A PRIVATE BEACH CAMP in TÜRKIYE! 🇹🇷 - Australia to Scotland by road - Episode 89

The google search time paid off and this secluded hideaway turned out to be a real gem. During the day tour boats would flock in though come afternoon they would begin their migration home and we would be left alone, in peaceful isolation, with no reception, feeling a world away from everything and everyone.

We had set up camp under a big shading tree right on the edge of the sand. As night fell a beautifully dry onshore picked up and gripped us in a warm embrace. Two young men in uniform and looking somewhat official pulled up on the beach in a rigid inflatable and made the walk up to our spot. They were a little puzzled to see the Troopy, and probably non Turkish people here, though a few quick questions about what we were doing and where we were from and they were on their way, not before heading to the end of the beach to draw love hearts in the sand and take selfies ha! We think think they were the Coast Guard doing their evening patrol. Perhaps they have a problem here with drug runners or immigrants? Not sure. We were startled awake however in the middle of the night by another visitor rustling and grunting in the adjacent bushes. Hitting the roof top spot lights revealed something more startled, a big healthy looking boar. He was of decent size, full grown, and probably not used to visitors. He froze like a deer in headlights before quickly scurrying off into the shrub.

The sky was cloudless and the water glistened in the morning light. After the morning coffee routine we hit the water and managed a couple of hours of calm enjoying our own private beach before the boats begun to arrive. The tourists all appeared to be Turkish and were having a great time. We sparked up a conversation with one of the older boat captains as he came onshore to tie up his boat. He suggested I was wasting my time the previous evening taking the speargun out in search of dinner and confirmed my suspicions there wasn’t much left around these parts.
Explaining to him about where we’d come from and where we were going a glint of envy came into his eye. He almost hopelessly explained his life situation, how he had his kids that had now flown the nest, and now all he did was work on his boat, and dream of something like we were doing. There’s been several moments like this when talking to people in different countries which, not only gives a profound appreciation for how fortunate we are at home with job prospects and high wages, though also a slight sense of sadness that innocent, friendly people like him, although I’m sure very happy in their respective lives, can’t have the same experiences we have the freedom to pursue.

As midday etched closer, so did the tour boats so we packed up the Troopy and made the slow and bumpy journey out of the hidden beach valley, around the headlands, and back to the highway. Our destination for today was another attempt to get off the tourist trail. Like Cappadocia the coast is littered with remains from the Greco-Roman era. We had found a city ruins, not far from our route, which looked incredible and left to the elements - just as we like it. Heading off the dreamy smooth highway we wound through the tight passages of a rural village and onto a very rocky track, around a hill, to a small plateau next to a 2000 year old theatre. On what, we could only assume, was the flat ‘commoner’ area of the ancient city, we set up camp and climbed the carved, and overgrown, steps to the top of the theatre to watch the sunset. Night fell, the stars shone bright, and in the breathless night we cooked dinner over a fire. Like the beach, we had another visitor that night, albeit a much younger one. Evidently there must be a lot of boar in this part of Turkey.

Taking a walk around the acropolis the following morning we found parts to be quite well preserved considering it hasn’t been occupied in 700 years. Surrounding the city walls are hundreds of huge stone carved sarcophagi, some with detailed carved reliefs. Into the city walls rooms are cut into the rock, and in the city itself other stone structures which we couldn’t really identify. One struggle faced by hill-top fortifications is water. We stumbled upon, thankfully not into, gigantic water containers cut into the ground all over the city and surrounding area. The containers varied in size though from what we could see, were around 5-6 metres in diameter and the same deep, with an opening at the top of about half a metre. Water varied in each though they now seem to be a better suited home for local animals, of which tried to become acquainted with Jolie. With the sun high now high in the sky, the day had heated significantly and it was time to hit the road again.

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