Driving or walking along the Fethiye peninsular provides you with plenty of opportunities for panoramic views of the area. Some look out points even have the metal binoculars which you can put a lira in and get a better view of everything. I took this photo while we were parked up somewhere along the peninsular, just past Aksazlar bay. I love how the trees frame the photo, with the masts from the boats in the background and beautiful mountains (with snow on the top – it was February and cold!) I love it when we first approach Fethiye in the transfer or car and you can see these mountains in the distance, always makes me feel like home! ❤
Tag Archives: snow
AUGUST PHOTO SERIES – DAY 17 – SNOWCAPPED MOUNTAINS
Although most people know Turkey for its almost-guaranteed sunshine for 6 months of the year, it’s not always hot…in winter it gets cold…VERY cold. Generally the coldest month in Fethiye is February, in my experience. I remember one winter it was around -2 degrees, with icy puddles outside. This photo was taken in January last year, on what was actually a warm day, but the evidence of winter was plain to see on the mountains in the distance – lots and lots of snow. It looks like I was in the sea, but I actually took the photo whilst on a hill off of Karataş beach, looking back towards Koca Caliş – you can see Sunset beach club and Jiva hotel in the centre of the photo. The mountains look so impressive covered in snow, but also vast and intimidating, a very prominent feature of the landscape even though they’re so far in the distance!
❤
Turkey in the snow!
Whilst it’s always nice seeing clear blue skies, sunshine and beaches, it is nearly December, so I thought I’d share some more festive photos of Turkey as most of us have never seen it before.
The photos aren’t recent, and believe it or not they weren’t actually taken in winter at all, but in April this year during a freak period of cold weather in Denizli! I was in Turkey for a week visiting Berkay during his army break and we had travelled from Fethiye to the Denizli province, to his small home town of Beyagac. We were there for 2 days and the night before we travelled back to Fethiye we woke up to snow! It was all over the news about how unusual such cold weather and snowfall was for April and we had to drive for 4 hours back in it through the mountains.
Seeing snow is always a bit of a novelty when you live in England, it rarely happens over here, but over in Turkey with all the mountains and high ground it’s pretty much the norm in winter. Since it’s such a rarity for me, I made Berkay stop the car so that we could build a little snowman. It may sound a dumb thing to say, but it was absolutely freezing and instead of having the cool aircon on in the rental car like we had been using a few days before in Fethiye, we had the heater on instead.
I’m not sure exactly where we were, but it was a very remote area of Denizli, hardly any villages or houses, although we did drive past a snow-covered mosque and a couple of villagers. For the most part, we had the whole lanes to ourselves and the views were postcard picture perfect. Only two days previously we had driven through the same route and it was completely clear, so there had been quite a lot of snowfall overnight.
Driving through all the pine trees covered in snow, and with the wind blowing all the snow off their branches and making little mini-blizzards was so pretty, it was very Christmassy, which felt weird to say considering it was Spring. Some of the pictures I took were so festive I thought about having them printed for Christmas cards this year, nobody would ever guess it was Turkey in April!
It was quite surreal driving through the snow for half of our journey and then as we got a few hours closer to Fethiye the white snow clouds turned into clear blue skies, and snow covered fields turned into warm green ones instead. The only trace of snow was on Fethiye’s Mount Babadag which had also had a fresh covering of the white stuff the previous night.
I just love seeing snowy Turkey pictures, although its usually snow capped mountains from down below that I see. If you are ever in Fethiye in very early spring, you’ll see for yourself how magical the snowy mountains in the distance look, and the stark contrast in the temperature and weather between the different seasons which really surprises some people.
The country is definitely a thing of natural beauty, whatever the season.
A relaxing Sunday afternoon..
Since Berkay changed his job, he now gets one day off a week. He does a week of nights, has Sunday off then does a week of days, then Sunday off, and back to a week of nights. Oh how I wish that was the case when I was living there!
His day’s off mean he can see his friends and go fishing for his dinner. He still has no money as he won’t be paid until March, so he is relying on his catch of the day to eat. He goes with our good friends, Serkan & Sibel, and their not-so-little anymore baby Cinar, who is adorable.
They often go to the little bays around Fethiye, this time it was buyuk samanlik koyu, which another friend of his actually owns. It’s a nice place, a bit basic, but nice in the winter and popular in the Summer with Turkish families who go there for BBQ picnic’s on Sunday’s. The view’s are lovely, you can see over to Calis and Fethiye and see all the boats going back to the harbour. The drive down to the bay is beautiful, although a little frightening as you have to drive along the cliff edge, which, if you know what Turkish driving is like, can be a little scary.
Normally I edit photos before uploading them, but these need no editing at all, as they are already perfect. Look how beautiful it is, just before sundown.
Berkay is normally quite successful at catching fish, last week he caught an Octopus. Today however, he wasn’t so lucky and didn’t catch anything, so he’s gone to bed without having any dinner. He’s at work at 7am tomorrow so he’ll sneak some breakfast from the buffet.
It was another friend’s birthday last weekend, he’s only known Berkay 2 years but is really like a dad to him. From what I’ve seen, Turkish people don’t really celebrate birthdays, but his sons bought him a cake..wish I was there to get a piece hehe (:
Despite not having money at the moment, Berkay has recently had the vet out to give Boncuk her booster injections, there are far too many ill, untreated dogs in the area that it is just not worth the risk. She’s all up to date with worming and flea treatment and injections now, so she’s a happy doggy. I can’t believe how ‘old’ she looks now, she’s lost her puppy features and that makes me sad 😦 By the time I go back in July (hopefully) I won’t have seen her for 10 months, I hope she remembers me! For now I can relax knowing she’s safe, looked after and happy 🙂
I hope everybody had a good weekend. (:
Market Day Treats..mmm.
After walking around carrying bags of fruit & veg, what better way to cool down and recover than to stop at one of the little cafe van/trailers in the market area. Good food, cheap prices and friendly people. (I LOVE market days, can you tell?)
This is another of our Tuesday/Sunday traditions. Going to the market and getting a traditional Turkish pancake (gözleme). Yum. They come in lots of flavours, sweet or savory. My favourite is the simple lemon sugar pancake, but I’m also a lover of the meat ones! They’re all freshly made in front of your eyes and are a million miles away from the pancakes us English know and love.
kıymalı gözleme (mince meat) lemon, sugar & icecream gözleme
These are more like very thin pastry folded in half, filled with your choice of topping and served warm. Lovely.
There are tons of other Turkish foods available too, döner (chicken/salad in a half bread), peynirli bazlama (special bread with cheese in) and for the adventurous, kokoreç (lamb or goat intestines, usually served in a half bread!) Yuck.
peynirli bazlama
Lets not forget the drinks too, you’ll see piles of fresh fruits outside the trailers waiting to be juiced, pomegranates, oranges etc, as well as the usual soft drinks. They also have the Turkish drink Ayran (made with yogurt, water and salt). I’m not a fan, to me it just tastes like sour milk but my boyfriend loves it. Apparently it’s refreshing and good for you as the salt helps you keep hydrated. It is an acquired taste for sure. My ultimate favourite drink to cool us down though, is kar şerbeti (literally- snow sherbet). This is basically a slush puppy. Only different. It’s made with snow, actual, real snow bought down from the mountains. They knock a chunk of snow off, stick it in a bowl and crush it up (using elbow grease, not a machine!) they then and add your choice of flavoured syrup, (cherry, grape, lemon, strawberry, orange etc…) This is so refreshing on a hot day, even with the brain freeze that often results from drinking/eating it too quickly!
ayran kar şerbeti