Blue Cruise on the Med

After much research into the famous Turkish "Blue Cruise", we decided to go on one from Fethiye to Olympos (on the Med). The cruise was 4 days, 3 nights and sailed from cove to cove, sometimes stopping for a swim off the side or to get off and explore a little sea-side town.

The first day was pretty rough, and Matt and I were both sea-sick, but after that it was smooth sailing...



Relaxing on the back of the boat. This is where we slept all 3 nights - the cabins were tiny and cramped, and it was much nicer to sleep outside on the deck.

Matt swimming in one of the coves. The water was so clear and blue. We swam as soon as we got up every morning before breakfast.

All meals on the boat were provided, and the crew just rang a bell when the food was on the table. It was all Turkish food, and often included fresh fish the crew had caught off the boat that day.

Matt relaxing on the deck.


"Our" corner of the boat, where we slept.


This is a similar boat to the one we were on, old fashioned gulets.


The first town we stopped in was Kas (pronounced Kash). It was really cute and pretty touristy, with lots of cafes and staffs selling traditional Turkish stuff. This is Matt on the main street, note the evil eyes set in the footpath to ward off evil... (Heaps of Bouganvillea there Dad).

The second village we stopped at was the much smaller, fishing village of Simena. There is no car access to this village, which is built around the remains of a Byzantine/Ottoman castle.


View from castle


We climbed to the top of the castle - spectacular views from the top.

Views along one of the walls of the castle...

Matt eating sunflower seeds (a favourite Turkish past-time) and drinking Efes (Turkish beer - pretty good)

Goats on the rocks as we sailed by

Matt jumping from the top level of the boat

Relaxing at the front of the gulet.

Our final destination was Olympos, which is a hippie sort of community, set amongst citrus orchards and pines, with a beautiful beach and plenty of ruins...

We stayed one night in a log cabin here (most accomodation is in the form of a tree house, but we were upgraded!). We took a trip up to the Chimera, Olympos' "eternal flame". Pretty amazing - natural gases which seep through cracks in the earth, and constantly burn...



We spent the next day lying on the beach, surrounded by ruins, before heading back to Istanbul for the long journey to Bosnia...