i managed to convince jerome shortly after becoming friends with me that it would be a good idea for him and i to head to turkey for the bank holiday in august. turns out that aussie was in need of some serious beach time and so was i!
oludeniz is on the south west coast of turkey on the mediterranean sea, and overrun with british tourists (more on that later). we got into dalaman (nearest airport) at roughly 3am and was greeted with extremely humid and warm weather. perfect. we were picked up by our airbnb lady and her husband (we assume) and were off to fethiye. after getting in at 4am, we allowed ourselves to sleep for a few hours before forcing ourselves to get up.
our airbnb place was great minus the lack of wifi and any maps which made it a bit tough for us to get our bearings straight. olga was nice, and spoke some english, but by no means did she prepare us nearly as well as other airbnb hosts have in the past which just made it more interesting! for example: olga gave us directions on how to get to the famous oludeniz area via dolmuş (aka mini bus shuttles), but not how to get back. one could also argue it was our own fault for not asking which direction to return, haha. but i digress...
the first morning, we made it our way to the town of oludeniz which is where the famous blue lagoon is. after arriving, jerome and i saw the water and headed straight towards some umbrella chairs after getting the first of several doner kebaps! after paying for our chairs and laying there for an hour, we had come to the realization that we were not at the right place! we both had distinctly read that you had to pay to get into the area where the lagoon was, and it didn't look like the pictures i'd seen online. low and behold, had we read some signs, we would've walked about 5 minutes more westward and would've found it. i blame jet lag for this. regardless, we were very happy to lay there for the afternoon soaking in some sun, when bearable, and then cooling off in the water. it was a high of 100 that day! oludeniz is also famous for paragliding so we watched tons of paragliders soar by ahead and land just a few hundred meters from where we were. this was really exciting to see, since we were going to have our go at it the next morning
that night, as we headed out of the flat to find some dinner, we were stuck behind our gate for about a minute which was happenstance because one of our neighbors was just returning home and was a huge help! i asked if he could kindly point us towards the happening area of fethiye because at this point, we still had no clue what was where. he gave us a quick run down of what was around and sent us along with his business card in case we needed any help later on in the night! after finding the promenade at calis beach (15 min walk from our flat), we decided on some seafood for dinner, then went home and passed out.
the next morning was an early wake up call because we were getting picked up at 8am for paragliding!! i've been skydiving once before, so i wasn't too nervous about paragliding. we were driven up mt. babadag and were taken to the take off point where all paragliders congregated. when it was our turn, my pilot, dennis, basically told me that i needed to run when he said run, and don't sit until he told me so, even if that means roadrunner in the air. they strapped the seat cradle to us, then we were attached to our pilot with the parachute and next thing you know you were in the air after taking only a few steps. i was hoping there would be more running off a cliff action involved, but there wasn't! we took off smoothly and then were up in the air! the turkish had been really laid back about this whole thing, as in, by the time we took off, we hadn't paid, or sign any type of liability waiver, so i decided i'd bring my point and shoot along for the ride. no one said anything!
while in the air, i got a few good pics while they attempted to take pics of us with go pros attached to long sticks. it got kind of annoying quite frankly. i was trying to enjoy the amazing view of oludeniz and the lagoon below while they kept telling us to look into the go pro at every angle possible. at one point during the 'flight,' i began feeling a bit nauseous but dennis said he wasn't surprised because there was some turbulence in the air. apparently he's taken his wife out 5 times and 3 times she's puked! i hope they carry plastic bags just in case! when dennis asked if i wanted to try any 'acrobatics' i politely declined! after being up in the air for about 20-30 minutes, we had a very smooth landing by the beach!
after that, we finally found the lagoon and hung out there the rest of the afternoon. since the water is still, it was jam packed with families. i can imagine it would be nice having some peace of mind for parents with kiddos. we were by the edge of a hill, so we rented some snorkel gear for a whopping $2.50/day but sadly didn't really see too many fish. other than that, it was the same routine that we had practiced, and would continue practicing through the end of our trip. sunbathe, swim, repeat.
that night we headed back to the promenade again and found where the locals partied! at one end of the strip, we came across a tented restaurant that had live turkish music playing in an area decorated with turkish rugs, tables and pillows for people to relax. jerome and i found ourselves a table and had a great time hanging out with the locals. no brits to be found! it was mostly turkish mamas dancing a combination of belly/shoulder dancing and then a lot of men just hanging chilling at the tables by the side. i guess men not being into dancing as much is a universal thing!!
finally the last day, we hung out at the calis beach which
was very nice. for once it didn't feel like i was being baked in an
oven because the sea had a nice breeze to it, but it also resulted in
some slight burning action. the beach was much more relaxed the ones
we'd been to in oludeniz so it was a great way to spend our last day. i
alternated reading the fault in our stars (great book) with a dip in
the ocean.
this trip was definitely the most relaxing one i've ever had where the agenda rarely strayed from 'beach'. i was really looking forward to getting away from london for a bit, but as i mentioned above, this place was overrun with british tourists. you really couldn't go anywhere without hearing the accent, or finding a place that served a full english breakfast! no thank you--didn't come to turkey for a jacket potato. despite that, i had an amazing time and was really grateful for all of the extremely friendly and helpful turks that helped us along our trip! i will be back.
oludeniz is on the south west coast of turkey on the mediterranean sea, and overrun with british tourists (more on that later). we got into dalaman (nearest airport) at roughly 3am and was greeted with extremely humid and warm weather. perfect. we were picked up by our airbnb lady and her husband (we assume) and were off to fethiye. after getting in at 4am, we allowed ourselves to sleep for a few hours before forcing ourselves to get up.
our airbnb place was great minus the lack of wifi and any maps which made it a bit tough for us to get our bearings straight. olga was nice, and spoke some english, but by no means did she prepare us nearly as well as other airbnb hosts have in the past which just made it more interesting! for example: olga gave us directions on how to get to the famous oludeniz area via dolmuş (aka mini bus shuttles), but not how to get back. one could also argue it was our own fault for not asking which direction to return, haha. but i digress...
the first morning, we made it our way to the town of oludeniz which is where the famous blue lagoon is. after arriving, jerome and i saw the water and headed straight towards some umbrella chairs after getting the first of several doner kebaps! after paying for our chairs and laying there for an hour, we had come to the realization that we were not at the right place! we both had distinctly read that you had to pay to get into the area where the lagoon was, and it didn't look like the pictures i'd seen online. low and behold, had we read some signs, we would've walked about 5 minutes more westward and would've found it. i blame jet lag for this. regardless, we were very happy to lay there for the afternoon soaking in some sun, when bearable, and then cooling off in the water. it was a high of 100 that day! oludeniz is also famous for paragliding so we watched tons of paragliders soar by ahead and land just a few hundred meters from where we were. this was really exciting to see, since we were going to have our go at it the next morning
paragliders everywhere!
the next morning was an early wake up call because we were getting picked up at 8am for paragliding!! i've been skydiving once before, so i wasn't too nervous about paragliding. we were driven up mt. babadag and were taken to the take off point where all paragliders congregated. when it was our turn, my pilot, dennis, basically told me that i needed to run when he said run, and don't sit until he told me so, even if that means roadrunner in the air. they strapped the seat cradle to us, then we were attached to our pilot with the parachute and next thing you know you were in the air after taking only a few steps. i was hoping there would be more running off a cliff action involved, but there wasn't! we took off smoothly and then were up in the air! the turkish had been really laid back about this whole thing, as in, by the time we took off, we hadn't paid, or sign any type of liability waiver, so i decided i'd bring my point and shoot along for the ride. no one said anything!
near the take off point!
jerome is not a fan of heights, yet he has been skydiving...
the view of the coastline from mt. babadag
the take off point! nice and steep :)
cradle pack on!
jerome getting ready
jerome taking off!
take that, typical feet at the beach pic!
the view while gliding
selfie!
selfie with the lagoon below
we ran into jerome! not literally...
jerome's landing
after that, we finally found the lagoon and hung out there the rest of the afternoon. since the water is still, it was jam packed with families. i can imagine it would be nice having some peace of mind for parents with kiddos. we were by the edge of a hill, so we rented some snorkel gear for a whopping $2.50/day but sadly didn't really see too many fish. other than that, it was the same routine that we had practiced, and would continue practicing through the end of our trip. sunbathe, swim, repeat.
that night we headed back to the promenade again and found where the locals partied! at one end of the strip, we came across a tented restaurant that had live turkish music playing in an area decorated with turkish rugs, tables and pillows for people to relax. jerome and i found ourselves a table and had a great time hanging out with the locals. no brits to be found! it was mostly turkish mamas dancing a combination of belly/shoulder dancing and then a lot of men just hanging chilling at the tables by the side. i guess men not being into dancing as much is a universal thing!!
the big market near our flat on sunday
gozleme, aka turkish pancakes. amazing!!
calis beach
this trip was definitely the most relaxing one i've ever had where the agenda rarely strayed from 'beach'. i was really looking forward to getting away from london for a bit, but as i mentioned above, this place was overrun with british tourists. you really couldn't go anywhere without hearing the accent, or finding a place that served a full english breakfast! no thank you--didn't come to turkey for a jacket potato. despite that, i had an amazing time and was really grateful for all of the extremely friendly and helpful turks that helped us along our trip! i will be back.
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