Turkey's Aegean Coast - Izmir, Marmaris and Fethiye

Leaving Ankara with a clean bill of health we were free to enjoy the beautiful Aegean Coast of Turkey.  Finally we were able to get a good sleeper train from Ankara to Izmir with a private sleeping compartment.  This was an excellent overnight night train.  I love sleeping on trains and waking up to fantastic sunrises while rattling through the country side.

Enjoying an Efes while on the Ankara - Izmir train

Sunrise over Turkey

We had a short stay in Izmir taking in the fantastic waterfront with fresh fish restaurants and amazing sunsets.  We took a few happy snaps of the main tourist attraction, the watch tower and did our usual walking around the streets taking it all in. 

 

Sunset in Izmir

Watchtower, Izmir

There was a big political rally a few hundred metres along the waterfront from where we were having our fish dinner.  This rally was part of the election campaign of Erdogan for the Presidency of Turkey.  Big political changes are happening in Turkey.  Modern Turkey was founded in 1922 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk the military leader in the Turkish War of Independence which claimed back land given to the Greeks following the spoils of war land distribution after WWI.  Atatürk was a progressive and dynamic leader and set up Turkey as a modern secular state.  

By contrast Erdogan seems to want to take Turkey back to a more fundamentalist Islamic state with his AK Party.  Erdogan was elected Prime Minister in 2002 although he could not take office for about a year as he was banned from political office following his conviction and imprisonment for inciting religious/racial hatred.  Conveniently for Erdogan the laws were changed to allow him to take up the Prime Ministership.  To his credit he has improved the Turkish economy and infrastructure but at the cost of an increased deficit.  The World Bank has praised him for his social reforms (more education for girls) and economic stability (Turkey seems to have come through the GFC much better than neighbouring Greece).  However as Prime Minister, Erdogan has systematically eroded civil liberties and changed laws to allow himself more and more power.  

One of the changes in the law was that the office of President, previously a ceremonial role appointed by Congress, would now be an elected position and have increasing powers.  In the 10 April election Erdogan won the Presidency in a landslide victory.  Everyone we talked to were very upset by this change but Erdogan has a firm power base in the rural and conservative sectors. 

(We did a little survey of Erdogan supporters while watching the crowds leave the election rally.  In Turkey about 20% of the women wear a hajab.  We noticed that there seemed to be a lot more hajab wearing women at the Erdogan rally.  In our count over 50% were wearing the hajab.)  

So Turkey could be in for some big changes in the future and we fear the progressive secular state set up by Ataturk could turn into something much more fundamentalist.

 

Future president for life?

While ruminating on the politics of Turkey we took a 5 hour trip by bus to the resort town of Marmaris on the Southeast coast.  There is nothing conservative about this town.  It exists for English and Russian tourist to have fun on the beach and party into the wee hours of the morning.  We managed to get a nice room with kitchenette in a relatively quite part of town.  Our main purpose to come to Marmaris was for the boats.  Marmaris has the largest marina in Europe and we figured is there was any boat with our name on it in Europe it would be here.  We looked and looked at boats but unfortunately there really wasn’t much choice.  Most of the boats for sale were ex-charter plastic fantastic coastal cruisers and not the solid blue water cruisers we are looking for.

Still we did enjoy the area.  Marmaris is a beautiful area and we enjoyed the beach (though pretty ordinary by Australian standards – gravel, no sand) and did lots of swimming in the hotel pool.  We were there in peak season and it is very touristy.  We almost don't feel as if we are in Turkey any more. There seems to be more British tourists than Turkish residents.  But you can see why the Brits would love this place, warm, sunny weather, beautiful scenery and everything set up for British tourists (Yorkshire puddings on the menu!) and prices, although high by what we were use to so far in our travels, still cheaper than in Britian.

Gulets at the town wharf

Marmaris waterfront

 The town is totally geared for fun in the sun and we enjoyed a day going across the bay in a water taxi and did manage to find some historical sites such as a restored Medieval castle.

View from the water

Hills around the bay

Medieval castle with fabulous views

Throughout Turkey we have been impressed at the great public parks and fountains.  Marmaris was no exception.

Mermaid fountain in Marmaris

Next we went to Fethiye, a 2 ½ hour bus trip east.  Fethiye is a mini-Marmaris but more low key.  There was a marina here as well and some boats for sale but nothing suitable.  We stayed in a nice family run Panysiyon with a fairly ordinary room but fantastic rooftop terrace overlooking the marina.

View from our Pansiyon rooftop terrace

Another beautiful Turkish sunset, Fethiye marina

Whimsical public park near the markets

Fethiye marina from the water

As with everywhere in this part of the world there are Roman ruins scattered around the town.  The Roman rock tombs on a hill just on the edge of the town, date from the 4th Century BC.  We went to the small municipal museum and were amazed to see two large marble statues from around 300 AD of two Roman emperors, one being of Hadrian of the wall fame, which had only just been discovered three years ago.  This area is just chock-a-block full of the most amazing ancient gems just lying unknown under the ground.

Roman rock tombs

We did the tourist thing and took a Gulet (sailboat) tour around the 12 islands in the Bay.  It was a great day out. They stopped 4 times to let everyone have a swim off the boat and provided a nice bbq fish lunch. The water was beautiful and fantastic to swim in. The Gulet even managed a bit of downwind sailing.  Just had baggy old sails but it was lovely not to have the motor on for a few hours.

Tour boats of all shapes and models heading out for the 12 island tour

We would have liked to stay in this area for longer and visit a few more coastal towns such as Kas, but being peak season it was impossible to find affordable accommodation at short notice.  So we decided to continue on to Istanbul and wrap up our Turkey travels over the next 10 days or so.  Sadly after 18 weeks of travel we now have a bit of a schedule and need to see the rest of Southern Europe by mid-September and then on to the US before the end of the northern boating season.