We are heading south from Marmaris. The landscape is getting greener and the temperature is hotter, today 38 degrees.
Dalyan is a bustling resort taking its name from the Dalyan river meaning 'fishing weir'.
Fishing in this river is a large industry with sophisticated fish trapping, which is well controlled and regulated. The attraction for this place though is the river trip to view the 'Lycian tombs'.
We are met by a good friend of Melis', Taci ( Taj ), in his riverboat. We arrive to the entrance of the rive where there are lots of people swimming on the beach which is famous for the breeding of loggerhead turtles. The breeding grounds are well supervised and regulated. Tourists watch as local people feed mature turtles with live crabs caught in the river. We then head up the river to the ancient ruins of the Lycian and Greek city. We pass through the fish trap fences onto Dalyan. We stop at the ornate carved Lycian tombs high up on the mountainside. Taj explains the Lycian funerary process. He discusses how when Christianity took over, the mythology was abandoned and the graves robbed of their precious relics and large amounts of gold and jewelry.
We visited Dalyan town, a very busy small town with lots of restaurants and bars where people were watching the Wimbledon final Federer versus Murray.
On our way back to BP we buy fresh crabs for our lunch tomorrow. MB sets his fish trap again, Good Luck!!
JB and Mick