here for four weeks, you understand how little six nights is to see the most different parts of the country. From the stops of our boat, I was most impressed by the island and the valley of butterflies.
Butterflies themselves, of course, were not there - off-season, but the height of the mountains, combined with beautiful water, is all that is needed to recharge the positive. The captain announced the time of each stop, in the Butterfly Valley he also said that if someone does not have time to board the ship, then let them not worry, tomorrow at the same time it will be possible to sit back. Finally, there was a small fly in the ointment in this whole idyll. Our ship is caught in a storm. On the way back, we were pumped so that until the evening the earth went under our feet. Although it sounds like a pirate "Our ship was caught in a storm! ".
This is how the next stage of our journey gradually came to an end. There is so little left and it will be necessary to fly back (But here it is a ray of hope, information about the closure of the borders of Ukraine began to appear on the Internet. Is it really so that we will be stuck here for a lot of time?
Many of us began to throw links to articles. I have even begun to imagine our further route. But no, this is for foreigners, and Ukrainians are always welcome. But maybe at least the return flight will now be canceled. As a result, he took off with an accuracy of 20 minutes. Now we have an evening walk around our native Ovacik, and at about eight in the morning a taxi driver came for us. But as it is sung in that song “Conductor Don’t Hurry”, we only brought out a watermelon for breakfast, and the watermelon regimen on this trip cannot be violated. First the watermelon, then everything else, the plane will wait. The taxi driver was touched, and we went to the Dalaman airport.
Mini Istanbul
Why we love Istanbul, it's always good there, no matter how much time you have.
We had a little over four hours before the next plane. We were at the farthest airport in our galaxy, Sabihe Gohchen. We won’t have time to get to the center, even by taxi this idea is quite risky. Let's get somewhere urgently, what is the neighboring area? Kurka! Great, let's take a taxi to Kurkoy. Where exactly? Well, in general, it's somewhere in the area. Here, for example, in this yellow zone. It was about five minutes drive. We arrived in a new residential area, everything is modern, beautiful and with fountains. The first thing you need to do in Istanbul is to eat delicious food. But let's start with this pastry. In which mini-cakes were sold for 20 lira ($ 2.6). We rolled up the sweet table to the fullest. I remember a teacher doing something similar for us in elementary school. It's interesting, we were sitting at our desks then in the first grade, and no one knew who we would become when we grew up, what we would do.
Now, looking into the past, I know that a future researcher was sitting in front, and a conscientious lawyer who will defend the rights of people against whom they are trying to hush up the case in dishonest ways. I am sitting at one of the last desks - a future traveler, who at that time drew all the knowledge on travel from the atlas “The World Around Us”. Let's go back to Istanbul. After a sweet feast, we took the route to the old part of the district, which is a few kilometers away. Istanbul differs from other cities in that everyone eats here all the time, restaurants and cafes, even on the outskirts of the city, are in such concentration that it is impossible to pass by. How do you think our trip to the old part of the district ended? We sat and feasted in another restaurant. It would seem that we have been in this beautiful country for four weeks, and Turkish food is still not tired. And every time it's a joy to order something tasty. We are really not deported later for such a long stay in the country? Otherwise, we cannot do without Turkey. We flew further. Cappadocia meet us!
