Ölüdeniz

The bus I was taking to Kaş, my next destination, departed at 1730 rather than 1530 as I thought, which meant I would arrive around 2000. But it was summer and days were long so that was ok. I had a short shower before breakfast. On dry days around the Mediterranean, sweat is not sticky but evaporates quickly. I left my backpack with reception, then caught a dolmuş to Ölüdeniz. Before I got to the bus stand, I bumped into the German engineer from the day before. He wanted me to join him in drinking rakı, but I had a day trip to do, and declined.

The dolmuş was full of fat tourists. Even though Ölü was a short way out of Fethiye, it was a long ride because the minibus had to go up and down hills. The beach, with its white and yellow sand, was every bit as beautiful as its reputation, but very touristy of course, with resort hotels. Umbrellas and recliners for hire faced the sea in rows.

Ölü has a prominent sand spit which protects a lagoon and creates outer and inner beaches. The water is calmer in the lagoon and you can wade in the shallows. The area is a national park.

Ölü is backed by high hills and this makes it a desirable location for paragliding and parasailing. Using my telephoto lens, I tracked this parasailing enthusiast from the moment of takeoff.

Here he's cleared the beach. Hmm, it didn't occur to me to wonder how they strung the cable up to the hill top.

I had intended to take lunch there, but the prices at the establishments there were inflated, even if the menus were intriguing. Orgasmic sauces? No thanks. That and the hot day made me decide to head back to Fethiye.

Back there I had a bargain of a lunch at the Lezzet Lokantası again. It cost only 0.5M TL for a drumstick, rice and salad. Water and bread were gratis, though I didn't take any bread.


I will continue with Kaş in the next blog entry.