Dalyan, Turkey: turtles, crabs and ancient ruins

Every year on our holiday in Turkey, Tanya and I take a one-day excursion to someplace with ancient ruins.  We both love history and Turkey has a great deal of it.  The first year we went to Demre and Myra, then to Pamukkale and last year to Phaselis. This year we went to Dalyan (not to be confused with Dalian; THAT would have been an expedition).

We left our hotel at 5:00 am.  Dalyan is a 4 hour bus ride mostly east from Antalya on very good but very winding roads crossing at least four mountain ranges. We stopped for breakfast going and supper returning, all included in the Odeon Tour price.

Southwestern Turkey from Antalya to Dalyan

Turkish country side

Dalyan is a popular tourist resort area with a sandy beach, sea turtles, crabs galore, muddy sulphurous hot springs and ancient ruins.  The Köyceğiz-Dalyan Special Environmental Protection Area covers an area of over 460 sq km and is home to many unique plants, animals and birds.  The Iztuzu beach, a sandy spit at the end of the Dalyan River  estuary is the nesting site for the Loggerhead Marine Turtle and includes a sea turtle research centre run by the University of Pamukkale.

If you click on this link HERE, you get a very detailed picture of the beach and the estuary of the Dalyan River which is slowing filling up with silt and forming reed bed islands.  While we could have driven to Iztuzu beach, we were given the "three hour tour" down the river.  We stopped to go crab fishing.  A simple process in which a piece of chicken is tied to a string and thrown overboard.  It is immediately grabbed by a crab which will not let go and is scooped into a net.  For $10 they would cook us one for dinner.  Yeah, right.

Dalyan Estuary

As we approached the beach, we saw a crowd of boats around one boat which had raised a sea turtle with a bait on a line.  We got close enough to see it.  It was still at this boat when we left 1 1/2 hours later which made me wonder.  Either the turtle was dumb as spit or it had the gig down cold and would perform for treats or, and I hoped this was NOT the case, it was somehow anchored to the spot.

Loggerhead marine turtle

One our way back from the beach to Dalyan we stopped for lunch.   After lunch we threw pieces of bread into the water for the fish.

Feeding frenzy.  The fish loved bread.

From there we went to the mud baths, which were swarming with tourists.  Tanya and I are just not team players.  We didn't have crab with our lunch, we didn't go swimming at the beach and we didn't go into the mud baths.  What we wanted was to tour the ruins of the ancient city of Kaunos,  Kaunos (2nd link).  It was not to be. The ruins are a local tour and not included in our day trip.  We only saw the tombs and some rock structures from a distance, while we were on the river.

Ruins of ancient Kaunos

Lycian rock tombs similar to those at Myra

 Anyhow, it was still a good day, we saw some new country and got back to our hotel about 9:00 pm dead tired. 

Staying at the Hotel Sydney 2000 in Turkey

Beldibi is a "town" that runs along the beach from Antalya to Kemer, about 30 km. It is wall to wall resorts from 3 to 5 Star and at least one 5+++ Star.  There are mainly Russian and Ukrainian guests along the strip and russian is the second language of the business people.  Other strips attract other countries as when we were flying home there were about 6 charters headed to different parts of Germany, for example.

The Hotel Sydney 2000 is right next door to the Sumela Gardens where we stayed last year. We liked Sydney much better and think we have found a "home".  We talked to others who have been coming there for 8 to 10 years.

Sydney is a small 3 Star; simple rooms, maybe 150 at best; simple fare.  The food was fabulous, though.  While there had to be some kind of rotation, in the 17 days we were there, there were no repeats.  You could not tell it was "Tuesday" by the menu.  Four hot dishes, a big salad bar and a dessert bar.  Even the salad and dessert bars had a certain amount of variation.  Always some fresh fruit on the dessert bar, too. Wi-Fi in the lounge but if you needed a table to work on, it also reached into the cafeteria.

Because we were end-of-season, the hotel was only three quarters to half full.  Not many staff but great service.  End of season is cheaper and not deathly hot.  We like +30C (86F) much better than the +45 (113F) in peak season.

The beach is narrow and gravel, not sand and drops off rapidly as you move out from shore.  Not small kid friendly yet there were always several small kids there who had a great time.  One mom was there with four very rambunctious kids ages 11 to 2.  Every Babushka in the place helped her look after them.

Cost for the two of us for 17 days, end of season, including airfare from Kyiv was $2050. I have no idea if there are American and Canadian packages available but Turkish Airlines is a very good airline and not expensive to fly.  I am sure that something could be worked out.  For those who love history, Turkey has 10,000 years of it and ruins from every culture and civilization.

Back of the hotel, pool and dining area

Path to the beach, grassy sunning area, kids playground on the right

Beach.  Most sunning is on lounges for comfort.  It is a swimming beach

Weekly entertainment night included a fire-breathing juggler

Tanya took this one.  I wish she'd have taken one of his girlfriend too in her white bikini

Front walk to the street

 

Things go swimmingly

People familiar with the sea and who can swim, will read this and wonder what the big deal is but for a flatland prairie boy for whom 4" of water on a Saturday night bath was significant and who never learned to swim, it is an achievement.  I let go of the shore line this holiday and ventured out into deep water.

They say during the Second World War that prairie boys signed up for the navy and merchant marine in great numbers.  Partly perhaps, because vast empty expanses with horizons at 180 degrees held no fear for them and partly because they already knew how to work and being a grunt held no attraction for them compared to shipboard with no marching under heavy packs.  But maybe mostly just the sight of so much water at one time.

Water deeper than 3 feet and wider than I can see across has always fascinated me and I have paddled around in lakes when opportunity afforded it and a few times in the ocean - once in the Pacific, twice in the Black Sea and now four times in the Mediterranean.

This was the best holiday ever for me and our fourth vacation in Turkey.  I had nothing hanging over me and was able to totally relax.  The sea is almost always calm in the mornings; some mornings there aren't even wavelets washing the shore. And it was warm; 27C or 80F.  It wasn't like I hadn't been in the water there before but for some reason it dawned on me I could not sink regardless of what I did.  Tanya said that the Mediterranean has 30 grams of salt per litre, which combined with my body massive index mean I was pretty much guaranteed to float unless I hit an iceberg.

The fat in my head and the lead in my ass balanced so well that I stood at attention in deep water and floated, with my head above water.  Long ago I had learned to float on my back even in lake water so I was off.  Using my arms as oars I rowed my way around.  A rowboat from Ukraine; a veritable Hunky Dory.

Now I didn't move very fast and sometimes when Tanya was in a hurry to get to shore (lunch time??) she would get behind and push me like a tugboat pushing a barge.

There was a rope barrier way out there to separate swimmers from boaters and I actually swam/rowed my way out to it twice every day, a few times three times out and back.  It was an awesome feeling not to panic simply because I had no sea bottom to touch.  The only time I did almost panic was one morning I got out there and found the barrier had broken and drifted away.  There was NOTHING between me and the entire Mediterranean.  There was no limit to how far I could go and that was scary.  A good psychologist could have a heyday.  Analyse this!

Narrow gravel beach.  Drops off quickly.  Great swimming

The rope barrier is about where the white line is.

Along the beachfront are piers every so often for sunning and diving

About 2/3 of the way there and rowing for all I am worth.

Prague Spring Holiday - The Ossuary in Sedlec

One of the more unusual stops was at the small city Kutna Hora which I will get back too later.  Sedlec, a village on the outskirts of Kutna Hora was home to a Cistercian monastery from 1142.  Since it was located in the dead centre of town, a cemetery was established at the monastery in the ealy-mid 13th century.  In 1278, the King of Bohemia sent the Abbot to Jerusalem, from whence he returned with a jar of earth from the Grave of Christ which he scattered on the cemetery, thus making  it part of the Holy Land.

Make no bones about it, people from all over Europe were suddenly dying to be buried there.  The cemetery got a real boost in clientele in 1318 adding 30,000 bodies from an outbreak of plague.  Then the Catholic church threw a hussyfit over the deemed heretical teachings of Jan Hus and John Wycliffe which were quite popular and well accepted in Bohemia.  This set off the Hussite Wars, which not only added bodies to the graveyard but resulted in the burning down of the monastery.

So the All Saints Cemetery Chapel with two towers and two floors was constructed on the Monasterical grounds on top of the cemetery .  All the bones dug up from the construction of the Chapel and another church nearby were piled into the lower floor of the chapel which became known as the Ossuary of Sedlec, (Pile of Bones having already been spoken for).

Ossuary of Sedlec

In 1511 they hired a half-blind monk to stack the bones neatly into 6 pyramids, which were rearranged in 1661.  (You cannot make this stuff up). In the 18th century the Chapel and Ossuary underwent modifications and the entire Monasterial lot was purchased in 1784 by the Schwartzenburgs who also owned the Hluboka castle (see previous post).

They hired a wood carver to decorate the Ossuary.  The six pyramids of bones, estimated to represent some 40,000 persons, were disinfected and bleached, then bones from two pyramids were used to make the rather macabre decor in the pictures below.

The Chalice

Ceiling over chandelier

Family Crest of Schwartzenbergers

One of four remaining pyramids of bones

Prague Spring Holiday - Chateau Hluboka nad Vltava

Tanya and I arrived back from Prague early Tuesday morning.  We left the house at 5:00 pm Sunday 8th, arriving in Prague at 8:00 am on the 9th.  We left at 3:00 pm on the 16th and arrived home at 7:00 am Tuesday 17th. Getting to Kyiv and back took the time as the flight is only 2 hours.  Coming back on (Orthodox) Easter Monday meant the trains were full and we had to take an overnighter.

It was a computerless holiday, 9 days away from my link to the rest of the world. And a nice break it was for the rest of the world no doubt but I will not do it again.

We had six excursions as part of our package.  Bus and walk; bus and walk; bus and walk.  By Thursday my knees were so bad I could hardly keep up but by Saturday I was doing not bad for an old fat man.

Our first excursion was to Vienna and I will come back to that when I get pictures better sorted.  The second day we visited the Chateau Hluboka nad Vltava and Czesky Krumlov (which I will come back to later).

http://czech-castles.blogspot.com/2006/06/hluboka-chateau.html

Hlubolka started life as a Medieval castle on top of a hill over looking the town.  Over the centuries it was transformed several times by various owners into a huge luxurious chateau. It currently is owned by the Czech government.


Tanya got a few pictures of the outside of the castle (below) but for pictures of the inside you need to go to the official website (link above in Bold).  No pictures allowed inside the castle.  And the rooms were dark.  And our guide was in a hurry.  The schpiel was all in Russian but I imagined it went like this:

And this room is either Princess Gabriella's Bedchamber or the Knights' Dining Room; I'm not sure which...or maybe it was both.  If there was light in here you would see this and this and this and this and this...but since it isn't and you can't, we'll just move on to the next room which is either the kitchen or the library...

 

The Final Leg of the Journey

The last four days in Regina were a mad dash to finish business and see as many people as possible.  MayB had people for supper Thursday night and Friday night and when they left, more people came for coffee. Sunday was her church's annual Christmas program and dinner so I was able to see many old friends and eat another Turkey dinner.

She hauled me to the airport Monday morning on her way home from work (MayB works 10 pm to 8 am and The Guy from 4 am to 1 pm; they see each other occasionally) and the long trip home began.  AC left Regina on time (surprise); so far so good. Even the Toronto-Frankfurt leg was relatively uneventful.

When we got to Frankfurt, it was snowing heavily. Not good.  Four hours late leaving Frankfurt meant I missed my train connection in Kyiv.  Our long time taxi-driver, friend and all around fixer, Kostia, came to my rescue and helped me acquire a ticket for a later train.  Not an easy task at the last minute and beginning of holiday season but possible for Kostia.  Upper bunk in an open car but a ticket never-the-less. Instead of arriving home at 11 pm Tuesday, I would leave Kyiv at 11 pm and it would be 6:00 am Wednesday before I saw my Tanya.

An upper bunk is not impossible for me to climb into but having to do that every two hours becomes a bit difficult.  Lucky for me the Car Attendant sized me up as possibly having more money than energy and rented me her roomette for the trip for $12.50 (100 UAH - same price as the ticket).  A bottom bunk and a room to myself.  I slept a little, which I would not have done on the top bunk, in spite of being exhausted.

Andrei met me in P'yatikhatki.  The fog was thick as pea soup (or in Russian, casha - porridge) and even Andrei had to keep his speed down.  Tanya had borsch and roast chicken waiting for us.

A wonderful trip.  Spent time with my children, my siblings and Grandma - the primary reasons, in that order, for the visit.  Everyone else was a bonus and there were too many I didn't see. Not enough time but it was time to go home.  There is no place like home and no one like Tanya.

Aunt Pat aka Precious Pat

Last Wednesday Ky and I drove up to Comox to visit my Dad's cousin Pat and meet her new husband John.  I hadn't seen her for several years and figured it was a good opportunity especially if Ky would drive. Pat is a very lively 88 year old and John is a spry 81 year old.  Pat has outlived two husbands named William and I told her I was glad she married a man named John not another William or I would accuse her of being a Bill collector. She said she is not changing her name this time as it is too much trouble.

We had a great visit.  John is originally from England but lived many years in Australia, working at a series of jobs that took him almost around the entire country, prior to moving to Canada.  He and Pat were in a singing group that goes around entertaining at seniors homes.  He offered to carry her accordion one day and she turned him down, saying she could manage.  Then she felt guilty she had been rude, so next time she asked him to help her. Her grandkids teased her that the accordion got very heavy over one week.

My second cousin Marilyn and her husband Bill came in for supper.  They are retired and have a B&B on the ocean front. Marilyn had been to Saskatchewan only once, 1964 for my grandparents 50th anniversary.  I remember meeting her then and once since, the last time I visited Pat.

Cousins of my parents are getting thin on the ground, Pat 88, Muriel 95 and Nora 99 being the only three left of 23 on one side.  Pat said she was delighted the younger generations (meaning Ky and I) still remembered the older folks.  I said she is the only thing between me and the abyss so the longer we could keep her around, the safer I felt.

Pat and John (photo by Maryanne)

Ricky's Place

My sister Evelyn picked me up in Red Deer Friday and drove me to Calgary.  We stopped to visit my brother Stan's oldest and her two girls (five granddaughters, he has!) and then to Ev and Dan's home where Ev had invited her two kids and their spouses for dinner. Saturday morning she drove me to the airport and I arrived in Victoria at 1:00 pm.

Kylee-Anne picked me up and we went directly to the Christmas dinner put on by the church group she attends. I had never been to her assembly but knew several of the people so got a visit with them.  Then Saturday evening we drove to Duncan for coffee with my friends Robert and Jo, with whom I have done several business plan projects.  He was flying to Saskatchewan next day so it was Sunday night or never. Ky was sociable for a few minutes then retired to his office to mark final research essays from her English class.

Ky finished the essay marking but then had 32 final exams to mark and also had to work Monday, so Sunday night she drove me out to Mill Bay to my friends Wayne and Gifty Dunn.  Ky knew Gifty but had not met Wayne nor his son Kabore (an up and coming hockey player at age 10) before. She visited for a couple hours and said she would be back for supper Monday night.  Wayne and I have worked together in a number of countries on CSR projects, Turkey in particular, and he was in Ghana when I was last in Canada so it had been four years since I saw him.

Kabore got an early Christmas present, a Macaw named Ricky. Small vocabulary so far.  Hello and such like.  Screams "ERIC" when he is mad.  Not sure who Eric was but figure he was either a hen-pecked husband or a teenaged kid. Ricky and I were introduced and he rode around on my shoulder or arm for a while and seemed to hit it off.  I felt like Long John Silver.  He shakes hands by grabbing your finger in his beak and bobbing his head up and down.  Next morning I went to his cage and offered him my finger which he promptly bit.  Hard.  Drawing blood.  And said "Ouch". Parrot beaks have a very powerful bite. My fault - moved in too fast.  After that I moved a bit slower and finally got him to sit on my arm and shoulder again. He is quite friendly and we got on very well.

I leaned back on the couch and Ricky sat on my chest and "groomed" me, picking and nibbling gently at my eyelids, nose, lips and chin.  That took a great deal of trust on my part because that is one wicked beak and if he decided to bite, I would have lost pieces of face.

Parrots are very clever and can have the intelligence of a four-year-old according to the book.  Ricky learns quickly. He had been perched on the railing overlooking the entry stairs and didn't want to move.  He would not get on my arm and pushed me away with his beak.  When I persisted, he got angry and would have bitten me if I'd got near him.  Wayne went to get him and he bit Wayne hard enough to draw blood.  Wayne threw a towel over him and threw him in his cage.  Ricky knew he was being punished and sorted out his attitude real quick.

Next time he was on the railing and I went to get him, he tried to bite me again so I got the towel and showed it to him.  He wanted no part of that and held out his claw for me to put my arm down to get him.  We sat on the couch and he grabbed the towel from me and threw it on the floor.

Saying goodbye to Dunns was hard and poor Ricky didn't want me to go.  He kept lifting his claw for me to put my arm out to take him. I want a parrot.

Reminiscing

Since both Number ONE Son and DIL work during the day, I am left to my own devices.  Yesterday (Tuesday) I had coffee with school mate I had not seen for literally 46 years, since graduating from high school.

Dee was literally the girl next door.  Her folks farm was 3/4 mile west of our place and our folks used to visit back and forth.  When dad drove school bus, they were the second stop on the morning route.  Dee and her two sisters were more the age of my younger brother and sister, which is how I found her - she was friends with my sister on Facebook and noted her place of residence as Red Deer. Last I heard they were in Lloydminster.

We sat in a local coffee shop that roasted its own beans and served homemade desserts.  Gabbed for two hours until the money in the meter ran out.  Dee has kept closer contact with the old neighbourhood than I, as she and her husband helped run the farm after her dad passed away.  Until they figured they were both working to support their farming habit.  So we caught up on everyone we could think of from school days and all our neighbours, her mom and sisters, my siblings, kids, life in Ukraine and so forth.

Nice to catch up.  Sometimes I miss the community I grew up in but not often. The world changes and like they say, you can never go home again.

Travelling Man

Have a bit of time today to write something.  I am currently in Red Deer Alberta, visiting my son and his wife who are both at work during the day so am left to my own devices with the two dogs for company.

I arrived in Canada last Monday afternoon and called my daughter MayB on Skype from Toronto.  Where are you?  Toronto.  When do you get into Regina? 12:30 am.  I thought you were coming tomorrow.  12:30 am is tomorrow.  (Some of my family are chronologically challenged). She did come and get me, though.  And we did some visiting, shopping and appointments over the three days.  MayB and the Guy work odd shifts so was able to get visits in with them as both were off for two days I was there.  We are splitting my visit three days coming in and three days going out, as that way we don't get on each others nerves. Well, me mostly on hers, the way she tells it :) :) :)

Three days in Regina flew by and Friday morning I hitched a ride to Saskatoon with a friend Jen Evancio from Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership to meet with a business associate Al Scholz once we got there.  Stormed most of the way and roads were treacherous.  Several of us have formed a dba, CIBUS Management Group, under Al's consulting company to chase work in Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. 

Then dropped up to the U of S Animal Science Dept College of Agriculture and said hello to Dr. Bernard Laarveld, grabbed a 15 minute visit with my hero, role model and friend Dr Red Williams, Professor Emeritus, who is in his mid-80's and still goes into the office at Animal Science almost every day.  Dr. Dave Christensen, Ruminant Nutritionist, Professor Emeritous, mentor and long time friend, called his wife to put some water in the soup and slice the baloney thin as he was bringing me home for lunch.  We spent the afternoon discussing nutrition (I am still his student after over 40 years) and the world's problems.  Dave doesn't solve problems; that is what grad students are for. His job is to give them problems.  I know this.

My brother Stan (The English Cowpath) drove in from Rosetown to pick me up about 4:00 and I spent the night with him and his wife.  They have five granddaughters under age 6.  We stopped to see three of them, including the youngest Tatiana, who is 6 months old.  Pictures to follow (Stan, ask Shauna to email me the pictures she took, please).  Next day Donna drove me out to the farm at Wilkie where my brother Ross lives, having retired from Toronto about two years ago and moved back west. My son drove from Red Deer to pick me up and he and I spent the night at the farm and had a good visit with my brother whom I had not seen for several years.

Next morning we drove to Lloydminster to visit Grandma.  Grandma is Ella's mom and my kids' last remaining Grandparent.  She will be 92 in January and is now in an assisted living home as her memory is failing somewhat, though she is still very spry for an old girl.  Now that she is eating better she has gained weight and the pajamas I brought her didn't fit.  Awesome!  We went from Grandma's over to her youngest son's place and had a short visit with him and his wife and three of the kids before leaving for Red Deer.

Trying to see everyone in three weeks is impossible.  Some people will be angry that I didn't stop to visit and I am sorry as I would dearly love to see everyone of my friends and cousins.

Next year maybe Tanya and I will come over in summer and spend a couple months vacationing and visiting.  She didn't come this time as she has been battling a cold and besides she has been to Canada twice in winter...nuff said.

Turkish Pizza

The Turks make a very nice thin crust pizza.  For teh first week we were on vacation, the resort would serve fresh pizza at the outside bar between 10:30 and 12:00 for those of us who were too lazy to go to breakfast or wanted a snack after swimming.

The pizza is baked in a wood fired oven.  The coals are pushed to the back and the surface dusted relatively free of ashes, then the pizzas placed in the oven using a traditional long handled paddle; turned once during baking and retrieved, cut up and served hot.

The second week there were too few people there and the practice was discontinued.  There is a reason for lower rates late in the season. But it was good while it lasted.

The Ancient Port City of Phaselis, Turkey

One of the stops on our boat cruise was at the ruins of the once major port city of Phaselis.  It is located a few km south of Kemer on a small peninsula with three harbours.  According to the information at the site and also on Wikipedia and TravelLinkTurkey, it was founded in the 7th century BC by people from Rhodes and finally abandoned in the early 13th century AD.  The Phaselitans were traders not politicians and the city prospered under a variety of rulers - Persian, Greek, Lycian, Roman, Byzantine and finally the Seljuk Turks.  Most of the ruins are of Roman and post Roman origin.

I am posting a few pictures but if you Google Phaselis, Turkey and click on images, you will see some wonderful photos.

With Google Earth, you can look down on the peninsula and see through the pines the main street and some of the ruins

The peninsula is covered with ruined stone buildings.  We had no real time to explore.

Certainly some of the city site has tumbled into the ocean over the centuries

 

The Romans were great for bath houses

More bath house

Ruins of a market place or Agora

We both saw this brave little flower blooming away in the middle of main street

Storm Sunday night

Good thing we took our boat trip on Saturday because it started raining hard Sunday and stormed all night.  It rained again yesterday and a bit today.  There is still no swimming around our beach except by one or two brave souls as the water is still very rough.  Reports are they have not had a rain storm like this for the past 37 years.  Several houses lost in mud slides and six people reported killed.

 This photo was taken Monday morning.  Sunday night at supper the waves were breaking against the 6' seawall and up and over the shade cloth on the sun deck, eventually breaking it down in the night.  You can see the size of the rocks the waves were hurling up onto the deck.  Lots of fist size and several the size of the big one in this picture.

 This picture was also taken Monday morning.  Sunday night at supper the waves were coming in level with the concrete deck.  The wooden slated "covers" have been torn off by the waves.  The holes in the concrete are to absorb some of the force of the waves and keep them from lifting the entire platform or walkway.  There are twenty-five such openings on the deck. 

 I took this photo this afternoon.  There was a large concrete step at the bottom of these stairs from the sun deck through the sea wall down to the water's edge.  It has been totally ripped off the rebar and demolished

Another picture from today.  There are several cubic yards/meters of gravel and rock that were washed up over the 6' sea wall and onto the sundeck by the force of the waves Sunday night.

The water is still very rough close to shore but for a good swimmer it was nice and smooth, as in rolling waves farther out.  Getting there and back was the problem.  I hope the weather is good tomorrow morning when we fly out of here.

Yacht Cruise

Yesterday we went on a yacht cruise down the coast.  Very interesting to see the line of resorts wherever there was room between the mountains and the sea. Long trip for Tanya and I as we didn't swim (Tanya is fighting her cold again) or sun but did enjoy the old city of Phaselis (more on that another day).

The Armada of Cruise Boats sets out at 10:00 am

Resort hotels along the shore

The coast is either rock or resort

Pretty fancy looking place

Thump...thump...thump... Ramming Speed!!! Thumpthumpthumpthump

Beautiful little cove

Quiet harbour

Pirates' Cave.  Most of the Mediterranean swarmed with pirates at one point in history or another