Cappadocia

Entering Goreme in Cappadocia was like entering a magical fairyland. Volcanic activity millions of years ago and human activity much more recently created incredible rock formations that resemble “fairy chimneys” - tall pillars with mushroom-like tufts at the top and tiny little doors and windows on the sides from caves that were cut into the rock by Christians fleeing persecution. The flowing lava created verdant valleys surrounded by large smooth rocks, punctuated by these fairy chimneys. In addition to beautiful scenery this resulted in an amazing outdoor playground for hiking, biking and horseback riding enthusiasts.

Our bus arrived in the wee hours of the morning, 4:30am, so we sleepily stumbled off the bus and wandered the streets until we found a hostel (Rock Valley Pension) that had been recommended to us by the owner of our hostel in Fethiye. The doors were open but reception was closed, as was expected, so we slept in the lounge on the couches for a couple of hours before the manager arrived at 8am and we were shown to our room, where we caught a few more hours of sleep before braving the day. We were pleased to discover that our hostel was in a beautiful setting, complete with swimming pool, which we took full advantage of in the hot days to follow.

In the spirit of adventure we elected against joining a guided tour and instead rented bicycles to explore the surrounding valleys. Everything was very close by and accessible, and in one day we saw the phallic structures of the White Valley, climbed the pink coloured rocks of Rose valley and did some amazing downhill trails in the Red Valley.

There were old churches built into the rocks in the valleys and it was amazing to see the ingenuity of these people who had to literally carve out an existence in the face of persecution because of their religious beliefs.







During our bike ride we happened upon the old town of Cavusin, which was a village, now abandoned and slowly falling apart, built entirely in the rocks. It consisted of interlinked cave rooms that one could climb through like a maze, and a relatively well-preserved old church with stone arches and carvings. After a full day of climbing and bike riding we returned to our hostel dusty and sweaty, ready to enjoy the pool.

The next day we visited the Open Air Museum, which was a bit disappointing after our explorations of the amazing (and free) Cavusin, but it was interesting to see the well-preserved artwork in the old cave churches.

We were on the lookout for a Turkish carpet for our living room, and had a connection through our friends Orla and Gurken to a store in Capadoccia called The Silk Road. Unfortunately we did not find one to our taste, but the owners Ahmet and Yasar showed us incredible hospitality by picking us up from our hostel to visit the store, even providing a visit to Ahmet’s luxury cave hotel in Urgup, where we chilled out on the veranda with a glass of cold beer and white wine. The rooms in the hotel were amazing, restored from previous cave dwellings into architectural works of wonder.

On our second night in Capadoccia we climbed up to a viewpoint to enjoy the sunset over the valley, with a picnic of green olives, cheese, nuts and red wine. We had lofty plans to wake early the next morning to take pictures of the hot air balloons, which fly into the sky shortly after 5am, but unfortunately we were unable to wake up in time. Thankfully a friend of a friend took an amazing picture, and we have taken the liberty to put it in our blog to give an idea as to how magical this place can be.

After a fun three days, we took a night bus back to Istanbul, where we stayed for two more nights. We revisited our favourite local haunts including the fish sandwich stalls and enjoyed a Nargile in the dappled shade beside the stone walls of the Topaki Palace.



On our last night we met up with a friend we had made in Kabak, Gunes (which means sun in Turkish), who was a fun bundle of energy and showed us an amazing time in the Istanbul nightlife. She is Turkish with an international crew of friends who came out to party, including a touring musician who joined the group, so after hanging out over beers on the “happening” stairs of the Beyoglu neighbourhood, we all trooped into a bar and danced our hearts out all night long. We arrived bleary-eyed at our hostel at 4:30am, and woke the next morning just in time for check out and to catch our flight out of Istanbul.

Our next destination? Tanzania!! It is hard to believe that today we are heading into Africa. Ben has been working hard over the last few weeks in setting up an amazing Safari for us, and we also plan to hike Mt Meru and chill in Zanzibar. Thank goodness we have some fun plans ahead, or it would be too hard to leave Turkey. It has been an incredible five weeks and one of our favourite destinations of the trip so far.

Hiking the Lycian Way

One of our favourite activities is hiking, and it is pure bliss when this can be combined with spectacular scenery and views, as well as a beautiful destination at the end of each day. We were so excited to hike the Lycian Way, as it is considered one of the top ten hikes in the world. The Lycian Way is a total of 509km along the southwest coast of Turkey between Fethiye and Antalya, and we decided to hike the portion between Fethiye and Kabak over three days, allowing a few days to enjoy the beaches along the way.

We started bright and early from our guesthouse in Fethiye, with our final destination being Oludeniz to enjoy the beautiful beach in the afternoon. We inadvertently picked up a furry friend right at the beginning of the walk, and we called the dog Datca (after another dog we met in the city of the same name) – he stuck with us for the entire hike to Oludeniz!


The first portion was incredibly enjoyable, as we went through a beautiful forest, into a valley with a cute little village, and then up a hill through the ruins of the ghost town of Kayakoy. This was a town where a Greek community used to live before they were forced to relocate to Greece after WWII. None of the new Turkish settlers wished to occupy the now vacant village due to a mix of respect and superstition, instead choosing to build in the valley below. The buildings are now part of an open air museum.

The trail then led us up onto a mountain ridge, where we started getting some incredible views. Unfortunately it was shortly thereafter that we lost the trail and ended up having to bushwhack through the countryside, climbing down and then up the mountain again over rocks and pointy bushes, with poor Datca almost having a heart attack from overheating with all the climbing. We felt that if we didn’t encounter the trail at the top of the mountain at least we would get a bearing on our destination and be able choose the best path forward. Indeed our final destination became apparent, seemingly quite far away and a bit treacherous to reach. After gathering our strength and allowing our unwitting canine pal a nice break to calm his heart rate, we set off down the mountainside. It was with GREAT happiness that we stumbled upon the trail again once we neared civilization (phew!) – at which point Datcha promptly left us for a family with greater means, having lost faith in our ability to properly take care of him.

I’m sure he’ll remember us getting him through that rough patch on the mountain fondly one day…when he stops panting. We made our way to the beach with a few hours left in the afternoon to enjoy. Given our crazy ordeal we decided to splurge on a beach umbrella, and lounged around in the shade, going for dips in the water to cool off. At the end of the day we took a Dolmus up the hill to Ovacik, where we found a great place to spend the night called CC’s Hotel. We enjoyed a dinner in the town, and then hit the sack early, exhausted from all the climbing we did that day.

The next morning started early with the typical Turkish breakfast – sliced bread, tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese and black olives with honey, ham and an egg. We then set off on the next portion of our hike, with a goal of reaching the Butterfly Valley by early noon. For the rest of our journey the Lycian Way was very well marked, and thankfully we did not get lost again!!!

There were parts that were just stunning, as the trail mostly hugged the coast, but unfortunately some portions had been disrupted with new road construction. However it was still a wonderful walk and we reached the village of Faralya, perched on the cliffs above Butterfly Valley, in the early afternoon.


We found AMAZING accommodations at a place called Montenegro Motel; we stayed in a private bungalow, there was a pool and a dining terrace with a view of the valley below and the sea. We spent the afternoon cooling off in the pool, resting after our long hike. Breakfast and dinner were included, and as we were the only guests staying there, they rolled out the red carpet. For dinner, they sat us at the table with the best view, dimmed the lights and put on some classical music in the background. We were served yogurt soup, three mezes (tapas), an entrée and desert. We drank local home made red wine which was quite good and enjoyed the sunset over the sea which painted everything in red and gold colours. It doesn’t get more romantic than that!

Just to give an idea, half board food and accommodations for the day was 50 Turkish Lira per person (around 30 CAD) – a very affordable price for what to us felt like a luxury experience.

The next day we set off for Kabak, which was a two hour hike over the (steep) mountain and into the next valley. Kabak is not very well known to both tourists and nationals alike, and we had heard that it was a bit of a hippie community that had built some rustic lodgings composed mostly of bungalows next to one of the more beautiful beaches in the region. It sounded incredible, and we were not disappointed. Although there were a few hotels that had demolished a few trees too many, most places harmoniously blended into the vegetation, and the community was still small enough that the experience was one of escaping the hustle and bustle of civilization.

The hike to Kabak was one of the most beautiful we had done so far, with views of the ocean and high mountain glades filled with tiny blue butterflies, for which the region was named.

As we started walking down the other side, our excitement grew as we saw the beach of Kabak at the bottom of the valley with its beautiful coloured water. As we had finished the hike early, when we reached the bottom of the valley we had time to visit almost all of the accommodations and were able to choose our favourite one, after bartering down the price a bit. We stayed at Gemile, and the owners did a fantastic job of building a relaxing rustic retreat in the shade of the forest. They had built a large terrace with wooden tables, a hang out area with pillows and a kitchen and bar, all of which that had an amazing view of the beach below - a mere five minute walk from our bungalow.

Half board was included, and we later found out that the Gimele chef, Osman, is considered one of the best in the region, with people staying at the camp just to enjoy his cooking. We really lucked out! Every night we had Turkish food made with local organic produce, many vegetarian and one meat dish, with a soup, salad and desert.

Our bungalow was a type of “tree house”, with a cozy bed and veranda where we spent the post-beach afternoons reading and napping, with stretching/yoga sessions in the morning to get us fit for the next day.

The first afternoon we headed down to the beach and marvelled at how beautiful and relatively isolated it was – there were very few people compared to all of the other places we had been. We immediately met a group of people that were staying in Kabak as well, and every night we would go to a different hostel to sit by a fire or in the lounging areas and chat away. It was a very international crowd, with “representatives” from Jordan, Turkey, Bahrain, Cyrpus, Spain, France, and of course, Canada. Everyone had in common an adventurous spirit and a desire to discover a laid back place that was relatively untouched by development – which we all found in magical Kabak.

We initially planned on staying for two days, but after the first afternoon we changed our plans and extended our stay to three days. The second day we hiked over to the next beach, appropriately named Paradise Beach, which was a surprisingly arduous one and a half hours away. The trail took us over a few mountains along the coast, so it was a wonderful treat when we rounded the last corner and caught a glimpse of the white sandy beach and blue, blue waters.

When at last our feet touched the sand, we saw that there was no one else around, just the two of us to while away the hours under the sun, taking dips in the water and swimming around the white limestone rocks. Paradise Found!

On June 2nd, our third day there, it was an extra special day as we were celebrating our 6th year wedding anniversary (!) so we decided to take it easy and treat ourselves to a real sleep in, followed by breakfast on the terrace and a lazy day at the beach with no hiking. We definitely couldn’t have dreamed of a better place to celebrate. As usual during lunch a group of us left the beach and headed into the valley to one of the two sandwich caravans for a filling meal of kofte (meatball sandwiches) under the shade of the trees. After alternating between sun, shade and sea, in the late afternoon we headed back to our bungalow for a shower and a nap before dinner. Life is hard, eh? ;)

The next day we got up early to enjoy our last morning in Kabak with a swim after breakfast, before making the final hike up the hill to catch the Dolmus back to Fethiye. From there we caught our bus to Capadoccia at four o’clock in the afternoon, and dreamed about Kabak during the twelve hour ride (we had come perilously close to missing Capadoccia entirely and staying in Kabak for the rest of our trip, but it would have been a shame to come so far and not see the crazy rock formations of that region). One thing is for sure, when we return to Turkey, we will be heading straight for Kabak and Paradise Beach!

Blue Sea Voyage

We wanted to experience the Mediterreanean Sea from the deck of a wooden sailboat, or a gullet, as they are called in Turkey. Although the boats are usually fitted with sails, it is unfortunately rare that the wind is used for propulsion. As the waters are so blue along the coast, the trips on these beautiful gullets are called Blue Voyages. We chose the 12 Islands route, in the waters surrounding Fethiye, and went with a tour company called V-Go. It was a wonderful experience, and we got in lots of swimming, eating good food and relaxing in the sun.

We boarded the boat in Oludeniz, making our way around the coast towards Fethiye, stopping at St Nicholas Island for the first night. We then followed the 12 Islands route, each one more beautiful than the last. Twice we went ashore with the dinghy to explore, climbing the hills for a beautiful view of the sea and surrounding islands with their stunning array of blue and green coloured water and pebbled beaches.

The waters off the islands were a clear aquamarine, and you could see all the way to the bottom. It was like swimming in a pool, but in a much nicer setting!

The meals were incredible, as we had a local Turkish woman and her husband as cook and captain of the boat. There were also two younger boys as crew. The first couple of days we had a group of ten on the boat, making for a fun and social atmosphere.

Each day the boat would stop at two or three different locations, where we would hop off for a swim and exploration of the rocks and ruins.

In between we would dry off in the sun on the deck or lay about on the deck mattresses in the shade, reading, chatting or just enjoying the view.

Unfortunately there was no real sailing, as these boats have to cover reasonable distances in a short amount of time, but it was completely worth it as we got to see and swim in some of the most beautiful waters along the southeast coast of Turkey that are otherwise inaccessible.

At the end of the second day, seven departed as they were ending their portion of the tour (we actually had joined their group for the last part of their five day journey from Olympos to Fethiye) and so we were left with just three of us on the entire boat, with one crew member for each passenger. Private boat cruise!!

It was a relaxing three days and two nights, and a perfect way to get back into travelling mode after working on the farm. On returning to Fethiye, we went back to the ever trusty Yildrim’s Guesthouse where we would make our final preparations to start hiking a portion of the Lycian Way the following morning. As always, another adventure awaited…

WWOOFing on Tangala Farm

Ahhh, WWOOFing. You might be asking yourself, “What on earth is WWOOFing”? No, it is not acting like a mad dog with rabies. WWOOFing stands for World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms, and is an international organization with an aim to promote organic farms that focus on sustainable agriculture and animal husbandry. This is achieved through linking up interested volunteers with the farm operators, typically small growers, who need help with their daily activities. The volunteers benefit from learning how such farms are operated, including everything from tending animals to gardening, farm construction, and food production.

Ben has a secret passion (not secret anymore!) to one day own goats for their wonderful milk/cheese/yogurt and Patricia would like to have a small productive fruit and vegetable garden. Given that we had planned lots of time in Turkey it seemed a perfect opportunity to put in some work and do some learning. We also felt that an authentic experience in a small Turkish village would give us a better understanding of life here. We paid to join the local association (TaTuTa) and punched the keyword “goat” into the farm search engine. Up popped Tangala Farms. Tangala is owned by a young Turkish couple, Buket and Cem, that originally lived in Istanbul, but fell in love with the farming way of life on previous trips into the mountains surrounding Fethiye. When some land came up for sale in the small village of Yakakoy, a 30 minute car ride up the mountain from Fethiye, they bought it five years ago and spent the next few years fixing up the cabin and adding additional buildings including bathrooms and separate small bungalows for family, friends and volunteers.

Initially they would spend the summer in the village and winter in Istanbul, but two years ago they stayed for the winter as well and have now successfully left the big city behind. They purchased goats who have since had babies and now have a total flock of nine – three adult males, three adult females and three young ones. The goat milk from the females is used to make cheese, butter and yogurt and the male goats will eventually be sold for their meat (after ensuring more babies are on the way first). They expanded their garden and grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables including watermelons, green beans, peppers, corn, eggplants, and strawberries. There are also peach and mulberry trees. They make their own preservatives, whole wheat bread and soap. Everything produced from the farm is for personal consumption or to share with friends and family. They live a healthy lifestyle, active on the farm, eating fresh food daily, and they were an inspiration to us. We were so happy when after writing an email, they accepted us to work as volunteers on the farm for seven days.

Our WWOOFing adventure started when we left Fethiye by Dolmus into the surrounding mountains. Buket had emailed some instructions in Turkish for us to give to the drivers and to the owner of a corner store as no one in the countryside spoke English. We felt like little kids with “help me” tags around our necks! It felt great to get off the tourist trail and into the "real" Turkey.

When we arrived at the afore-mentioned corner store, we were met by Franke and Graham, also volunteers on the farm. Franke is from Holland, and Graham from Britain. They were super friendly and welcoming, and after meeting Buket and Cem, who were equally amazing, we knew we were in for a fantastic week.

Since Franke and Graham were already using the two bungalows down by the goat barn, we used a tent pitched underneath the veranda of the washroom building. It turned out to be great, as we enjoyed the sounds of nature and fresh air at night and the overhang protected us from rain. Sitting outside our tent on a makeshift couch was a great place to relax and enjoy the view.


The farm was cozy, with a wonderful set-up. The main cabin bungalow had a large partially covered wooden deck overlooking the garden and the beautiful valley below.

On the deck was a covered outdoor kitchen and couches, with the dining table and comfy chairs for lounging and enjoying the sunshine out in the open. We spent only one rainy evening in the living room with the wood burning stove – the rest of the time we were outdoors for meals and for spending time together. The goats were kept in an enclosed area below the garden, and we would often hear them bleating away as if talking to us. The neighbours had chickens and sheep and it was truly a beautiful setting.

The days quickly developed a pattern. In the morning we would get up at 6:30am, for a wake up walk and then a communal stretching session on the deck - except for Cem who would practice what he called “sleep yoga”. Then Ben would help Buket with cleaning out the goat shed, feeding and milking the goats. Meanwhile Patricia, Franke and Graham would make a breakfast of coffee and porridge, which was subsequently enjoyed in the great outdoors. After the morning meal, two of the wwoofers would head out with the goats into the forest for two to three hours of grazing to supplement their farm diet of corn, barley and goats horn (a brown bean that makes them want to mate – not sure about the effect on humans as two bites was all Ben could stomach!). After spending so much time with the goats, we really developed a fondness for them - with our cry of "Gai gitchee gai gitchee gai gai gai!" it would never cease to amaze that they actually followed us around, with no need for leashes!

Typically Patricia and Franke were out in the woods whiling away the hours chatting and enjoying the trek. The men, Ben and Graham, would perform manly chores such as digging holes for a future bathroom, reclaiming land for new growing space, or cutting down trees to shape into fence posts.

Around noon the goat herders would return the animals with a cacophony of noise, signalling the time when everyone would gather for a delicious lunch of Turkish food (typically vegetarian). This was followed by a nice long afternoon break, typically used for napping, reading and tinkering during the hotter portion of the day. Patricia really looked forward to this part, as she found a perfect spot on the outdoor sofa in the shade, where the family cat, Pril Pril, would join her.

From three to six o’clock in the afternoon, after getting up for a tea or coffee, everyone would work on garden chores such as weeding, planting new seeds or preparing new garden beds. After six o’clock we would end the work day with a yoga session on the deck, led by the master herself - Buket.

After a round of showers and enjoying a cold beer or glass of wine, we would all sit down for a delicious outdoor home cooked dinner and spend the night chatting before hitting the hay. Cem’s mother and grandmother stayed at the farm for most of our visit, and they were incredibly kind and sweet. Grandma took an especial liking to Ben, who won her heart by helping out with her chores.

More family showed up for dinner one night which resulted in an impromptu barbeque with chicken marinated in yogurt and cooked over the fire, lots of wine and some fun dancing. An incredible feast!

It was so nice to get out of the travelling mode and to have some time to feel like we were working with a purpose and making a contribution. Thankfully it wasn’t all work – Cem and Buket made sure to take us on a few fun excursions. We had lunch at a local village restaurant with delicious grilled fish, and one night we all headed into Fethiye to watch the final of Champions League football tournament. On another afternoon Cem and his mother took us for a chill out session on the mountain, where there were wooden platforms built near running water under the shade of trees where locals go on the weekends during the hot weather to relax and escape the heat.

They made tea and lentil soup over the fire, and both tasted extra special with a distinctly delicious smoky flavour. On our last day, we all headed off in the afternoon to swim at Oludeniz, a gorgeous beach with the most striking blue water we had seen so far – it looked like a swimming pool for many meters out from the sand. This is where we finally learned how to play Backgammon and spent a leisurely afternoon swimming before saying our final goodbyes. In such a short time we already felt like family and it was hard to part ways – we miss the fresh air, great food, fantastic company and last but not least, the goats!! Our favourite goat was Shimshake, due to his whimsical hairdo and goofy personality.

Who could resist this kind of charm?