15- Knidos : A Big Surprise Between Gökova and Datça

The beauty of Gökova Bays lies to our astern and we cruise towards Knidos, an ancient city located on the furthest point of the Datça headland. I love the turquise color of the sea off Datça, it is a deep, fresh blue, extremely clear. When we had a sailboat I used to slow the boat down to three knots, lower the ladder, hold it and then get into the water and watch the gorgeous color of the sea.

(color of the sea)

Knidos is a delight to visit. Be careful though, for staying the night at anchor is tricky and can be dangerous. The sea bottom is soft sand and the hills around Knidos produce strong and unexpected whirlwinds anytime but especially after midnight. The safest method to stay is to approach stern to or lie alongside the wooden basic pier managed by the local restaurant. If not, stay at anchor in deep water. Stern to mooring to the shore (not to the pier but to rocks) is not recommended in Knidos because if you drag anchor then you can not easily move away. Also there is a sunken pier at the entrance so you need to keep close to the mainland.

In Knidos I love waking up early and climbing up the hills, watching the sunrise and taking photos. The people who had lived in ancient Knidos had been priviliged people. It is so beautiful here. Datça peninsula has a wild, unspoilt nature. Just, lovely !!!

Sunrise over Knidos

The hills provide a good chance for a workout so do not forget to bring your hiking shoes. You can walk for several hours on the terrain and get very nice views and photographs. There are some paths but also get ready to walk among the bushes.

To the left is the shallow small port, not suitable for cruising vessels

The archeological ruins of the city of Knidos is visible in the photograph above. You need to buy a ticket and then can continue towards the archeological area which is immediately behind the restaurant.

It is a nice 30m walk to the lighthouse

Better to tie to the dock then stay at anchor

View from the sea

16- "A garden is a tango, in the old village of Datça" Can Yücel

I love the normalness of Datça. It is so normal, middle-class, clean, cute and fresh.

I haven't seen a location that is wealthy and pure

It lacks many negativities that can make you feel fatigued at other places. Overblown egos, alcohol or sex crazed tourists, dollar eyed merchants or simply the huge crowds that remove the authenticity of anywhere.

I don't wish to write for many pages when I can summarize this place in several words. Datça is simple and beautiful !!

 

Datça has wonderful seas and anchorages. First it's cystal clear. Look at the photo below, the distance between the sea bottom and the camera is approximately seven meters yet we can see nice and clear.

And the bays of Datça are very nice. Expect to see many goats walk run or even fight on incredibly steep pieces of rocks and cliffs. One can spend several days without going anywhere just slacking, resting, meditating, calming, revitalizing...essentially performing the exact opposite of the sickest urban behavior of rushing to do lots of things most of which have no final meaning.

Some bays are open to swell so you need to read your map and find covered anchorages. Another alternative is visiting the Datça harbor and either docking along the shore or staying at anchor. Anchoring requires no rush but docking ashore does. You need to be at dock before 4pm. Do this only if you have really revitalized and feel some ruch would not be bad !

17- Entering Heaven aka Hisarönü Bay

Keep cruising east from Datça and after the Greek island Simi you will arrive at Hisarönü bay. This is one gorgeous piece of geography offering the best of blue and green. Hisarönü, Orhaniye and Selimiye are the towns you will find within this bay.

Ince Burun Lighthouse, Entrance to the Bay

These lovely villages are all under the administration of the town of Marmaris, which is a town of Muğla. Orhaniye is two miles south of Hisarönü and offers a marina with wonderful scenery. This marina, named Martı Marina (www.marti.com.tr) is a serene spot within this heavenly area. 

Martı Marina

Floating Pontoon and Sailboats Within

 

Orhaniye Scenery

There is very limited accommodation here because construction is strictly controlled. Very basic hotels were available but now a small boutiqu hotel is being constructed within the marina and I believe it will be operational by 2012 summer.

Orhaniye Scenery

Just take a walk around the marina and enjoy the scenery. The village of Orhaniye is not next to the sea but is very close. However there is not much to do there. In the Orhaniye bay you will find 4-5 restaurants, all appear to be the same offering fish and rakı.

Orhaniye Scenery

We enjoy traveling when we find time to do so. I have sailed and cruised along the shores of Turkey, Greek Islands a  lot but also along Italy, Sardinia and France Corsica. My personal view is, the beauty is Hisarönü and Yeşilova Bays is not comparable with others.

Here you will not find Michelin restaurants, superyachts and luxury living. I like luxury actually but when I arrive at southern Turkey, the simplicity and the genuine smiles I come across, I just love it. If you have the money...the world is your oyster. Ski in Courchevel, dine at Villefrance sur Mer and spend your weeks cruising around Beaulieu sur Mer. One thing you will not find is people who genuinely smile or care about you. That, you can find in Turkey.

Just ask this local...

Little Resident of Orhaniye

18 - Hisarönü to Yeşilova

Below are some more photographs of Orhaniye. This village is half an hour from Marmaris by car and two hours from Dalaman airport. The Martı (means seagull) marina has a nice restaurant within a very beautiful setting, the food is acceptable but not great.

What makes Southern Turkey special ? First the beauty of its geography, then the climate offering very long summers and a very short winter without much heavy weather or constant wind and then the many inlets and small bays all over make it perfect for cruising.

If you enjoy swimming, snorkeling then you will be happy throughout the whole coast. Scuba diving is also nice, not terrific like in the Caribbean or Red Sea but still nice. There are numerous accredited diving schools accepting Padi and Cmas certificates.

We live busy lives in İstanbul so when we go south we first enjoy the serenity. It also is a fact that  when you have children then free time is not easy to come by ! When I took the upper photos I was with my little daughter taking a photo and then running after her !

Is that it ? Just geography and climate ? No. There is certainy a food factor but not much in the south coast. But if you would speak, especially in Turkish, then you would have a totally different cultural experience. Many tourists simply do not engage in conversations in any language, they come, see around and then leave. But this is just the beginning of getting a taste of Turkey and is equivalent to visiting France and limiting your lunch and dinners to Quick burger restaurant.

It is important, or in better words, strongly suggested that you engage in conversations in Turkey. You can sit at a seaside coffee shop or restaurant and start talking to the waiter. The trick is to talk without thinking or calculating. After you get to know him, a couple of days later ask how his family is. Make a genuine compliment about something and start asking questions. Tell him about yourself too. What you like, dislike. If you are upset about something feel free to share it with him, not immediately but after several days. You should note that in Turkey a single woman trying to engage in a conversation with a guy can be understood as an advance.

When you talk, do not calculate, make sure to express, share emotions and do not go into politics unless you have lived for a while in Turkey and you speak Turkish.  What I like about travelling is that it lets us get rid of the cultural templates that make us believe that we are absolutely correct and superior when we know little about others. This also applies to Turkey so leave your pre-conceived ideas and live the country !

Now, let us continue from Orhaniye to Selimiye. First the photos :

Simple, serene and beautiful. Selimiye has basic houses scattered around the treeless landscape. Not much when you arrive first time, indeed when we did arrive I refused to stop by as it looked pretty dry. But on a later visit I came to realize that when you walk ashore it looks pretty nice. There are some restaurants offering nice food, try Sardunya or Luna. Both make local seafood dishes but the taste is pretty good !

Selimiye is a lonely soul, albeit a good one. It is far from Marmaris so not many people will stop by unless it is the high season. I might be mistaken but it has no large scale luxury hotels. I would recommend Luna Begonvil at,

http://www.lunabegonvil.com.tr/

Your boat will have more accommodation options, there are multiple little pontoons around Selimiye all run by municipality. Anchor and approach stern-to. Expect to pay 10-20 Euros per night.

You can have nice walks around Selimiye, it is just one cute, small, undeveloped village. People are usually very friendly, as you might expect and this is a nice place to really relax and let the stress of city go by. If you don't mind living in isolated areas then Hisarönü and Yeşilova offers many opportunities. We now live in the age of internet so I keep wondering why some people do not move south but choose to stay in İstanbul ? It should be possible to do work by internet and especially for self-employed people this area is a godsend.

Selimiye can have a touristic feeling too. It is quite common for people from Istanbul buy to land here and then sell it for multiple times after several years. This is destructive for the whole area as it triumphs quantity over quality. A friend wanted to buy some land here but he was surprised at the prices.

Anyway better is to come soon so stop by and enjoy Selimiye.

19 - Bozburun

Bozburun is hard to describe. Let me do so in a nonconventional way...

I occasionally meet people who are on antidepressants. (As you may also know, this is a silent epidemic within our society. An inbalanced lifestyle makes people unhappy and instead of fixing the issue, medication is prescribed. I think most antidepressants are unnecessary.) If these people spent a three month long summer holiday in Bozburun I feel most would give up such pills. This town is over one hour driving distance to Marmaris, isolated and surrounded by beautiful seas. The inhabitants are relaxed, happy people.

Here is happiness all over. In the morning I see happy people starting the day. During daytime I see happy people doing their businesses, in the children's playground, on the beaches, on the road, in the shops and in the evening you should know what kind of people I see. More happy people ! Most are poor by western standards but they are all happy !

The happiest person I ever saw was on the Trans-Siberian train somewhere around Novosibirsk. She was a babushka selling fur hats, getting on the train at one station and getting off on a later one to take the return train. She was

And I was lying on the really relaxed, really happy, not only because I love trains and that this trans siberian train was so wonderful, but because that we had consumed good amounts of Putinka vodka the night before. So did not take her photo.




Bozburun is rocky, barren geography. But the town is lovely. It is simple, very simple, There is a long road by the seaside and most houses are located along or above this road on the hills. The houses are also simple as expected. Most have some ivies or smaller hand planted plants all over, nothing fancy but everything cute ! We normally enjoy greener locations but Bozburun is simply lovely.