Sunday, 10 June 2018 Myths, Legends & Swimming with Turtles

A 23 hour passage from Latchi in Cyprus to Finike in Turkey - a change of plan and an additional 50nm. We had good, fast sailing for the first 8 hours, whilst through the night, we were treated to a spectacular electrical storm with triple forks of lightning striking the sea at the same time. Thankfully, not too close. We arrived at the marina where Osman relieved us of €100 for our Turkish Transit log and formalities and the Marina Manager knew it was 4 years since we had last been. Welcome! Finike was a quick stop; to recover, do our formalities and to visit the Saturday Market, one of the best around for its produce - beautifully fresh, abundant and extremely cheap.

We decided to go East and North for a bit, as far as Kemer. The coast from here to Antalya is bordered by the Taurus mountains, making for a dramatic landscape. The highest, at 2,365m, has a cable car running to the top - it is higher than some alpine resorts we have stayed in! So we have spent the last 11 days exploring this (for us) new area. Unlike the barren islands, this is mainland so much greener with rivers and natural springs everywhere. The mountains are covered: apart from pines and other feathery conifers, there are walnut trees, mulberry, lime trees, strawberry trees, pomegranate, citrus, figs and grapes.

We have been in and out of isolated coves, found beachy areas thronged with local tourists, and popped into Kemer to see what it was like - it has a reputation of a good and lively marina popular with overwintering liveaboards. We decided to avoid the marina itself and anchor in the bay next door. Bad move, it was rolly and the music from the beach cafes went on all night until 5am: the daytime music started at 6am. Been there, done that, we should know better! After all, the bay's nickname was Club Med Bay.

Back to the good bits. The area all around here is noted for its turtles. We saw dozens and dozens of them. The beaches are protected areas, with signs showing what you can and cannot do. The turtles come ashore to lay their eggs at night from May to October. The incubation period is about 2 months, so all summer long the nesting sites need protecting, both for the eggs and the little hatchlings as they struggle to emerge and make their way down to the sea. Although shy, the adults do not seem to be particularly bothered by sailing boats (no engine noise?) or swimmers. On more than one occasion, swimming with them was the treat - and the waters are so clear.

The other treats included exploring some of the mythical and legendary sites along this Lycian coast. At Cirali, at one end of the beach was the ancient site of Olympos. From the north end of Cirali, you could hike up to the Chimaera. Described by Homer as a fire-breathing monster - part lion, part goat and part snake - it was apparently slain by Bellerophon and its fire went deep underground. And the fire never goes out - it is a great gaping hole in the ground of eternal fire. We couldn't resist, although it was a scorchingly hot climb up the mountain. The fires have been burning for thousands of years; they are still there. The area is more like a great expanse of rock up the mountainside pitted with lots of gaping holes, some big, some small. They all emit fire. The complex mixture of gases includes methane; they can be temporarily put out. We (or rather Richard) did put one out, won't say how - and then re-lit it with a burning bit of nearby wood and it re-ignited with a satisfying whoosh. To stand alone there and imagine those who have stood there before is a strange sensation. From this very site, a "chimaera" (Turkish "Yanartas") became the name for any strange beast (and now has come to mean any sort of fanciful or fantastical notion).

We stopped at a cove called Ancient Phaselis. It was crowded with tourist tripper boats and gulets, so we anchored a little way off to enjoy a cool down and swim. Once the crowds had departed, we had the cove to ourselves and moved in closer to a bight under the headland - protected from swell by a reef (or ancient collapsed harbour wall) and close to the ancient port itself. We went ashore to explore and were surprised and impressed at what we found. The site had been excavated, not completely, but what was there was amazing. This was an important Hellenic trading port, settled first by the people of Rhodes and over the centuries ruled by them, Persians, Syrians, Greeks and other Hellenic and Roman states through to the Byzantine era. It thrived through them all, being more interested in trade than in politics, and was wealthy and cultured. What can be seen today is a wide avenue of pillars, flanked by houses, shops, communal baths - large and small (frigidaria, tepidaria, hot, steam, etc), a grand theatre, lots of commemorative remains to honour statesmen, athletes, benefactors and the like, a very impressive aquaduct, a necropolis, temple, etc. There were actually three ports; east, middle (tiny) and west (where we anchored).

We have seen few foreign sailing boats in our travels. The Turks are holidaying, but the prime general tourist trade seems to be coming from Russians. They are here in abundance. In general, they ignore us if they hear English spoken - they don't make eye contact and appear quite arrogant (what a terrible generalisation, I know). The Turks need their tourist income, but one gets the feeling there is not much "liking" - they miss the cheerfulness and politeness of their previous British, German and Nordic visitors. This is a shame, as in the past we have met many charming Russian sailors with young families and shared info and stories with them. Something has changed for them.

We have completed our little tour of this area and are back in Finike (our last visit in 2014 included Demre, Myra and Lycean tombs as well as Father Christmas - the original St Nicholas). We need to re-fill our water tank, fill up the fridge, and I have just off-loaded a big bag of laundry to Nadire, who will do it for me by tomorrow. From the myths and legends to the mundane - but we still have a turtle for company swimming around our boat even here in the marina.