Dalyan Things to Do

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First day we were very tired from the trip, after taking siesta by the river we realized it's maybe the time to go to the beach around 4 pm. Walked to the town and asked the minibuses to Iztuzu beach. Luckily we got one very quick and we were in the beach by 4:30 pm. There was us and few more people on the beach. It was so nice, we watched the sunset. The last minibus was around 6:00 pm

minibus price is 7 TL roundtrip ticket

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The Dalyan area is one of the last remaining areas of Mediterranean wetlands. The Delta is a nature reserve to 120 species of birds and colonies of storks that frequent the area throughout the year. Many of these can be best seen from a boat chartered from the quay in Dalyan or on a day tour. I did not see One Bird here!

Dalyan means "fishery" in Turkish, fishing helps keep the local economy. Grey mullet spawn in Lake Koycegiz, their progress downriver providing the villagers of Dalyan with an important food source. There are many fish traps which catch the grey mullet as they return to the sea after spawning in the fresh water lake of Köyceðiz.
It was very pleasant going through the high reeds in the Boat, I'm glad our Captain knew where he was going, as it looked like you could get lost easily in one of the many channels.

A nice area for a Boat Trip.

WANT TO LOOK 10 YEARS YOUNGER??
Evidently the ancient Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, did, as it is said that she often came to the mudbaths of Dalyan.

In the area of the Dalyan channels and Lake Köyceðiz, thermal waters spring up at many places. The hot sulphurous waters are meant to help with healing rheumatic and skin diseases.
Take a boat trip from Dalyan to the mud and sulphur baths on the Lake Koycegiz side and wallow like a Hippo in the warm, sticky mud!!

Once you have covered yourself in the mud you then wait for it to dry in the sun. The sulphur pool in which you clean yourself after your Mudbath is also at a temperature of 40 degrees. Take along your swimming custome and towel, you can usually shower as well.

I didn't take the mud bath, but I certainly enjoyed watching everybody else having one.
There were some funny looking people around. Whether you feel different or not?? asked some, and they said they felt just the same!!!

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These Tombs are an incredible sight. I sat in the boat and wondered how they managed to carve these in the Cliffs, what a feat that must have been!!

Founded around the 9th century BC, Caunos became an important Carian city in 400 B.C.

The rock tombs are sculpted in the form of the porticoes of small Ionic temples. These are some of the best examples of Lycian type funerary architecture in Turkey, although the builders were Carians. The largest one is unfinished, providing a glimpse into the method of construction.
The Tombs hold the remains of the Kings of Caunos.
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A lot of the Tombs were built with false walls to fool would be robbers! It worked for a while, but eventually, they were robbed of their Treasures.
What a shame that this happened!

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This is a very long sandy beach that the Turtles come to lay their eggs. The Turtles are called Loggerhead (Caretta, Caretta)
It wasn't the right time of the day or year when I visited.
The Beach is really a 5 mile sandbar that seperates the Delta from the Sea. On one side, you can swim in fresh water, on the other side, sea water.
Make sure you wear sunburn cream, as there is very little shade. There are food shacks and Toilets available here.
If not on an organized tour, you can still reach here by Dolmus from Dalyan, a trip of about 12kms. The last Dolmus back departs at 6pm.
There is a lookout tower here which is worth the climb to get some nice views and photos of the surrounds.

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The tables of the bar were well shaded under the poplars. The drinks were perfectly cool. However, the temperature was deadly hot because of the northerly wind.

What?

Aren’t we in Turkey and isn’t Turkey in the Northern hemispheres and in the Northern hemisphere aren’t Northerly winds cold ones ?

Yes, this is right. Most of the time but not here in southwestern Turkey! Look at a map. In the Fethiye-Marmaris area, northerly winds blow across the high plateaux of Anatolia which are dry and hot. When they reach the coast, this is as if they were going out of an oven!

The result: everybody is know down by the heat, except the photographer, of course. On duty haha!

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After we had visited the Lycian graves and the ancient city of Caunos, we needed a drink and a rest. We were all more than happy to see that our cruise boat was to moor along this small wooden and shaded pier. Tall poplars made a nice shade while oleanders in fool bloom gave a nice scent.

When archeologist unearth parts of columns, if they ad just fallen down, they usually leave them either at the same place or close. However, often, the stones have been carried further and it is not possible at first to establish to which monument do they belong. They are then stored in some discreet place on the site, awaiting to be completely identified.

In the middle of the photo, a delicately carved capital.