Mediterranean Cruising

In the morning, since the van can't come to us, we walk through the town, via a park with a lovely view of the sea, past a set of rainbow stairs to the waiting van. Part of my mission is to search out as many of these stairs as I can throughout our travels inTurkey.

 It's a winding, coast road that takes us to the town where Saint Nicholas (yes, that one, the first Santa Claus) called home - (before the whole North Pole saga began!)  We only stop briefly here and soon we arrive at a little harbour where our boat Myra is waiting to take us on a blissful day of cruising around islands and into bays of the azure blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. 

The boat is well stocked with food and drink and the captain and the one (female) crew member, take excellent care of us. While we are anchored, most of us jump over board and go swimming - slight exaggeration; most of us climb the ladder into the water - Peter and Vicky jump off the deck. Meantime the captain cooks fresh fish on a small portable BBQ and lunch is served under in the shade of the main deck. 

The weather is gorgeous; perfect blue sky, hot but not stifling and the view is sublime. We pass an island with the ruins of an ancient Lycean town, destroyed by an earthquake. The remains of the old harbour are clearly visible in the water. On the hills, goats scamper around rocky outcrops and ruined dwellings.

Across the water, we see the ruins of the town that was built after the earthquake. And on the hillside, there are the distinctive shapes of Lycean rock tombs.

We are a sun-sapped but contented group when we arrive late in the day at the delightful seaside town of Kas. (pronounced "cash") After checking in at the Otel Kekova we take a short walk towards the harbour and have a delicious dinner of ocean fresh fish at Smileys Restaurant.

The day is not over yet. It is the half way point of our trip and time to do some laundry. As usual, Murat knows answers to this type of query and after dinner, Peter and I gather up our things and deposit them with a friendly woman whose busy laundry operates out of a small building beside the harbour. She promises to have our fresh laundry ready early afternoon of the next day. Total cost TL40.

Its too nice a night to spend in a hotel room, so we cross the main square, lively with night revelers and explore some of the winding cobbled streets of this friendly town. A soccer match between Turkey and Andora is the event of the evening, and the game is taking front and centre on TV's which have been set up outdoors all over town. There is music wafting out from several bars and other establishments and in this way we stumble across the Hi Jazz Bar where a sole musician is belting out the blues. It seems like a good place to relax and take in the ambiance.