The Place We're At Now: Fethiye, Turkey

After the intensity of Istanbul, we headed to southern Turkey for some peace and quiet. Did we find it?

This is a regular feature about where we currently are in the world: how we ended up there, what it costs, and exactly what we think.

Brent and I are currently spending six weeks in Fethiye, Turkey, on the country’s southern coast. It’s about an hour and fifteen-minute flight from Istanbul (or a nine-hour drive).

The surrounding Mediterranean coastline is frequently referred to as the Turkish Riviera, or more poetically, the Turquoise Coast. Can you guess why?

The water off the coast of Fethiye is turquoise. That’s the answer! Photo by Hilmi Can Taşkıran on Unsplash

Everyone knows about the ancient civilization of Greece, but fewer people have heard of the neighboring civilization of Lycia that once existed in this area of Turkey.

The Lycian civilization rose sometime before 1200 BCE. Alas, starting in 546 BCE, the Lycians had the misfortune of being conquered by the Persians, then the Romans, and then Greece’s own Alexander the Great.

In short, they were passed around like a football in a game of keep-away.

Eventually, this once-great civilization faded entirely away — so much so that historians now know surprisingly little about them.

We do have references in ancient Egyptian and Hittite manuscripts that refer to the seafaring Lycians as raiders, pirates, and all-around badasses.

Then there are their distinctive and spectacular rock-cut tombs, which survived all that conquering.

Historians speculate that the rich, fancy-pants Lycians buried there wanted to be remembered long after they were gone.

Well, guess what? It worked!

A thousand years from now they’ll still remember me!

How Did We End Up Here?

We came to Turkey because Brent needed surgery on his foot. Plus, our 90-day tourist visa in the EU’s Schengen Zone was running out.

But Istanbul was intense, and Brent was tired of recuperating in a tiny apartment. So we headed south for something more open and tranquil.

We choose wisely. So far, the weather has been perfect: never cold enough for a jacket, even at night, but also never hot enough for air conditioning.

As for the natural beauty? Well, remember what I said about this being called the Turquoise Coast?

Fun fact: Turquoise is the French word for Turkish!

Where Are We Staying?

Our apartment has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a modern kitchen, a huge living room, a dining area, and two big decks.

We wanted a place that was bright and spacious, and we got it.

It’s very centrally located, a short walk to the touristy part of town — a fairly charming Old Town and a truly lovely seaside promenade — but it’s far enough away to be peaceful. As I write this, I’m listening to birds chirp and looking out at a tree bursting with kumquats.

Well, the apartment is peaceful, except for the mosque directly around the corner. Back in Istanbul, Brent had mixed-to-positive feelings about the Islamic Call to Prayer, which happens five times a day, including at five in the morning.

Here he says about the local muezzin: “This guy sounds like he’s strangling an elephant!”

And it’s loud, amplified at top volume even in the early morning — so loud that neighborhood dogs all howl along with the loudspeaker.

The neighborhood dogs are not fans, and frankly, neither are we.

But it’s a small price to pay for such a wonderful apartment in an otherwise sleepy neighborhood.

And on the plus side, there’s a public market right down our block — fruits and veggies every Friday — all locally sourced! — and a larger market on Tuesday with shoes, T-shirts, dresses, purses, pillows, belts, and everything else you can imagine.

Open-air markets like these are pretty much my happy place. And we’ve been eating fantastically well — for shockingly affordable prices, at least from our Western point of view.

What Does It Cost?