2024 - My Mediterranean Odsesey

On Tuesday we reached Dalyan, a town situated on a river of the same name.  We got to our hotel, well a resort actually, around 1 pm.  It was lovely but would have been much better if it hadn't been so late in the season as the bar, restaurant and pool were closed.  However, it is right on the river and somehow Atahan got us a bottle of wine and we sat on a small deck beside the water watching the tour boats going up and down the river so people could see the tombs built into the hillside.  Below are some photos from that and the weather was perfect. Later, we walked 10 minutes to a nearby restaurant called The Pier.  The beef medallions I ordered were delicious.  The sunset was fabulous and, after it was dark, the tombs were lit up.   Now about the tombs.   We had chartered a boat for following day for a couple of hours ($160 CAD or 4000 TL) to take us along the Dalyan river.  First, we went by Lycian tombs cut into the hillside....

As it turned out, delaying our boat trip by one day was the perfect decision because the following day (the 11th) the weather was perfect.  We'd chartered a boat for 4 hours to take us to Kekova Island and some of the surrounding coves.  It is famous for Dolichiste, also called Kekova Adası, an ancient Lycian city, partially submerged on its shores.  Apparently, the city was a trading hub on an ancient Mediterranean trade route between Andriake (the port of Myra), Simena, Teimioussa, and Aperlae, where a maritime culture developed thanks to the sheltered and protected waterway between Kekova Island and the mainland.  Architectural remains and various shipwrecks have been dated from the Archaic to the Byzantine period, suggesting that Dolichiste was occupied for several centuries until it was partially submerged due to tectonic activity and rising sea levels during the late Holocene.  The scenery was spectacular.  There's a good reason this part of Turkiye i...