Turkey Holiday

We have just come back from holiday in Turkey staying at a villa in Calis, a coastal resort near the harbour of Fethiye.  The weather was, as expected, great - very hot (high 90s) and no rain or wind.  We had a great time spent with Pete's brothers, their wives and friends.  Six of us stayed in a villa in a complex of about 25 villas, whilst Pete's elder brother and wife stayed at their own apartment with their two friends.


Fethiye is the nearest large town and can be reached by dolmus (Turkish small bus) or by boat.  The dolmus is no more than a van converted with seats and some standing room and the drivers take great pains to ensure they run as full as possible.  The boats can be similarly crowded.


Like Salcombe it relies on tourism and there must be significant parallels with the pressures Salcombe endures around getting people into the town and spending money.  The harbour has plenty of charter boats available and the quays are always busy - if only Salcombe had been as busy this summer. There were plenty of gulets available and a short charter is something we might try on another visit.


Since our move to Salcombe it seems we have more of an affinity with the sea(side) and TV seems constantly to contain references to the sea and quite specifically to Salcombe.  The brain will filter in things of interest, so perhaps it's that, although their certainly seems to be more and more on TV looking towards the coast and seas.

It was so hot in Turkey that it would be difficult to do anything too physical (for us), but at the nearby resort of Oludeniz they have a sedate activity that the street hawkers are constantly pushing.  It's fine, as an activity if you don't mind throwing yourself of a cliff edge attached to a guy and his para-glider.  Pete feigns interest and suggests he could do it, but is yet to sign-up.  One of our company was brave enough to attempt it, however, Pete's camera battery failed just as Steve made his approach so the photo opportunity was lost.  Having launched yourself off the mountain you glide through  the skies above the resort before landing on the beach promenade - all very leisurely until those last few frantic moments.  Most f the pilots are pretty good, but occasionally they don't get it quite right. 


There are and have been some impressive craft in Salcombe, however, the yacht we saw off Calis beach was in a different class.  It was Steven Spielberg's $200m yacht Seven Seas (see photo) that was allegedly carrying Mr Speilberg and Tom Hanks. The boat was reportedly in Marmaris and Bodrum the previous week and all the restraunteurs were happy to tell you the story.