New Years eve 2022 and we explored Dalyan
It was the end of 2022 and we had to look back on the last year and look further into a new year. For me it has been a year where I have been thinking about myself. In a year I have lost almost 30 kg and I am very satisfied with that. I had to celebrate taking som nice photos.
I have bought a lot of clothes after we left Norway, it is necessary when you loose that many kilos!
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At New Years Eve we had dinner at our favourite restaurant Sevgiyolu
We started with a plate of meese and this amazing turkish bread (it is soooo gooooood!!)
I had chicken filet with mushroom. Amazing good as always!
I will really recommend you to visit this restaurant. We got a new friend in Erhan (to the right).
New Years Eve is different here than other places in the world. It was a consert with a known Turkish band, Gece Yolculari, which was established in 1993. It was outside and it didn`t cost anything. It was easy to see that the band has been popular for years, it was people at all age there.
They counted down the seconds before midnight and they played a couple of songs after midnight before they finished. And that was it, no firework. You can find the band on youtube!
We started 2023 with a run along the promenade. It is 3 km to a place where it is a lot of cats, and it is a perfect place to turn back. And this boss was not afraid. I should find a name for him…
The first Tuesday in 2023 we rented a car and drove to Dalyan, a bit south from Marmaris. First we drove to a viewpoint south of Dalyan to see the landscape from above.
There is a lake and rivers along the road
We thought we could drive all the way to the viewpoint, but the road was so bad that we had to park the car aproximately 1 km from the top.
But the view is really worth the effort walking up there
We could see all the way to Dalyan, and in the hill you can see the tombs
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South of the hills, it is snow on the highest mountains!
A small village
The lake between Dalyan and the viewpoint
The road was somewhere good but it was not possible to drive to the top
But it was a nice walk!
It is not easy to see but the road is not in a good condition. We had to park the car just on the road.
Dalyan
After that we drove back to Dalyan. Our plan was to take a boat over to the other side to see the tombs and the ancient site on our own, but when we parked the car a guy was waiting for us and he told us he could take us in his boat for a 4 hours trip to see it all. I think it was a nice offer so we jumped in!
So we bought some lunch to eat onboard and joined him for a journey along the river.
The temple tombs what we see today are the remnants of the Kaunos necropolis that once had over 170 rock-cut graves. The tombs mostly date back to mid 4th century BC and have influences of Anatolian, Greek and Persian elements. Although the tombs are inaccessible now, their imposing sight (seen best from across the Dalyan River or even sitting in a boat in this river) is a memorable one.
The Temple Tombs at Kaunos are unique and located just outside the modern resort town of Dalyan. The Dalyan River separates the town from these ancient temple tombs. The site is at a short distance from Dalaman Airport and at a driving distance from major resort towns like Marmaris and Oludeniz. In spite of its vicinity with the popular destinations, the place is undisturbed and has an appealing natural setting. Cut high into a cliff-side over what was one of the entrances into the city’s ancient harbor, these rock-cut temple tombs are one of the most memorable sights in Turkey.
It is possible to take a ferry just over the lake (also with the car) and be on your own. But this guy could take us along the river, down to the ancient city and further out to the Turtle Beach, and of course back again for 1000 TL, and for 4 hours boattrip for only the two of us, it was perfect. We could eat and relaxe in the boat.
The Ancient city of Kaunos
The first stop was the ancient city. I misunderstood the captain, Durmus, and thought we should use 25 minuts around the site. (he ment it was 25 minuts to walk there) So I was a little bit stressed 🙂
It is a trail like this from where the boat stoppes so it is easy to find.
We were passing by a fish farm
Then we came to the entrance to the ancient city of Kaunos. I guess you have to pay for the entrance here in the season, but now it was open and there were no one to see.
There were some signs, but it was not much information about what we saw.
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The monuments of Quintus Vedius Capito and Glykinna.
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It was not possible to go to the amfi theatre, I don`t know why… It looked in very bad condition. Up in the hill you can see a part of a castle, but we were not sure if we had time to go there, and the captain said it was a bit difficult to hike up there.
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After visiting the ancient city we continue further out in the river to Turtle Beach. On the way we met a few boats.
Enjoying the sun and boatride
“Our” boat on the right side
On Turtle Beach!
My mother made this sweather 3 years ago… and some kiloes gone since that
The ocean to the left and the fresh water lake/river to the right
I can imagine a lot of people here in the summer.
Really nice sand to walk on!
A small island outside the beach with a whole in it
Very nice beach, maybe we will try to come back here later with our sailboat.
There were a few restaurants but everything is closed at this time of the year.
A few boathouses along the river
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We had to go through this gate to go in and out of the river
Here is the ferry crossing the river close to Dalyan center. It takes 4-5 cars.
The tomb rocks in front
I guess this boat in the middle has not been used for fishing for a while..
Dalyan – on the way back to the harbour
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You can see the tomb rocks from many places. You can walk there but it is not easy to climb up to the tombs.
We walked around the city center before we drove back to Marmaris.
