Goodbye Turkey

The return from Kars to Canakkale was a very long trip. First the sleeper train to Ankara, through mountains and fertile farmlands, then the new fast train from Ankara to Istanbul, where yet again a kindly Turk dropped everything to escort us to the bus depot. The bus spent most of the five hour trip trying to escape the bedlam of peak-hour Istanbul, but once free, the route was quite a scenic one, skirting the Sea of Marmara. All fine until the very last bit – it was 2 am and we could see Common Sense on the other side of the channel, but the ‘hourly’ ferry was not running until 4am, so the passengers dozed or wandered about Eceabat for a couple of hours. Then, at last the ferry arrived, a short zip across the Dardanelles, a hundred metre walk and we were asleep at last in our own cabin. Bliss!

Istanbul Bridge Traffic

The next couple of days we spent catching up with Russ and Mary Kay on Once Around, friends from our winter in Finike, and by a wonderful coincidence also with Barbaros – the go-to guy (with special responsibilities for marketing!) at Finike Marina – and his family. Clean up the boat, buy a few provisions, an easy straightforward check out of Turkey at Canakkale Marina, then it was time to go.

 

Barbaros and his daughter, Mary Kay, Russ, Me, Terry

August 12^th saw us head out and down the Dardanelles, an exhilarating ride with the current behind us and water traffic of every kind including freighters, tankers, endless ferries, tiny fishing boats, the Rainbow Warrior, and even a yacht race which included two yachts from the Turkish Naval Cadets. One final unofficial overnight stop on the Turkish island of Goceada, one unofficial overnighter in Moudros, Greece, then to Myrini in Limnos and the Greek Port Police for official check in, much more efficient and straightforward than our check in last year in Preveza.

All the green triangles are moving! 

 

Turkish Naval Cadet yacht 

We will miss Turkey. It has been a revelation to spend ten months exploring such a fascinating country, with its amazing range of experiences – the soaring Taurus Mountains, capped with snow in winter and vivid with flowers in spring; glorious blue Mediterranean bays and the life of the waterfront; the vast steppes of the east; the astonishing alien landscapes of Pamukkale and Cappadocia; rich agricultural lands and frenetic cities with their surprising contrasts between traditional life and the twenty-first century. Eastern and Western cultures have collided, mingled and cross-fertilised here for thousands of years, and Turkey has some of the world’s best preserved evidence of ancient civilisations and how they lived – awesome sites like Ephesus and Pergamon, but also hidden gems that few tourists get to see (such as Arykanda and Apollon Smintheon  - see previous blogs). And everywhere without fail, we met friendly, hospitable Turks who couldn’t do enough to help us out and make us feel welcome.

Myrina on Lemnos

But there’s a lot to be said for being back in Greece: a palpable feeling of freedom as people enjoy the beaches and bars in their colourful summer clothing; Greek salads with creamy feta and sweet, vine-ripened tomatoes, grilled calamari, sardines, octopus salad … pork … and cheap, drinkable wine at the supermarkets!  The Turks make the best yoghurt in the world but the Greeks make better cheeses!  Terry says Efes is a great drinkable Pilsner for everyday consumption but Fix Hellas beats it.

So far we’ve made our way west to the Sporades – beautiful islands with much less charter traffic than the Cyclades – and down the channel between the large island of Evia and the mainland. My favourite was Kyra Panagia, partly because it offered us a refuge after a tough passage from Lemnos, but also because it is inhabited only by herds of horses, donkeys and goats.

At the moment we’re holed up in the Bay of Marathon, under siege from a strong northerly wind. If it eases tomorrow we will head down to Olympic Marina for some work on our gas system, then west towards Italy to pick up friends for the next cruising adventure.