Pamucak and Kuşadası

I was tired of hard-boiled eggs, which is a staple of Turkish hotel breakfasts, so I asked for it to be omitted that morning. I walked to the post office to mail my postcards. It was closed, but the PTT office sold me stamps. Then I bought my onward bus ticket for the next day. This last day in Selçuk, I would do a day trip to Pamucak Beach and Kuşadası. I hadn't wanted to overnight in Kuş because it was very tacky, but I did want to see the beautiful bay.

The whole stretch of Pamucak coastline is known as Selçuk-Ephesus beach. As noted in guides it is an unpatrolled beach and undeveloped. This was good (hardly any tourists) and bad (no shelter and few amenities). Well it didn't bother me that there was no lifesaving patrol since I didn't intend to swim, but I keenly felt the lack of shade. The sand was beautiful though.


I walked along the water's edge to the row of parasols you see in the picture. A Turk running a stall chatted to me and told me that to get a dolmuş to Kuş, I should walk towards the main road.

I missed one dolmuş because it came just after a Selçuk-heading dolmuş. No matter, the next one came soon. It was packed with young Turks and the odd foreigner. On the way we passed many holiday resorts. From what I can find on the web today, this resort is still going.

I found shade on the Kuş promenade and watched the world go by. The visitors were cosmopolitan; an Indian lady and her daughter sat on the next bench. I saw parking rangers writing tickets so they were strict with restrictions.


This is the Güvercin Adası, the peninsula at the end of the bay.

I climbed up to high ground to get this view of the bathing platform and the bay, backed by hills.

I bought a fish sandwich from the Ada (Island) Restaurant and ate it at the fort. A couple of cats, a brown and a golden, were suddenly very attracted to me, so I gave them a few scraps and took a picture of them for recompense. Ah, it felt good to be a god to cats.


Inspite of the heat, there were cool onshore breezes so I idled a couple of hours away in the shade. Kuş seemed quiet, maybe folks were lying low after Friday night's partying.

I walked back to where I had entered the town and caught a dolmuş. The driver thought I wanted to go to Efes, but I said I really wanted Selçuk. Some tourists got off at intermediate points, such as a Dutch couple at a hotel. Probably package tourists on a day trip to Kuş.


I thought pistachios would be cheap in Turkey but they were about the same price as back home, around 20 AUD a kilo. Perhaps it was just that store or the touristy area. I resolved to look again elsewhere.