As I mentioned in the last entry we have been on board our gulet sailing (actually under motor all the way) down the Turkish coast from Mamaris to Fethiye and back. We have been out of internet range for this time, although at Mamaris we could have got onto free wi- fi. But we didn’t.

Ugur Kaan’s Captain, Turgut Kaya coming aboard.

So here we are back in Istanbul trying to remember what we have done for the last week! The cruise was excellent, although in the latter half the weather was not as good as earlier. We still enjoyed it though along with the rest of the gang on board. For the run own to Fethiye, we had on board 4 Australians, 4 from the Netherlands, 2 from Turkey, 2 from the US and 1 from Canada. The North Americans, Canadian and 2 of the Australians  (not us) left us at Fethiye. For the return trip we were joined by 4 Australians and another 2 Turks. What a gathering. A fun time was had.

We are onboard the gulet Ugur Kaan. This is a wooden hulled vessel of 132 ton and a length of 26 metres. Also 26 meters at top of the  mast.  2 decks (one step!). 7 metre width. 

There were no Russian chicks on board. In fact on the whole trip we saw few Russian chicks, although they were supposed to be around.

Iztuzu beach

Leaving Mamaris, after sleeping on board in port for the night,  we stopped in at Dalyan to see the famous Iztuzu  Beach and Lycian tomb caves high up in the cliffs looking down on the river. Iztuzu  Beach is a nesting beach for logger head turtles. It is also a long beach covered in umbrellas and beach chairs. How on earth the turtles survive is a mystery. We lay at anchor here for our first night.

This is our gulet resting at anchor, while we swim around. It is the Ugur Kaan………Ugur is the captain’s daughter’s son and Kaan is the captain’s son (Mehmet),second name. Mehmet is the first mate on board and along with the cook make up the crew.

Lycian tombs cut into the cliff face above the Dalyan river, not unlike the features at Petra in Jordan. We saw other examples of these on another segment of the cruise.

At Dalyan,  Allthego and good number of our fellow travellers enjoyed a mud session in the thermal pool. This mud is claimed to have  numerous medicinal and rejuvenation benefits. Some, including Leanne, appeared to see no benefit in trying this out and preferred to observe the process involved.

Still seeking something unattainable Allthego tries the mud at Dalyan. An improvement but it has to be washed off.

Allthego enjoyed the experience but does not appear to have benefited.

We set off early the next morning for Oludeniz and the famous pebble beach and blue lagoon.