Mersin

 Mersin is located on the Mediterranean Sea, on the southern end of Turkey, This is Kızkalesi, or Maiden’s Castle/Fortress.

While we were there, Mersin was also setting up for the 2013 Mediterranean Games. We didn’t get to see any of the action, unfortunately, only the set-up.

 The sand here wasn’t like how it was a few hundred miles west… it was very fine and so soft. (In Fethiye, it was mostly rock sand… very painful to walk on!).

 The wave reaching the shore at Mersin. The water created very different, intricate trenches in the sand as it passed over it. This beach was very shallow as well. You could go 100 meters into the water and still be standing with your head over the water.

   At night, the castle had lights shining on it in different colors. It changed once every second, and was such a wonderful addition that I wouldn’t have expected.  These pictures were taken from our hotel room.

 Entry was free, but to have a seat, and optional umbrella, was 12 Lira for both of us, after a discount from our hotel. We just walked up to a seat and almost immediately one of the workers asked us for the money, then he would keep track of the people all day and remember who paid. We left the second day to go to the castle and, after 3 hours, came back to our stuff still there and no problems.

 The security for the beach, sitting calmly in the shade. We had the Kale Motel, the small white hotel on the right side of the picture. It had a gorgeous view of the castle.

 We got to paddle boat to the castle. I hadn’t paddle boated in so long. It was very tiring, but not as tiring as swimming would be. We were able to paddle boat for two hours for about 20 Lira or so; water boat parachuting would have been 100 Lira for a 15 minute ride. Entry into the castle is 5 Lira.

Kızkalesi, Maiden’s Castle, was built some time before 1200 AD by Alexios I Komnenos of the Byzantine Empire, most likely. It’s about 1/4 mile from the shore (or 400 meters).

I tried researching more information beyond who built it and who renovated it, but found very little. I’ve read conflicting legends online between Kızkalesi (Maiden’s Castle in Mersin) and Kız Kulesi (Maiden’s Tower in Istanbul). I read over and over the same story that I read about Kız Kulesi (the ruler’s daughter was predicted to be bitten by a snake, so he built the island, and was bit by the snake anyway. sorry about the spoiler). So I’m not sure of the reason why it’s named Kız Kulesi. If I do find the information, I’ll update the blog to reflect what I know (or if anyone else knows why, please comment!). Anyway, back to the pictures!

 Just inside the castle.

 A water boat parachutist above the castle.

 The tiny stairs in the tower.

 I’m standing on the top of the far right tower, you can see a far-away view in the next picture.

 We were at least 100 feet (about 30 meters) high.  It was such a beautiful view too. The sun sparkling on the water, and the warm, salty wind blowing at our faces. It was so perfect up there.

 I loved the colors in this picture. The different shades of blue against the stark white of the castle.

 Looking over the edge. Suleyman was so worried I’d fall off, so he made me sit on the tower.

 Some of the support beams for the top part of the castle. Such a beautiful view, I couldn’t resist.

 The view of the castle from the top of the tower. The square structure in the middle is a bridge to show some of the mosaic designs on the ground.

 Here’s a closer detail of one of the mosaics. Many of them were destroyed, or barely survived time, but some are still distinguishable. (Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bysmallmeans/2921756637/)

The next day we went spelunking (exploring through caves). We went to the Asthma Caves and The Chasm of Heaven and the Pit of Hell. Before I even post the cave pictures, just know that even with Süleyman’s fancy DSL camera, because it was so dark, we had to use a high aperture (to allow the most light inside the camera) and a flash, which made the quality of the pictures go down. So trust me when I say it’s very beautiful in the caves, but the pictures won’t represent that.

 The entrance to the Asthma Caves. It was inside another building filled with a few tourist shops and a small restaurant. The asthma caves were well-lit (well enough to keep the personality of the cave), when compared with the Chasm of Heaven, which had a few bright lights near the entrance of the cave, but not enough to see the beautiful natural artwork on the ceiling of the cave.

 When you finish the stairs, there are more stairs and a few paths you can take. We first took the far right path and ended up in this room. The first room we discovered; it was heavenly.

 Here is a huge column where the stalactites met the stalagmites.  If you can strain your eyes, I’m standing to the left of it, wearing blue and white.

 Some more stalactites (on top growing down) and stalagmites (on the bottom, growing up).

 Beautifully lit stalactites near the wall.

 They had an adorable Heaven/Hell picture they pasted on many products: thermal mugs, coasters, notebooks, pens, etc. Half of the creature was an angel, and the other half a devil. So cute!

 Here’s the Pit of Hell. Again, it was dark, so the quality might not be the best. But it was beautiful! The diameter is 30 meters (about 100 feet), and the depth is 120 meters (about 400 feet). There is a Greek legend about this cave. Typhon, a 100-headed, fire-breathing dragon battles Zeus, the god of all gods, from time to time. One of these fights Typhon won and banished Zeus to this pit. Zeus called two other gods, Hermes and Pan, to rescue him. After they rescued him, Zeus captured Typhon and buried him deep in the earth, below Mount Etna, in Italy, an active volcano, supposedly because of the dragon.

 Süleyman was a little nervous looking down to the Pit of Hell.

 But I felt just fine up there.

The Pit of Hell to the right, up a slight incline, and the Chasm of Heaven to the left, down a steep and rocky 455 steps.

 A sign on the way down to the Chasm of Heaven, “Attention: The ground is slippery.”

 It takes 288 steps to get to the Virgin Mary Chapel.

 Many people got their picture taken here, then walked back up to the very warm world. Right about when you hit this spot it started cooling down, but gets really chilly down in the cave.  This spot is 70 more steps down from the chapel.

 This spot, at the mouth of the cave was the furthest most people went (right below the chapel). This is when it got really dirty, but you could still see into the cave a little, with the help of those spotlights you can see in the darkness.

 This is the muck-coated floor of Heaven. It’s pretty slippery, so try to wear decent shoes. And expect to get dirty. You won’t really have to deal with this, unless you go into the mouth of the cave. All the way before it isn’t very slippery/dirty.

 A view of the chapel from  inside the cave.

 The best picture of the intense height of the cave. This was taken from deep inside the cave. Süleyman is in this picture at the bottom, wearing white.

 This wonderful shot I got of Süleyman enjoying the cooling cave. Right where I stood you could hear the underground river that eventually led to the sea.

 The treacherous hike back up the 455 steps. It took us a good five or ten minutes longer to go back up than to go down, and the humidity level rising didn’t help either. But both were equally difficult with foot holds, loose rocks and other people climbing up and down.

Surprisingly enough, somehow in both the Asthma Caves and Heaven and Hell, we had just missed large tour groups, as they were walking in just as we were walking back out. After walking all day, with almost no water (get a water bottle!!!) and no food, we were exhausted and starving. A (very filling) meal of tantuni, thinly diced meat (with optional tomatoes, peppers or rocket) on a thin bread, like a tortilla, rolled up. The grease will slide all over your hands and chin, and it’s so deliciously bad for you! A perfect meal for the end of a long day!

Sources:

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/med/kizkalesi/cennet-cehennem.html

Fethiye

 We went on holiday to the Mediterranean Sea, to the famous Ölüdeniz, or Dead Sea. We drove down, up and down mountain sides to get there. It was a beautiful drive. It’s located on the southwest border of Turkey, right on the Mediterranean Sea.

 This is the Blue Paradise. The white beach you see is part of a peninsula, which separates the lake from the rest of the Mediterranean Sea. That lake is the “dead sea,” where almost no wind comes down, so you’ll rarely see waves! (Picture credit: http://www.theclassytraveler.com/paragliding-and-the-blue-lagoon-in-oludeniz-turkey/)

 The walkway to the beach, it was longer than you’d expect, but totally worth it once you made it in. The cost was 6 lira (about $3) for me, and free for Süleyman with his Turkish (or international) student ID.

 My first view of the Mediterranean.

 These beach loungers cost 14 Lira each (if I can remember correctly), and an umbrella cost more, but could be shared with two people. I didn’t mind laying on the ground, and as long as you have a towel, you can move the rocks to be comfortable… and a plus: no sandy towels!
There were also food stands scattered around the peninsula with highly overpriced foods and snacks. We got a sandwich and watermelon for 15 Lira (about $7.50), and 1.5 liter water and a beer for about the same price. There were burgers, chicken sandwiches, soda, chips, etc.

 It was a rock beach, no sand. It looks beautiful from above, but is a horror to walk on. Bare feet hurt, flip-flops hurt; there is no winning, only pain, so be prepared for pain!

  It’s probably not the Dead Sea you’re thinking of; that’s in Jordan. It’s called the Dead Sea because, it’s location is so isolated that almost no wind comes down, which means almost no waves.

 Another nickname is the “Blue Paradise.” And they weren’t kidding. It is so blue.

 Just look at that water. It’s so beautiful. But be warned: this is the saltiest water I’ve ever accidentally swallowed. It’s really terrible. If you slip and swallow, you will be coughing and reaching for your water bottle (definitely bring one, or buy one there!), it’s very dehydrating just being in the water.

 We went to the more isolated part of the peninsula originally, the northern side. When we had been there about two hours we wanted to leave, but on our walk around the peninsula, we decided to go for one more dip. That dip turned into another 3 or 4 hours in the water. And we did not regret that. With water that warm and that beautiful, (besides the rock beach) how could we say no?

 On the southern side of the peninsula. This side was much more of our personalities and we were much more relaxed there, there were more people our age swimming out further than the rope boundaries like we were. We swam to the smaller rock formation, on the left, and Süleyman, being the daredevil he is, jumped off into the water. It was a good 9 meters (30 feet) at least!

Here’s a close up of the rock. There are people near the bottom. Click on the picture to get its full size to see the comparison.

Big clouds hung over and rained on the mountains, but never made it to the Blue Paradise, it just made a beautiful lighting setting.

 There were a lot of tourist-related things to do in Fethiye, like paragliding (you’ll see that everywhere!), and boat tours! And because it’s such a tourist-crazy place, many things are in English, like the boat tour we went on. We met people from Russia, Turkey, and even Sweden on our tour.

 There were many tour boats that were on the same schedule. The tour lasted from 9 am to about 4 pm. We got one boat, and each paid about 20 Lira (about $10) for the entire day. It included five or six stops nearby and lunch. Granted, lunch wasn’t very good, but for 14 Lira all day, I’d say it was a good deal! Süleyman made friends with the captain and found out he owned the boat, so it was cheaper than some of the other tours, and they all made the same tours. All we were paying for was the gas. They made most of their money on drinks, sweets, ice cream and snacks between stops.

 I just adore being on boats, so I was pretty content bobbing up and down.

 The view out the side. That gorgeous blue will never be replicated in my mind. It was perfect.

 Unfortunately because the water was so choppy that day, we couldn’t go to the first stop, which was The Blue Cave (Mavi Mağara), but we got to float by it.

 The next stop was Butterfly Valley (Kelebekler Vadisi). Entry fee is 5 Lira, or about $2.50.

 It was beautiful, but stressful for  me. I wasn’t having the best morning, and hiking up a mountain side in bad quality flip-flops didn’t help.

 But the end result was worth it.

 The goal for most people is to see and drink from the freshwater waterfall. But we found out later that you can climb higher and it’s even better. Süleyman is right next to the waterfall in this picture.

 A beautiful shot I got of some of the early flowers blooming. Surprisingly, we only saw two butterflies when we were there. But later on in the summer is when it’s supposed to live up to its name.

 Resting on our way back down to catch the boat. We got about 45 minutes there.

 Our next stop was for lunch. After the thrilling meal of reheated chicken and salad, the captain started the water slide. That’s right everyone, you read that correctly. A water slide. On. The. Boat. It was pretty much a straight shot down at first, then after some crazy twists, you were ejected out the opposite side. I went down twice, I screamed like a little girl both times.

 The top floor of the boat had comfy foam mats and a little seating, as well as the water slide opening. The bottom floor had picnic-style table and seating.

 Speaking of screaming like a little girl, I did that again when I jumped off the two-story boat. I know, I can’t believe I did it either, and only the pictures would help my friends believe it.

 We got matching towels on our way down to Fethiye too, his was brown and green, mine was purple and blue. Aren’t we adorable?

The same place we stopped for lunch and jumping off of boats and such was the really cool place where the cold freshwater spring from the mountain met the warm salty water from the sea. Weird as it sounds, the top of the water in that area was very cold (fresh is less dense than salty water) and the lower you went the warmer it got. It was so weird, I loved experiencing that! Süleyman dove down a little deeper to feel more difference, and he said going back up hurt his head because of how cold it was! Awesome!

 This is St. Nicholas Island (Adası), where according to the plaque near the entrance (8 Lira to enter), “St. Nicholas may have lived or visited this island.” We didn’t feel like forking over a whopping $4 to go in, so we decided to swim and collect rocks instead. But the deteriorating stone buildings were wonderful!

 A better view of the architecture of St. Nicholas Island. It contains 4 large churches, many vaulted tombs and is residential too. We saw the backside of this island at another beach we went to.

 When we would stop for a while, smaller boats would sit nearby and sell gözleme (sort of like a Turkish quesadilla), that they cook right on their boat.

 Camel Beach. Süleyman took this picture from the boat (that’s me in the water). Supposedly the big tan rock on the side of the mountain looks like a camel’s hump, hence the name.

 The view from Camel Beach. Those big rocks were so different from many other rocks in the area, these were black. the sand at this beach was also much darker than the other beaches in the area.

 The next day, we ventured outside of Fethiye to Kayaköy,  about 4 miles (6 km) south of Fethiye. Anatolian Greek speaking Christians lived here until 1923 when Greece and Turkey signed an agreement about a population exchange. It was built on the ancient city of Carmylessus in the 18th century.

 Apparently in the 1900 census, there were about 2,000 residents here, and over 500 residences. It was very eerie being there. While it was abandoned for a reason of just boundaries, it still seemed like there was so much history there and it felt like we weren’t quite alone. I can’t even imagine being there at night.

 One of the buildings. We saw a few sheep in one building, and a horse resting in the shade of another, so it seems that farmers in the area are still using the area. There is a 5 Lira fee (if I remember correctly), but we got in for free accidentally. We took an entrance that wasn’t guarded apparently, so..oops!

 The path we took around the buildings. It was very difficult and careful stepping was a necessity! Be careful!

 The “steps” up the hillside. Surprisingly difficult to climb, and even harder to walk down them.

 The lower of the two churches. There is an upper church and a lower church.

 Before exploring the abandoned village, we enjoyed a lunch of gözleme. It’s almost like a Turkish quesadilla. It’s made with thin bread, cheese and it’s fried on both sides in a special oven. The cheese is almost like feta, but less strong. You can get different types of cheese, or other additions. I got spinach in mine, but you can get meat or other vegetables too.

 The oven used to make gözleme.

 An adorable camel mother and her calf at the foot of the abandoned village, ready for walking tours.

 An entrance to a restaurant near Kayaköy.

 It was relieving having so much English around me. Most of the people there spoke fluent English, or at least had a few phrases down. We found “Happy Pork Shop” in Fethiye… one of many pork shops actually! This was the only place in Turkey I saw any reference to pork at all; it was very surprising! Turkey is 99% Muslim, and part of the religion is to not eat pork, so normally it would be easy to find food without it, but not in Fethiye. There are so many tourists from other countries, I guess it just makes sense to give them what they’re used to!

 Such a great sign I found outside a restaurant in the downtown area in Fethiye. If you can’t read it: “Wanted, Customer. No previous experience needed as full training will be given. Please apply within.”

So a few reminders about Ölüdeniz: It is so breathtakingly  beautiful, the “best” beach has only rocks, and finally the water is extremely salty. And definitely take a boat tour. It’s so relaxing, and you get to see some of the spots only available by boat! Even though there were a lot of bad things about this place, overall, it was amazing, and I’d love to go back.

Some of the information I used here were from these websites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemiler_Island

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayak%C3%B6y