A Visit to Caunos and the Carian Tombs

You can view any photo in full-size by clicking on it!

The local boat showed up promptly at 9:00 to collect us for half day trip to Turtle beach, the ancient city of Caunos, Carian Tombs and Dalyan. Just Ron and me, with John and Turu, his teenaged son who is learning from his dad to be a boatman.

Fish on! John and his son Turu with a bonita on the hook.

Motoring east, we passed close by some sea caves, and piney landscapes which looked like Northern Michigan.  As we approached the river delta, I could smell fresh water.  Only boats from the local cooperative of tourist boats can go up the river. 

Inside the sand bar, the tour boats on the river.

Slipping behind the sand bar, suddenly we were in a sea of grass with clear waterways running like paths thru it. We pulled over to a small dock where other boats loaded with Russian tourists were parked. A local guy with a huge blue crab on a string was casting the crab into the water to attract Loggerhead turtles. Soon two (Mr. and Mrs.) came in to chase the crab. Everyone loved the turtles. Locals offered to sell us crabs, cooked and cracked, on the return trip, so I ordered two plates .

On we went, up the river to dock up at Caunos. Situated at modern Dalyan, it was a prosperous city built before the 6th century BC. Alexander the Great passed through here, and Herodotus gave it a glowing report, his only negative comment being "The natives of Kaunos have a greenish pallor", due to malaria. Malaria is no longer a threat, and we didn't encounter many mosquitoes either. The city was a great seaport in antiquity, but the sea receded due to river silting and the port filled in. It was eventually abandoned. The city has an agora, baths, the large amphitheater with a grand arched entrance with carved marble panels lying on the ground in front, and other ruined buildings.

Ancient olive trees made a pool of cool shade, and I tasted a green olive, very bitter and astringent.The battlements of the high citadel stand out against the sky, and of course I needed to see what was up there.

Whose idea was this?!?!?  (Mine, tee hee)

 We climbed and scrambled up and up over rough limestone crags to the acropolis, picking our way as there was no trail. Clambering among the battlements, we had only black donkeys for company. (How did THEY get up here?!?!) There were sweeping panoramas of farm fields and orchards, and the river winding to the sea, with fish corrals reaching across it as they did in ancient days. Scrambling back down the steep rocky face was challenging; we were drenched with sweat and trying not to slip and tumble over the rocks.

"This way down!"

We were happy to make it back at the boat, gulping down two liters of water between us and savored the cool shade of the tourboat's awnings.

The boat continued upstream through more hammocks of tall grass and pulled in near the famous Carian cliff tombs; majestic timeworn structures carved from the living stone.

We chuckled, glad there were no opportunities to climb these ruins. We motored a short distance further upstream and docked in Dalyan town, a delightful surprise. In a cafe along the quay we savored rich, freshly pressed pomegranate juice, water, mezes and samphire, or glasswort, cooked in butter and lemon).(My Florida ecologist friend Lisa showed me this plant growing wild throughout the Indian River Thousand Islands!)

A cool place to enjoy the view...

and the Mezes...a platter of various dips and snacks, always healthy
and delicous .Served with warm fresh bread

Walked thru Dalyan town, sorry my camera battery was exhausted.  It had a colorful, funky beach-town vibe. Bought evil eye charms for the girls, some yogurt, parsley and lemons. Back on the tourboat, we decided to forego the mud baths. We picked up the crabs and enjoyed the cruise back to Celador. I sat on the fantail and picked the meat from crabs, had a swim, cooked the last of the bonito and taboulleh for dinner, and Ron and I watched the sun set on another full day.

Ozymandias

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

by Percy Bysshe Shelley