Turkey - part 5

This will be my last e-mail from Turkey as tomorrow morning I am hopping a ferry to the Greek Island of Kos, en route to Athens and then Berlin. I can't say I'm sad to be leaving. The past week has been quite lonely as low-season is in full force and I've had several nights in a row with a hostel or pension all to myself.

Last time I wrote I had just arrived in Fethiye. I thought I was the only person in my pension there, but at breakfast the next morning I found out there was also a British couple staying there - Ally and Alex. Alex was there to Paraglide and Ally was there to be the good girlfriend and sit on the beach while he flew around in the sky. So I'm pretty sure she was quite happy when I said I was going to be heading out to the nearby ghost town of Kayakoy and then hiking over the hill to Oludeniz, better known as the Blue Lagoon.

We head off on the Dolmus to Kayakoy at about 11. The town was abandoned when all Ottoman Greeks were transferred to Greece some 80 years ago. Nobody took their place so the stone houses have been crumbling since then. There were some dogs running about and some sheep grazing, but thats about it. Finding the path to Oludeniz was quite tricky, so we spent a good amount of time wandering about the ruins until we got to the top of the hill and found the first marker. The walk through the pine forest was easy enough, and presented some stunning views of the surrounding coastline. It took about two hours and we stopped in Oludeniz for lunch, and to wait for Ally's boyfriend to show up. It was quite cold when we left but the
afternoon sun warmed things up quite nicely. Unfortunately I had neglected to bring my bathing suit so I didn't go swimming. We did however meet a Polish couple on the beach and agreed to rent a boat together to head out to Butterfly Valley the next day.

The trip to Butterfly Valley was pretty nice. Our group of four swelled to six as an American showed up at the pension and asked if he could join us. Lastly, just as we were about to leave, an Argentian woman joined us because she had nothing else to do. Once at the Valley we decided to hike up to the nearby waterfall. The valley got consistently narrowed and the path trickier as we went along, but it was worth it. Everyone seemed to enjoy the trip until we were just about back at the boat driver decided to rip us off. We had agreed to a price of 80 Lira but he decided he wanted 100, so he stopped offshore and demanded his money. We weren't in a position to argue
because one of our group had to catch a bus, but we were able to settle on 90 lira for the 6 of us.
Unfortunately the haggling over price soured the entire day. But I did go for a swim in the Blue Lagoon and the water was lovely, if a little chilly.

The next morning I woke up early and took off up to Pamukkale to see Hierapolis and the Travertines. The bus ride took forever, as it wound its way through the mountains, but the views were amazing so I put up with it. I arrived in Pamukkale and checked into a hotel that had been recommended. I got a private room with ensuite for $15, and then went to look for food.

And there was nothing. All the restaurants were closed so I was forced to eat a mediocre, over-priced meal at the hotel. I was the only guest, the bright side being the young man that worked there. He was eager to practice his English and he talked about his time in
the army, football, life in Turkey. He said he had been posted along the Iraq border during his two years with the army. He wouldn't elaborate beyond that, saying he saw things he didn't want to talk about. He also soundly beat me at backgammon, a game I have played many times here but still can't keep up with the locals at.

Pamukkale as a whole was somewhat dissapointing. The travertines, which are pictured as milk white pools of water on postcards, were more of a drab grey. Hierapolis was nowhere near as splendid as my Lonely Planet had made it seem. The one bright side was the thermal pool at the site, which had old Roman columns in it and was quite relaxing. I struggled to occupy myself for the day. There were no other backpackers around and the only other people visiting the site were elderly German tourists. I read for a while, did a crossword, and went to bed early.

Then it was off to Selcuk, which was much of the same. Once again I was the only guest at the pension. But, it was my last stop in Turkey and I was going to make the most of it. The next morning I would be hopping a ferry to Samos, so I wanted to leave Turkey in style. I visited the very impressive ruins of Ephesus, went for a nice walk around the country side, and treated myself to a good meal. Then I went to the local hamam. I knew I was in for a good scrub-down and massage when I saw a bunch of old men sitting around in their towels, drinking tea, and watching football. And it was great. Much better than the hamam in Antalya and I came out of it feeling very clean and very relaxed.

The next morning I woke up bright and early, hopped a mini-bus to Kusadasi and strolled down to the ferry dock - only to be laughed at by the port police and told to come back in April. There were no more ferries until then. At first I thought they were joking but then they pointed me to a travel agent across the street, where they confirmed that ferries to Samos stopped a
week ago. Nuts.

I spent the rest of the morning figuring out what to do. Eventually I found out that I could get a ferry out of Bodrum, going to Kos, and, hopefuly, from Kos to Athens. So I arrived yesterday in Bodrum and am once-again the only backpacker around and would really some fellow travellers to talk to. In hindsight I should have returned to Istanbul and taken the train from there to Athens. Oh well. In Bodrum I went to the underwater archeology museum, which, sadly, is not underwater, but has displays on finds from ancient shipwrecks. Its located in an old crusader castle and was quite interesting. Alas, Bodrum is a package holiday destination and I'm almost out of Lira, so I've spent most of the day trying to simply keep myself busy, which meant lots of walking around, and trying to find a comfortable spot to read and do my crosswords.

Tomorrow I will officially be done with Turkey. I have the ferry ticket in my pocket. I'm hoping Athens will be more exciting.