The Captain of our Gulet has a Mullet

Our Gulet
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By Christina

For those of you who don’t know, a mullet is a groovy hairstyle (short on top, long at the back) that enjoys great popularity the world over. Apparently, this popularity extends to Turkey, because the captain of our gulet had a mullet. And, for those of you who don’t know, a “gulet” is a wooden yacht used for cruising the western Mediterranean (west to east, in our case) in Turkey on a “blue voyage”. But, I will get to our boat trip in a moment.

We awoke in our lovely Fethiye hotel primed and pumped for breakfast since the prior evening’s meal had left us wanting. Unbeknownst to us, however, a Turkish breakfast is very different from an American breakfast. Very different. We were presented with a plate containing a few olives, tomatoes, cucumbers and two types of cheeses, along with a basket of bread with butter and honey. Since we could not eat the tomatoes and cucumbers (our Bible – Lonely Planet – informed us that only unpeeled fruits and veggies are safe), and because the olives did not look appetizing, we had bread for breakfast. Lots of bread. Little did we know that the Bread Diet would follow us throughout Turkey. (Granted, as I write this, we are only 7 days into the country. But, so far, this prediction has held true, particularly for Abby). I will refrain from commenting about our digestive tracts.

Butterfly Valley
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After breakfast, we made our way to the harbor for our gulet trip. During check in, we were informed that, because this was the last trip of the season, we would need to buy our own drinks, plus pay for the ice block and electricity to chill the fridge. Odd. It was a little like going to a BYOB party and paying a portion of the electricity for your drinks. Really odd. But, we shelled out the Turkish Liras (yes, we are finally done with the dreaded Euro) and dutifully followed our leader to the boat.

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The boat was gorgeous. Ninety-five feet of pure wood. Everywhere you looked there was mahogany and cherry wood. Our rooms were great – quite large with plenty of natural lighting and fresh air, more beautiful wood, and nice beds. The best thing of all was the shower – great water pressure, room to move around inside, and a door! I know it seems strange for me to be so excited about a shower, but it is worth mentioning a peculiar feature of Greek and Turkish bathrooms: the shower-head is usually located above the sink and toilet. As a result, when you shower, the entire bathroom gets wet. This can really put a damper (!) on your sense of cleanliness, especially since you generally have to towel down the bathroom when you finish showering. Also, if you don’t clear out the bathroom in advance, everything in it will get wet, including the toilet paper.

Sunrise
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Our first day on the gulet was spent getting to know our fellow passengers (there were ten of them- 5 Aussies, 1 Kiwi, 1 French, 1 Moroccan, and 2 Koreans) and exploring the boat. Okay, the kids explored the boat; Dan and I read our books on the sundeck. Unlike our Greek cruise, the gulet trip was all about relaxing. Generally, excursions are not a big part of the experience (we stopped on land twice, for a couple of hours each time). Instead, the majority of your time is spent on the boat, trolling along, and stopping for swimming, kayaking and snorkeling breaks. This suited us perfectly.

Room with a view
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Our first land stop was a good one: the little fishing village of Kas. We had a great time wandering through the marketplace, admiring the handicrafts and other souvenirs for sale. We also experienced our first Gozleme, a delicious pancake-crepe type dessert. As is often the case with spots frequented by backpackers, the Kas Gozleme options included chocolate and banana. Grayson and I tried one of each. Abby on the other hand, needed some “real” food after eating bread or bread products at each meal for the past two days, so she and Dan headed out in search of noodles (they found delicious, home-made raviolis). After our pancakes, Grayson and I went to a Beauty Shop so I could get a haircut.

Kas
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Throughout the village, the Turkish flag was prominently displayed. Evidently, October 29^th is Turkish Independence Day. It is spent celebrating Turkey’s independence in 1923 and Mustafa Kemal, the man who brought all the different confederacies into one unified country as the Ottoman Empire fell apart. Kemal, known as Ataturk (“Father Turk”) is highly revered here. His image is everywhere: on money, posters, pictures, and statutes. In many ways, he is the reason Turkey is a secular country, a rarity among Islamic nations. He outlawed the headscarf and many people feel strongly that women should not wear them (although many women do). It is nice to chat with people about Ataturk because everyone loves him so much. My haircut lady got quite emotional talking about him, even though he has been dead for nearly seventy years.

After re-boarding the ship and taking off from Kas, there was a murmur of excitement from the crew as dolphins were spotted in the distance. They soon joined us and played in the boat’s wake before diving too deep to be visible. Another highlight was the loggerhead turtle that we saw while snorkeling that afternoon. Our family zoologist was beside herself with all of the animal activity to observe, and both kids enjoyed hours of fishing, putting to good use the net they had lugged all the way from Rhodes.

We dropped anchor that night in one of the prettiest spots I have ever seen with the turquoise blue ocean all around us and dramatic rocky hills rising from the shore. Falling asleep to the sound of water lapping against the gulet was no sweat.