Minarets and Jambon and Homeward Bound 27th July 2014

We are in Finike in our first marina since Kusadasi, where we first entered Turkey in early June. It is a good place, with beautifully tiled shower suites, a barbecue area for yachtie use and guest cabin with couches, books and tv. It has a technical centre that houses umpteen workshops for stainless steel, carpentry & turning, electrical, mechanical and canvas repair & fabrication. Very impressive (R was smiling!). So we have all mod cons for tidying the boat (and ourselves!) up for the journey home. We fly back tomorrow, a respite from the heat!

Finike has a terrific Saturday market, so we took time out yesterday to explore. The fresh produce is lush, there are stacks of nuts of all types, sacks of grains, rice and couscous, vats of spices - whole and ground (must get some sumach). And then clothes and scarves, table linens and throws and carpets. And tea urns. Sadly, no room for the elaborate tea urn.

There are some things here that have struck particular chords:

· * The sounds and chants of the calls to prayers at various times of the day

* There are a lot of mosques. But even more, there are tall minarets everywhere, even the smallest town will have more than one. It is from these that the calls to prayer are broadcast.

* So many American-flagged boats. We were amazed at the number of "foreign" boats initially until we twigged that this was a major local tax dodge. Seemingly Customs are unable to do anything about it. There are hardly any Turkish-flagged boats at all, but the "American" boats are all local.

* And Ham. Being a predominantly Muslim country, pork and pork products like ham, are not sold (or in the case of major international centres, they are imported goods, very expensive and segregated in their own cabinets). But they have adopted the French "jambon" to mean any sort of processed meat. So "hindi jambon" is turkey ham, "piliç jambon" is chicken, there is a beef one that tastes a bit pastrami-like and also a bright pink unidentifiable "macar salami" with a slightly odd texture and flavour.

Fairly sorted now. We're catching the Dolmus to Antalya tomorrow. And looking forward to cooler nights. And a Bacon Sandwich! Back in just over a month. Have a good August….