From Sea to Turquoise Sea

It would have been easy to stay in Bodrum for a bit longer.  Lovely small city on the coast.  Fascinating castle that housed the underwater archaeological museum. Lots of finds from shipwecks, including one dating back to the 4th century B.C.!  Good restaurants, even places to get "real" coffee – Turkish coffee sounds good until you try it.  I’m sorry, but I prefer the grounds to be filtered out of my coffee J 

The next two days involved sizable hills on rough pavement but the destinations proved to be worth the effort. We started Saturday morning with a two hour ferry ride across the bay to the Dacta peninsula, where our bike route took us from the Aegean to the Mediterranean. We lunched in Old Dacta – a tiny village that had been quite run down but has experienced a rebirth due to the efforts of some architects and artisans who have made it their home. 

In Old Dacta we enjoyed a typical "family style" lunch of eggplant salad, broad beans in yogurt sauce, a salad made with mushrooms and fresh (i.e., not dried into nuts) almonds, and baked eggplant stuffed with meat.  And bread, of course.  Always bread and plenty of it at every meal.

We spent Saturday night in cottages near the (rock) beach in Palamut - our first night on the Mediterranean. 

Sunday was our toughest riding day.  Sixty miles and several challenging climbs.  We passed old windmills at one spot along the way.  They must have picked the right spot because just behind them (not pictured) were modern windmills that have been erected in the past few years.

A typical rest stop and other scenes from along the way.

At one of the summits we reached that day you could see both the Aegean and the Mediterranean in the same view.  It’s not all that visible in this picture because the wind was calm and the ocean humidity created a haze.  We took a group shot to memorialize this "peak" moment.  From left to right, in front: our Turkish guide Firat, Dawn the Invincible, me; in rear: Bob, Mary, Nancy, our guides John and Danelle, Audrey, Marilyn, Jenny and Louise.  Everyone except me and Firat is from British Columbia.  Not pictured are Lima and Ken, our other guides who spend half the year in BC and half the year in Turkey doing sailing charters on their 50' sailboat.  

It was still a ways to our destination in Selimiye but there was nothing to complain about once we arrived. [No, there's nothing wrong with my feet - it's just the tan lines from my biking sandals.]

We stayed two nights in this small village that seems to draw a bit of tourist business during the high season, based upon the types of shops and restaurants it offered. We could have done a bike ride on this layover day but decided to go shopping instead, and spend time swimming and chilling on the dock.

Friday Surprises!

It was only a short ride into Bodrum on Friday.  We could have done a longer route but we wanted to arrive early enough to see the start of the 5^th day of the Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey.

Just a lucky coincidence that we were coming in to town when this week-long event was passing through.  Not as big as the Tour de France but a there were a few big names in the bunch (Renshaw, Vinokourov, McEwen).

Cycling isn’t as popular in Turkey as it is in Europe so we were able to get up close and personal.  I hung out with Vino’s bike while he and the other riders took care of last minute business before the start. 

 Surprise #2 - after lunch, we were entertained for about an hour by the dress rehearsal for tomorrow’s air show.  Truly awesome.  I was taking these movies while standing on one of the towers of a 14^th century castle built by the Knights of St. John.  Typical mix of the modern and the ancient that you seem to see everywhere you look in Turkey.

Old Rocks and Big Hills

Wednesday’s 51-mile ride included visits to several archeological sites, including the Temple of Apollo and a large relief of Medusa:

The Miletus amphitheater:

The Temple of Athena at Priene.  

And for all my forester friends - a Turkish clearcut:

We often see shepherds tending their flocks of goats and sheep along the way.  But we weren't expecting this.

George Clooney is vacationing in Turkey but got tired of the paparazzi so he went undercover as a shepherd.

We spent the night in the British resort town of Didim and drank extra strong gin and tonics.  And beer.  And wine.  And a good time was had by all.  Apparently I was too “busy” to snap any photos.

Thursday was our first (but not last) hill climbing day. 

We all thought the graffiti was brilliant. [The original sign doesn't include the bicycle or the extra zero.]

Took a break in the small mountain town of Kizliki at the top of the first and toughest climb.  Joined the local men who seem to always be on break whenever we pass a tea house.

This is our support vehicle “Maggie” barely making the turn in Kazliki. She’s a retired “dolmus” which translates to “stuffed.”  Dolmuses are the privately-owned transit vehicles that you see everywhere.  They will stop anywhere to pick you up or drop you off.  I expect to become very familiar with them toward the end of my trip when I’m travelling on my own along the south coast.

After Kizliki it was down and then up and down again before stopping for lunch at the fish restaurant in the harbor town of Iassos. Of course, getting out of town meant riding up and down yet another hill before reaching our destination of Guvercilnik. We stayed at a small hotel on the bay and relaxed with a cold beverage before dinner.

Reward after a hard day's ride

Farms and great food on the way to Guzelcamli

Tuesday we headed to the coast to stay in Guzelcamli.  Charming little hotel, pleasant day but not quite warm enough for a swim.

Along the way we passed by organic grape fields – not the norm in Turkey, but the folks in this small town have figured out that it can be quite lucrative.    

We also stopped in town for an amazing lunch.  Three kinds of greens, dolmas, eggplant and potato salad, freshly baked hearth bread, fresh pasta, little meat dumplings, a vegetable fritter, seared peppers and, of course, tea.

The trip has begun!

I met up Sunday evening with my trip mates at Rebetika Hotel in Selcuk.  Selcuk is full of “old rocks” as they say.  There is a Roman castle right next to the St. John’s basilica (eh hem, that would be THE St. John who is purportedly buried there) next to the Isa Bey mosque.  Monday was a full day, starting with breakfast on the roof.  The Isa Bey mosque is in the background.

Next was a short but uphill shake down ride to the hill town of Sirince, followed by a visit to Ephesus.  If you have to spend time among “old rocks” this place would get my vote.  It would take a tome to describe what happened here.  It is one of the largest archeological sites in the world and the amphitheater seated 25,000 people (which are usually sized to serve 10% of the population).  And check out the library.

Next to the Hamam (Turkish bath) for a thorough scubbing.  Clean and happy!

Anticipation

Only a day and a half before I go.  My bike is packed and I'm ready to go.  Here's the travel plan.