A while back I went to Kaş, part of which is pictured above with a Lydian tomb visible at the end of the street. There is a sunken Lydian city off of its shores, near Kekova island, so this harbor town is a favorite of scuba divers. Kaş is "eyebrow" in Turkish...I believe the name comes from the shape of the coastline.
On the way to Kaş from Antalya (it's about three hours west of Antalya), one goes through Demre, a town noteworthy for being chock full of Russians, kind of depressing by comparison to its neighbor Kaş, and for having the remains of St. Nicolas.
That's right, dear old "Noel Baba", is buried in his eponymous church. The author of my guidebook took particular delight in explaining that you can later "tell children you have visited Santa Claus's grave".In any case, the waters in this region of Turkey's "Turquoise Coast" (aka The Turkish Riviera) are true to their name. They are pristine, clear, and most of all, blue. I could not wait to swim in them, and lo, swim I did. I opted for a boat tour which did not include diving...unless you count my numerous eager dives off the side of the boat. Boat tours from Kaş to Kekova Island generally take the better part of a day, include lunch, and stop in several coves where you can swim.
Sometimes you end up anchored in a cove near other tour boats, a fact which was lamented on many a travel blog. I didn't particularly mind, as I had no illusions of being the only person who wanted to visit to a mystic Mediterranean wonderland where I could frolic with sea turtles amongst sunken ruins. This is Turkey after all, where tourist spots are almost always exploited to their utmost (not necessarily a bad thing--sometimes you want to be able to have tea at the bottom of a canyon, right?). At one point our boat drifted slowly but dangerously towards a nearby anchored boat, which caused a delightful groan of "Allahallahallahallahallahallahallahallahallah" from the other captain as he gingerly kicked our boat away from his. "Allahallah" ("Allah Allah", 'God God'), is what Turks say when we might say "Oh, for crying out loud!" or when Brits would say "Good lord!", and is separated usually as Al-lah-hal-lahhhh. The other captain, however, being a linguistic champion and particularly surprised by events as they unfolded, somehow made this exclamation last about 15 seconds. Brilliant.
I had one of the top five meals of my life on this boat trip, which featured balık köftesi (fish meatballs, grilled on the diving platform of the boat), bulgur, and two kinds of incredibly fresh salad. The crowning glory was when another tiny boat approached us soon after the meal--the ice cream BOAT. It's basically a dingy with a freezer onboard. Turknology at its finest.
Kaş is a town I would consider retiring in (since that is a thing I consider from time to time, being a 50-year-old teze [Turkish for "maternal aunt," also a general term of endearment for older women] at heart). My cat and I will run a tourist shop that sells hamam-related goods...wait, dang it, it's already been done!
A hearty thank you to the Fulbrighter who accompanied me on this adventure, not only for being a great travel companion but also for taking all of the pictures I posted.
