Day 69 - Fethiye

Sunday 26 September 2004, 19:30 Turkey time

I really do like Fethiye as a place. It's got the natural scenery and hasn't completely sold out to tourism with the shopping experience despite the abundance of tourists around the place. The interesting thing is that most of the tourists seem to be from other parts of Turkey rather than international.

I went out on a boat trip (12 Adalar aboard 'Prenses Cansu') today around the islands. I couldn't tell you what exactly I saw, as there was no commentary, but the whole area is absolutely beautiful. Blue water to distance, turquoise water up close (did you know that turquoise is a French word originating from "turkuaz"?) and mountains and islands everywhere.

In the three days I've been away from the group, I have managed to:
- see and enjoy Lake Koycegiz, Turtle Beach and all they have to offer
- consume with the locals and a few fellow backpackers at a traditional stone gathering-house
- explore Kayaköy, the ghost town, and Fethiye
- get in a fair bit of walking
- tour the islands in the Fethiye harbour area
- spend more money on global roaming charges
- recover from (most of) my ailments

On the way into the net cafe to update this I ran into two people from the group - was good to see them again. This point marks both the halfway point on the Fez tour and the halfway point on my time in Turkey, which is slightly longer.

Turkey has a lot of interesting music of its own. If you want to hear the one that's been stuck in my head all day, get Şappur Şuppur by İsmail-YK (YK is short for Yurtseven Kardesler, the name of the singer.) For more info, check out http://english.alternatifim.com. Other music which for better or worse I will probably end up associating with this country when I hear it includes:

Mario Winans/P Diddy - I Don't Wanna Know
Britney Spears - Toxic
Beyonce - Crazy In Love
Panjabi MC - Beware Of The Boys (Mundian To Bach Ke) - heard everywhere here
O-Zone - Dragostea Din Tei (do not download this, not only does it totally suck, but it'll stick in your head for weeks)