Marinas, Mandarins, Ancient Tombs and Juicy Tomatoes - Our 24 hours in Fethiye

During one of the stops on the way to Fethiye, I hopped off our bus and sprinted into a store. I did not know how long the bus would be stopped for and we had already seen a passenger and her 2 young children left behind and have to jog two blocks to catch up to the bus and her groceries (left on the bus!) With a big smile I asked the store keeper for 2 tomatoes. It had been a while since Josh had eaten anything and we were unsure of when the next opportunity might arise. After a minute of attempting to convince me that a chicken kebap would be much tastier, the storekeeper realised that I was there for one thing and he returned from the back of the shop with two of the biggest, reddest tomatoes I had ever seen. I thanked the man, paid him and ran like a crazy woman back to the bus, high on the success of my acquisition. Josh was only mildly enthused by the prospect of this basic lunch but when he finally bit into the juicy fruit, he couldn’t hide his approval.

On the hunt for our first meal (lunch and dinner combined) in Fethiye we walked down a mandarin lined walkway with the insanely picturesque marina on our right. When we could finally bear to tear our eyes away from the view we suddenly found ourselves at the foot of an ancient amphitheater sitting quietly amid the busy streetscape. Yes, ancient ruins on the main street!

We bought fresh fish from the markets that night and walked into the restaurant opposite where they cooked it for us and garnished it with salad and bread at a very reasonable cost. Here Joshua had his first Turkish vegetable casserole. It was rich and flavorsome and Josh enjoyed eating it while watching kittens climb trees and jump from awning to awning above us.

We were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time for the Wednesday markets in Fethiye. Josh looked right at home naming all the different fruits and vegetables, stopping to pick up some carrots, sunglasses and the biggest apple he could find. On the way home we hiked up to for a better view of ancient Telmessos - a series of Lycian tombs carved into the rock face above the town.

After a full day it was time to hop back on a bus and make the trip to Selcuk. Our host was kind enough to recommend a nice place to stay - rendering my weeks of research redundant. By this point we had learnt that word of mouth referral was far more reliable than information found on the web.

With a mandarin in our pocket, and images of the marina, markets and tombs fresh in our minds, we boarded the bus for the 4.5 hour journey into Selcuk.