TURKEY'S MAGICAL HIDEAWAYS
May 22 - June 7, 2009
Page 16
Mediterranean Cruise, Aegean Sea, and Ephesus
On June 1, we boarded this gulet style yacht in Fethiye harbor for a 4 night cruise on the Mediterranean Sea.
The yacht was full of teak and oak with both sails and a motor, an outdoor eating area, cushions on the
observation decks fore and aft. The small cabins, each with a head and shower, held a maximum of 14 people,
the size of our group.
We had wine and nuts for our welcome aboard at the outdoor eating area of the yacht.
Our tour guide Rana with the 3 person crew. Here she is teasing our chef, because he looks so young.
Our handsome captain
The following morning we began our cruise along the craggy Mediterranean coast, anchoring for the day &
overnight in the Bay of Gemiler, shown here.
As we were anchored, small boats came up to us to offer for sale different items, such as ice cream,
pita type pizza (seen here), and different speedboat rides.
We took the yacht's motorboat to land on a small beach in the Bay and then drove to a spot near Kayakoy,
a Greek ghost town. Here is a view of the Bay, our yacht, and Gemiler Island (middle left),
where we hiked later in the day.
A young child obviously enjoying Peach Nectar at a ticket stand near the start of a hike.
We hiked up the side of a hill with beautiful vistas of inlets and the coastline. Shown is some of the
deserted Greek town of Kayakoy. Anatolian Greeks once inhabited this city, with about 600 houses.
The Ottoman Empire, that had lost most of its European territory in the Balkan Wars in 1912 and 1913,
entered World War I on the side of Germany, and parts of Turkey were subsequently occupied by
powers such as France, Great Britain, and Italy. When Greek troops occupied Izmir and pushed toward
Ankara in central Turkey, Mustafa Kemal (later known as Ataturk), led a successful war of independence.
The Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 recognized the borders of the newly formed Turkish Republic. As part of the
peace settlement, Greece and Turkey agreed to exchange their ethnic populations. Around 1.25 million
Greeks were relocated to Greece, and 450,000 Muslims were repatriated to Turkey. The impact of resettling
delayed the recovery of both countries after the war.The abandoned town of Kayakoy is a UNESCO World Heritage
site, and the town inspired the novel Birds Without Wings, written by the author of Captain Corelli's Mandolin,
that focuses on the rise of Turkish patriotism after the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire.
After returning to the boat, some swam in a cove, and we relaxed, snoozed, and read books until our
next adventure of the day. It was a tough life, but somehow we adjusted to it.
Link to next page of Mediterranean Cruise - Page 17
Link to first page of Drive from Cappadocia to Fethiye on the Mediterranean - Page 11
Link to first page of Cappadocia - Page 6
Link to Page One of Turkey- Istanbul
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