April 2010 Newsletter for Sarigerme Village

Sarigerme, end of March and beginning of April...

We woke up every single day to fantastic Weather, so much so that we ended up with a great suntan.Evenings were a little colder but not freezing. To our surprise Mozzies managed to get a few drops of blood from us.
Within a few days we have seen so many places, beaches, hills and valleys, Mountains, rivers,spectacular views and eaten in nice restaurants, visited lots of shops and markets, plenty of wildlife observed e.g lizards, Storks, eagles ..
I can not tell you of everything but would like to give you a glimpse of each day of our Holiday..

First Day ,

We arrived late afternoon at Dalaman Airport from Manchester.
Weather was incredibly warm and the sky was cloudless like the everyday of our Holiday.
As you know, after a long ride to the Airport and the flight can make you a bit tired, but we still wanted to make the most of our short Holiday so as soon as we arrived at our friends house we unpacked and took a quick shower before we headed to Gunluklu Restaurant near Dalyan, run by the Dalyan Council.
Open air place under styrax trees. Also closed dining area with a fire place in the middle.
Lots of mezzes with freshly baked bread.
Acili ezme (hot spicy freshly mashed tomato with onion and green herbs)
Acuka (A circassian meze prepared with walnut, tomato paste and garlic)
Arnavut cigeri (meaning "Albanian liver") (Fried small pieces of liver served with onion, parsley and hot pepper)
Cevizli Biber (a meze prepared with walnut, red pepper, pepper paste, onion and cumin)
Saksuka or another version Köpoglu (fried and chopped eggplants & peppers served with garlic yogurt or tomato sauce) and some more ...
Main course was Shepherd's Braised Meat (Coban Kavurma).
("kavurma", which means roasting/parching in Turkish, is generally used for roasted lamb.
Çoban kavurma is a variety of it, prepared with diced lamb with tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, peppers and herbs.We have invited some friends along Kamuran and Emre from Sarigerme, on top of the food we did had a few drinks too , bill was not more then 80TL for four of us. Fantastic service.
　
Second Day ,

Breakfast at the Yosun Restaurant, on the Road side to Fethiye just after Dalaman.
Beautiful Garden,typical Turkish Breakfast with Jam,Honey,Cheeses,Tomato, Cucumber,Tahini-Pekmez ,eggs ,Toasted Bread, Tea-Coffee and much more where we can not remember all of it.

After energy boosting breakfast we carried on to FETHIYE as it was the Market day on Tuesdays,on the way we stopped above the KARGICI cove for a panoramic View and photo opportunity.

Market was busy but not so over crowded as it is during peak Summer period due to the tourism. Great Bargains such as Georgous Big Prada Bag for 20 ,(after long & serious haggle).
We did grabb some Eggplants and additional salad stuff from the Market as we were invited to a BBQ at the Horse Range in Mergenli Village.

Then we headed to OLUDENIZ . Looked like a Ghost Town , almost every shop was shut and hotels looked closed. Lots of renovation-decoration was going on. We went to the waterfront, ohhhh,dream-alike quitness almost no one around other then the few staff of some business enterprices whom were busy with getting ready for the upcoming season.

We sat on one of the restaurant tables on the Seafront and even though they weren't open we did ask if they could serve or not ? Yes, they did not mind at all , we loved our freshly squeezed Orange Juice and Efes Beer whilest enjoying crystal clear and calm Sea..

Whilst we were there, we had a chat with one of the TANDEM PARAGLIDING guides about the deadly accidents accuring each year in OLUDENIZ. He told us, these accidents are happening because people want to jump on their own with their own equipment without studying the weather-air conditions.
None of the Tandem Paragliding offices are providing equipments to those individuals whom wish to jump on their own rather then with a Guide.

In the evening straight after changing our cloths we went to Adrenalin Horse Range in MERGENLI VILLAGE which is 15-20 minutes away from Sarigerme. The daylight was'nt over when we lit the BBQ FIRE and started to roast pepers and eggplants before the meatballs and chicken. The wife Ayse of the Owner Soner made a superb green salad alongside the Mezzes.
Beautifull peacefull place surrounded by Mountains and lovely pleasent breeze, although heat can be unbearable during mid day in the High Season.

Third Day ,

We woke up early in the Morning and drove to KISLA Village,(30 minutes ride away from Sarigerme) just above GOKBEL Village. We went to SAHIN TEPESI Cafee (Falcon Hill) for a morning Coffee and an extraordinary View.
This Little cafe is run by someone called Sahin. He discovered this gergeous spot of Kisla Village a while ago. He decided to buy the little house, convert the front in to a neat cafe by placing few tables and chairs. He has not got any menu to show you , his kettle and toaster with his fridge where he keeps his Beer does the job, well what else do you need :
Drop Dead Gergeous View + Cup of Tea/Coffee + Beer + Couple of slices toast ..
On the way down we have seen a few Tortoises wondering around on the roadside and could'nt help ourselfs to say hi to them.

There are a few Huts in Gokbel Village before you get to KISLA village right on the junction between Dalyan and Mergenli,whom are selling Turkish Pancakes (GOZLEME) , please make sure do ask the price before you order, as they have ripped my pocket off big time once and i do get still nightmares about it :))

We carried on trough DALYAN and the OLD KOYCEGIZ ROAD to YUVARLAKCAY with a hope in our hearts that we will have a feast with fresh fish along the ice-cold stream water..
There are a few restaurants along the stream serving mainly Fish + MeatBalls +Lambmeat and Chicken dishes. All of them were closed. Firstly we thought it was due to ongoing protest and riots organized by the Locals and green/enviroment lovers. I have spoken to some of the Locals and find out that the war has now came to an end between the nature lovers/ locals and the Company who tried to build a dam to produce electric..after chopping thousands of trees (each more then 400 hundred years old) they packed their bags and gone...Goverment backed off on this.Lets hope they will never come back.
Reason why they were closed was because of the low season apparently.
Anyhow, we noticed that one of these restaurants was busy with updating their premises, so we asked, Can we have something to eat pleaseeeee...The entire resturant (keep in mind these places are all in open air) ,trees all sorts inlcuding orange, stream was to our selfs...Fresh Trout Fish , Excellent Green Salad , Warm Bread, Fruit , Beer ...and a short nap.
We had a superb time, ; fantastic weather , superb meal (fish , Turkish green salad and Raki ) , Orange trees , white fast running stream water of Yuvarlakcay right next to your table..

In the late afternoon we paid a visit to the PUBLIC BEACH of Sarigerme. Nothing and Nobody.
There was some sort work was going on at the entrance e.g gardening .. Chickens and Turkeys were wondering around with the Ducks , not one single soul was on the Beach.
Felt like the beach was isolated. We found out after speaking some workers at the entrance that the Beach will be ready after the first week of April.

The entire Sarigerme Village was more or less in the same situation as there was building work going on , one could see that at the entrance of the Village all the way to Sarigerme Bar knocked down and new building has been errected. Looks like the first business you will see is Agora Bar on the Left , Laz market will be neighbour to a Fastfood shop.
After sunbathing we left to get ready for the evening.

In the evening we had decided to go to GOCEK for a quite meal along the Harbour facing the nice Yachts. Whilest we were wondering in Gocek, we received a phonecall from our friend ALPER who owns a DoubleDecker 12 Island Trip Boat called BREAVEHEART in GOCEK. He invited us to a BBQ in KEMALIYE village near DALYAN.

We decided to cancel our Gocek adventure and headed back further to Kemaliye Village.
Well to be perfectly honest with you , when we got there we found ourselves in a Ship Building Yard.7-8 Boatowners and repairers gathered together set up a fire, DIY table and chairs, Grey Mullet , Salad ,Chicken Wings Raki , White Wine , Bread ...They all were so wellcoming, great atmosphere , lots of laughter, not one single unpleasantness

Fourth Day ,

We have started our Day with a fantastic Breakfast at the LEYLEY RESTAURANT.(ten minutes away from ORTACA towards DALYAN ). Such a Lovely Place.
This Restaurant is famous with looking after injured STORKS whom have fallen of their nests or for other reasons.There are also ostriches within a spacious fencing. Two very large water ponds with a bridge over it where Ducks and turtles swimming in.
Tables are scattered around the trees and distanced from other tables to provide privacy.Service is fast and very friendly.
We had a Huge Breakfast, there was almost no space left on the Table with all kinds of stuff. One of the Storks came to our Table to feed his face. Likes eggs but not bread. It was a great exprience to feed a STORK.

Then we took a shuttle Bus to DALYAN, we paid a short visit to the director of Kaunos Tours whom offered us Turkish Coffee, and chat about the upcoming season. He told us about the new Sailing Yacht he bought to offer a 12 Island Boat Trip to Sarigerme visitors, according to the pictures he showed us , the yacht looks very impressive.

We did wonder around the backstreets of Dalyan which is still pretty and preserved.
Then we headed to Canal to sat down on one of the Cafe's and watched the Boats passing by before we decided to take a rowing Boat to get to the other side of the River where the CANDIR Village is. We paid 3,5 TL pp for return to the lady who rows the little boat. Tiny little Cafe like place at the other end ,run by probably in her late 70's young lady.
We sat in her garden under Orange trees, with our freshly squeezed Orange Juices. Breath taking tranquility and relaxing place. We must have been there at least 4 hours or so without realizing.
Then we headed back to Dalyan Town centre with the return rowing boat, to catch the Dolmush.

We were a little bit tired so we decided not to think about where we are going to eat this evening and just go to GUNLUK RESTAURANT where we went on our first evening. This time we have tried Lamb Meats on scew with lots of mezzes as starters.

Fifth Day ,

We took this day very easy, as it was out departure day.
We started our day with a great breakfast at BOTANIC RESTAURANT. This restaurant is on to your left ones you come out of Sarigerme Road to the Main Road towards Ortaca, next to HAMAM (Turkish Bath).Excellent -Butler service.

After we have indulged our selves with Kings breakfast we took a Dolmush to Dalaman where we had a look around and ended up buying a lovely Ring from the most misserable Jewellery shop. He was lucky to have our business because he had the Ring we liked,otherwise would'nt give him a drop in a Rain storm.

Late afternoon was Time for the HAMAM. Turkish Bath just before the departure is one of the best things can help you fly like a baby ..
and for blokes Turkish barber is a must after the Hamam..

Visit this link for few pictures which we have taken during our short stay.

http://picasaweb.google.com/oznayir/SarigermeInMarch?feat=directlink
　

NOTES :

Airport is really A BIG CON . It is sooo dam expensive. I felt like a fool me self after falling in that trap even though I am shouting out loud on this site about the dalaman airport.
Mozzies are everywhere from late afternoon throughout night. Despite the cooler evenings.
Breakfast cost about ten lira per person.
Dolmush to Dalyan from Ortaca is 4 Lira per person
Sarigerme is absolute dead before summer season.

 

Nayir
www.sarigerme.net　
　

 

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