To the Mediterranean

Getting to Fethiye

With a 1040 departure out of Sabiha Gokcen, I woke around 0600 for a light breakfast at 0700. My pickup timed for 0730 arrived shortly after. The one hour drive came to a standstill in parts but the journey took only 1h+.

I still had just under 2h before departure when I arrived at the airport. I was glad I wasn’t flying internationally as the queues were horrendous. I was starting to get a headache from the combination of imperfect pillow configuration, perhaps stress and inadequate food.

I was airside pretty quickly and headed to the lounge. After some more food and coffee, I decided I didn’t need any Panadol. Boarding was at a nearby gate and the 1h30 min flight on the Pegasus Airbus A320 took only 50 minutes. It did feel like a long flight with lots of playful children and a crying baby. Despite a 30 minute taxi at the start, we arrived in Dalaman 10 mins ahead of schedule. Obviously the flight schedules are well-padded for airport congestion.

A note of interest from the inflight magazine was that molasses, honey and olive oil are considered dangerous goods by the airline and restricted to 5 litres only! I suppose they don’t catch fire but can cause plenty of inconvenience in terms of rendering the aircraft unserviceable for hours due to cleaning.

I walked straight outside to find the bus to Fethiye. It was due to depart at 1230 which meant I had a 20 minute wait. It actually left 10 mins late as a result of waiting for passengers.

The drive took over an hour. Upon arrival at Fethiye Otogar, I debated eating vs going straight to the pension. As taxis were handy, I opted to go to the accommodation to find that there was no food in the immediate vicinity. It was a 10 minute walk in the scorching heat to the nearest eateries. As it was around 1400, I opted to just buy milk and have muesli for a light lunch.

Overnighting at Fethiye

I swam in the lovely pool at the spotlessly clean pension and rested for part of the afternoon. When the weather got a little cooler (actually just less hot), I wandered to town and visited the historic sights of Fethiye. First up was the theatre, then the old Crusader castle and finally the ancient hillside tombs. Only the third involved an actual visit, preceded with an uphill climb, as they others only require a passing glimpse … after all, I have been to many such theatres before and Krak de Chevaliers twice!

As I had skipped lunch, I treated myself to a nice meal in a restaurant overlooking the harbour. The Adana kebab was nice. There was nice traditional Turkish instrumental music in the background as I enjoyed my meal with a glass of wine..

After dinner, I explored the harbour looking for my boat but I didn’t stumble across it. I returned to the pension and turned the air-con on for a good night sleep. For some reason, there’s a lot of cicada-like sounds in Fethiye. Even during the day!

Just an observation on cars in Turkey. White seems to be the most popular colour! There are some black ones and very few truly coloured cars!