Wednesday 15 October 2008

FuFU World Tour


Kalkan, seen from the top.

Turkiye 7th - 22nd May 2007
Kalkan, Kas, Pattara & Saklikent, Antalya - Part Six

Kalkan, a town on the Turkish Mediterranean coast which averages of three hundred days of sunshine a year. The area includes many historical sites and many fine beaches. The word Kalkan in Turkish means `shield`, Kalkan is an old fishing town, and a safe harbour between Kas and Fethiye. Also it is famous for its white-washed houses, descending to the sea, and its brightly coloured Bougainvilleas.


The beach.



EFES, the local beer.

Kas is a small fishing, yachting and tourist town, a district west of Antalya. As a tourist town it is relatively unspoiled, aslo as itself is a quiet pleasant town with its blue sea and narrow streets scented with jasmine flowers. There are plenty of little guesthouses, quiet cafes serving home cooking, or small bars to relax after a day's scuba diving. Kas has an annual arts festival, jazz concerts in the Roman ampitheatre.



Beach at Kas.


Group of pupils were having their rehearsal marching for the coming Sport`s Day.

From Kas, you can enjoy the view of Sea of Mediterranean. Here you are able to clearly see the Greece`s islands. Going to Greece territory is pretty near from Kas.


That is a Greece island.


FuFu waved to the island.


Kas has many other places of historical interest and it has spots of natural beauty - a number of interesting caves, some of them underwater. The mountains behind the coast offer countless places for trekking, climbing and river rafting.




The Roman ampitheatre.


Kas, seen from the Roman ampitheatre.

I saw gang of kids hanging outside a shop. They shouted `Suzuki`, `Japon`, and `Honda` when i passed by. Guess they might have though that i was from Japan. Anyway i quickly took out my camera and snapped a nice shot of them with a Isuzu`s pick up.



We caught up a van to Patara from Kas. On the way to Patara, there has lovely views of the surrounding hills and beaches.



On the way to Patara.

Patara beach should not be missed with its gorgeous landscape and great swimming. It is a national park and home of many birds, also the breeding ground of the endangered loggerhead turtle, the second most important sea turtle nesting beach in Turkey.


Walking to Patara Beach

The Patara beach is an 18km long strip of sand border on its end by mountains and along its length by sand dunes and the large marshy area which once was the celebrated port of Patara.


Patara Beach.





The name Patara is still attached to the numerous ruins of the city. The town walls surrounded an area of considerable extent. They may easily be traced, as well as the situation of a castle which commanded the harbour, and of several towers which flanked the walls. The situation of the ruins is still apparent but it is a swamp, choked up with sand and bushes. Only the theatre was well preserved.


Ruins of the Patara.



The theatre.

We only spent roughly one hour in Patara because we had to catch up the last van back to Kalkan at 4pm. It was still early for dinner and too late for teatime either but we still had cup of coffee and fruits outside the house when we arrived home.




Turkish Hi-tea, tea and fruits.



After that, M`s mother needed to prepare dinner. I was so curious to know what was she going to make and went in the kitchen. For your information, the kitchen is women`s territory in Turkey. I then begged her to let me help her to make Turkish style yaprak sarma, one of the famous Turkish cuisine. First, had the rice with ketchup and spices ready, then roll it up with a dried vine`s leaves.






The dinner was great! We had pizza, dolma, bean curry, and yaprak sarma. That was because M`s brother had come back. The cacik was not my bowl of yogurt. Cacik is an authentic Turkish dish of seasoned, diluted yogurts eaten throughout the former Ottoman world. It is made of cucumber, dried mint and olive oil then diluted with water to a low consistency and garnished with sumac.








Well, as a guest and being treated like a VIP, i forced myself to finish it. Three of the youngsters enjoyed the dinner very much. We were so full and decided to walk the tourist town near the habour of Kalkan.




We had Turkish ice cream at Aubergine. Wow, the texture was way too good! I wonder how the ice cream was made, which results in a smoothly yet sticky and creamier textured ice cream. Thumbed up.




When we arrived home, mother was making Turkish style vegetarian puff while father sitting on a couch watching news. I was not allowed to help this time as M`s father was there. I was just sitting there and watching how the puff was made while enjoying cay, Turkish tea.



Turkish style puff.


The VIP room for FuFu.

I wanted to mention my VIP room in Kalkan, it was so spacious, clean and i had a good rest for the two nights staying at M`s house. I would like to give a big hug to M and her family again if i ever had a chance to visit Kalkan again. Çok tesekkur ederim (Big thanks in Turkish).



Finally came the time to leave and say goodbye. After having breakfast with M`s parents and brother, M`s father insisted to show Necla and me the Saklikent and we went there by car.


Sculpted limestone canyon walls.

Saklikent is situated between Fethiye and Kas, has not been discovered until the villagers living in this region discovered twenty years ago. Saklikent literally the hidden city in Turkish, is the longest and deepest gorge in Turkey. It is 20km long and steep and narrow that the sun does not penetrate the water, leaving it deliciously icy cold in the summer.





Once inside, water sculpted limestone canyon walls soar above you. I could see the sky occasionally. I felt myself on a different planet among high rocks. And i didnt really feel the Mediterranean`s distresting heat in this canyon. Saklikent is a canyon which is unbelievably beautiful, mystic and fascinating. Anyway remember to dress up appropriately as you will easily get wet.


Restaurants line up along the river.




M`s father sent us off to the bus stop and we took express bus back to Denizli. He told me the door is always open for me and invited me back to Kalkan when i pay Turkey another visit in the near future. He told Necla he wanted me to be his son. I wish he was a billionaire, so i would be given some property. LoL. Well, the bus service in Turkey is damn so good as cay will always be served when it stopped over at a place for you to answer the call of nature.


Cay, Turkish tea is my favourite.


Group of Turkish women hanging around outside a mosque.

31 comments:

emilio said...

found that you like posing like a 大, hahaha! and the vege puff, the shape is just like malaysian curry puffs!

turkey (i didnt get the word wrong eh?), has become another destination of mine, in the future perhaps.

ⓁⒺⓌⒾⓈ said...

Wow! It's really...WOW!
The scenery are simply amazing!!!
I hope i was inside the pictures=.=#

~珊姑娘~ said...

wow!!!!tat my respon after view ur blog everytime!!!

nice view, nice guy^^, nice gals, nice food!!!

Turkish style puff.i wan it!!!!!!

even said...

大佬富))))
這裡就是我退休的理想地方!
好正呀!
河海交接!
完全係我既DREAM HUS.
你咁多遍BLOG~我最愛這裡啦!^3^

Cui Yin said...

wow~惊叹在如画的风景中了。。。真想握着一瓶啤酒,慢慢地在那街道上闲逛,呵呵!

小东 said...

i like the sea and the river
it's so clear and beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Wow... I always love your entries on your travel. They really gives me good insight on the places that you travel. I also love the way you review their culture and food. :-D Keep up the good work, Fufu...maybe one day you can end up on tv for your travel. :-D

et Shuben™ said...

Gosh! You truly have a great time in Turkey dude.

Damn envy (+ jealous) lor ^^

穎子 said...

啊!!!羅馬帝國!!!
那海真得很美,清澈見底。

HappY LinG said...

风景真的很美!哇。。。羡慕!

Calvin Soo KJ said...

great view man!!! wish it was me over there. wanna switch places? hahaha

- yEng - said...

i like the beach at Kas.
Turkey, u realli have a nice dude at there..wowowo..

爱美丽 said...

i love the sea,
i love the beach,
i love the food,
i love to be there~~

迷迭香 said...

the sea and sky are so clear and blue ~ ^_^

Miney said...

Seriously,
i love the sea !!!!!!!!!!
Omg
feel like want to jump into it
>.<

Rex said...

I realize you like to picture with you fully stretch your hand and leg... hahaha~ graduate soon!?!? I want travel! XD

Chris said...

I only been to Istanbul once. Quite miss there. Many places still didn;t cover yet in Turkey.

I AM A BLOGGER said...

The place is so calm in blue. I also want to experience this very amazing trip(^^)

Pete said...

The scenery is really amazing. Nice country. Maybe that will be my next destination. Cheers!

Akira 思胜 said...

Wow, the sky and the sea are really blue and pretty neh...

fufu said...

emilio : the puff? yeah just the filling is different :) well turkey is worth you to pay her a visit ya, wish you really could go there


lewis : yeah turkey is the mix of middle east and europe, you gotta go there and see yourself ya if ever had the chance =)


珊姑娘 : hahaha, guess what? turkey is my first destination of the world tour :)

fufu said...

even : 看来你喜欢的是阳光和沙滩呢
马来西亚或东南亚一带也有很多哦
你要常来玩玩哦 你一定会爱上这里的阳光和沙滩


cuiyin :拿着一瓶啤酒逍遥自在的哦
很写意哦 在欧洲很普遍的咯~~ 呵呵呵


小东 : yeah just too sad that was not the time for us to swim and also we didnt bring proper clothes there, what we could do is to enjoy the wind, sand, sea and view... phew, feel so good~~

fufu said...

cleffairy : yeah that are the reasons why i travel around the world~~ tourist destinations, food, culture, people, politics, gossips, meeting friends` friends etc... well really wish someone would sponsor me for my second world tour and end up on tv =) omg, i couldnt imagine that lol


et : hahaha, well i just wanna share with my readers, not to show off or make you guys feel jealous or envious ok? yep, had a great time there =)


帶刺の蝴蝶 : 羅馬帝國所遗留下的文化超棒~

fufu said...

lingling : yeah 没有骗你的哦
那边的风景真的是美到如画


Calvin Soo KJ : hahaha, dont worry you will have chance to visit one day, just be patient and plan properly your schedule ya =)


yeng : yeah Mediterranean beaches are quite different =) unlike our tropical ones ya

fufu said...

爱美丽 : set your next target as Turkey ok? bet you would like everything there and not willing to come back... lol


迷迭香 : yeah the skies there differ with our one... i will visit again in summer so that i could enjoy the sun, sand, sea and sky~~


.MiNღ唲. : hahaha... yeah i also wanna jump into the sea now...too hot here ~.~"

fufu said...

rex : hahaha, believe it or not, that pose only exclusively for turkey past six :) graduate soon? gonna have party? ops not!! travelling? good idea!!! you should explore for a while before really step into the "real working life"


chris : yeah turkey has many more worth you to visit places, you gotta check them out all one by one if have chance ya =)


Xjion89 : i believe you could taste the exotic trip soon by yourself, turkey is a nice country worth you to spend money there

fufu said...

pete : yeah turkey should be you next taeget!!! bet you would love her so much...dont forget to get me some nice souvenir lol (though i had been there)


Akira 思胜 : hahaha yeah the scenery there was damn so good... i miss turkey already...will be back sooner~~

POO said...

what's wonderful trip!!!!

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Shelyn said...

oh gosh... Turkey is in my visit list!

Did you travel all these places in your blog within one year, as in last year?

Jonah said...

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Engagement rings said...

You have an amazing photo material here, the sea looks so inviting with that awesome color.