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Turkey just gets better and better. After Datca I felt sure that it couldn't be topped but four days and three nights on a "blue cruise" in an old Turkish gulet was unreal. It is an absolute must do if you come to Turkey. Not only was the sail boat itself, the coast, the bays, the water, the food all excellent, the people we met are what made it for us.
We set sail from Marmaris (tidbit: no need to visit this tacky tourist town) to Fethiye.
Our boat. We weren't sure what to expect. We went in blind - ended up booking the trip over the phone a couple of days beforehand so we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. Only complaint was that this boat didn't have proper sails - meaning it looked like a sailboat but in reality can only run by motor. We found out after the case this is pretty typical.
Our shipmates. Fourteen of us in total plus three crew: a family of four from Switzerland (including 10 year old twins Max and Eva who LOVED Josh), an older couple from England, four young Kiwis (tons of fun) and another couple (one is from Japan, the other from Iowa but they've been living in Turkey for last 10 years). An eclectic group right? It was fantastic.
Our room. More spacious then we thought. I should have taken a photo when Josh was wearing his neon green wrist bands to bed (to help with sea sickness) although thankfully he switched with Max who loved the bright color and Josh got light grey ones in return.
The front of the gulet had about a dozen comfy sun beds, where we spent most of our time during the day. Well, between the sun beds and the water.
We 'set sail' for a few hours every day and then would anchor at a bay. The water was bright blue and crystal clear. Everyone would jump in for some swimming until we heard the bell for lunch, or tea time or dinner...
The kids loved jumping into the water, especially when Josh joined them. They could do this for hours! Josh too. Above is a sad attempt at them doing a synchronized 'jack knife' jump.
Beautiful sunsets every night.
Even better sunset with Josh in the picture! :)
Some of the scenery - these are ancient tombs that were carved into the rock a few thousand years ago.
You can see the sun beds behind us. Switzerland family back left, Kiwis back right, British couple front right.
While we were laying on the sun beds in a bay, one of the Kiwis had a dream that she was eating ice cream. She was telling us about the dream when a small motorboat zoomed up and a guy was yelling "ice cream!!!" You should have seen her face. I guess dreams do come true.
We did an afternoon trip on a smaller boat to Turkish mud baths. On the way our boat got stuck because the water was so shallow. We ended up having to get a tow from another boat.
Josh teaching the kids a new game. I think Josh enjoyed hanging out with these kids as much as they did with him.
All in all, definitely a top-10 lifetime experience for me (and I think Josh would agree).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Marmaris to Fethiye, Turkey
