Shamballa Cruising Yacht Club: Travel with Friends II

While waiting for the elusive water pump to arrive from Athens, we rented a car for two days to see some of the land sites around Marmaris. It was great to have a car and I’m surprised Bob and I hadn’t taken up this option before. The marina has a deal with a local car hire company which is very reasonable and gives excellent service.

Our first day was to the town of Dalyan and the ancient city of Caunos (sometimes spelled Kaunos). The ruins of this ancient city dates back to the 9^th Century BC. It was a Carian city on the border with the Lycian Kingdom and blended the two cultures. The city was a prosperous port but declined around the 5 - 7^th Centuries AD as the harbour silted up and now consists of reed beds stretching 8 km to the Mediterranean Sea. Today Dalyan is a charming little town on the river and the gateway to the ruins of Caunos, the Turtle beach sanctuary where loggerhead turtles lay their eggs, and mud baths and mineral springs.

View of modern day Dalyan in the distance

Marshes stretching from Caunos to the Mediterranean

Lycian Tombs in the rock faces of sheer clifts

T getting her toes nibbled at the hot springs

The ruins of Caunos and the views from the hillside were impressive. It never ceases to amaze me that we are walking along paths of such ancient civilisations with no security. Animals graze, visitors stroll around, structures are still buried in the ground yet to be discovered. It all has been there for centuries and treated with an amazing casualness.

Ancient olive trees amongst the ruins

Treasures still buried

The amphitheatre, Caunos

I wonder how many bottoms have sat on these seats over the last 2800 years?

Goats grazing amongst the ruins

Ruins of Caunos

The next day we went to more ruins along the peninsula west of Marmaris. After more than an hour along scenic but narrow winding roads, we first stopped off at the town of Turunç for lunch. It was a rather tacky, touristy place that we had passed several times in the boat unaware of what it was about. With the winding roads, it is one of the few places around that actually takes longer to get to by road than boat.

Beaches Mediterranean style - we are so spoiled in Australia with our fantastic beaches

The town of Turunç

The ruins of Amos just past Turunç were much smaller than Caunous but the drive to reach them and the views over the sea were amazing. Amos dates back to ‘only’ the 3^rd Century BC and was administered by the Rhodian government. The island of Rhodes is only about 20 nm away.