Dalyan – 25th November

Captain Caveman went Dogging on the morning of Monday 25th November but I had arranged to meet him at the Fenerbahçe villa at 1pm for something a bit different on a Monday afternoon. While I was having my second cup of tea of the day and my cornflakes for a late breakfast, I read ‘Lily’s Not so Secret Diary of Dalyan Doings’. It’s a Facebook blog written by a friend and ex Dalyan Dweller and I found it very interesting to read, especially as she had promised to share all about her recent departure from Dalyan to go back to the UK to live. It wasn’t nearly as ‘name and shame’ as I thought it might get but she did mention about being palled out by her so-called friends and that it had upset her. It left me thinking I was not the only one this had happened to recently but at least it hadn’t upset me as much as it had her. It was a good read of why, after 5 years of living in Dalyan, that her and her husband had decided to move back to England. Here’s the link if you want to have a read of her Facebook post;
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AmTNPUaaR/

I worked in the morning and then got a bit lost on my way to meet Captain Caveman. Our friend Debbie (walking group, not Fat Club Debbie or my parents’ neighbour Debbie) had kindly offered to drive the 3 of us to the Sultaniye mud baths after I had mentioned how much Captain Caveman and I liked going there and she had not yet been.
We drove to the Denizkizi ferry and paid to cross which was 100 lira (£2.30) and quite a bargain for 3 people and a car, I would say. It’s then a short drive to the Sultaniye mudbaths once you get past Pirates & Skulls and Mavi Yasemin café at the other side of the river. When we got parked it was good to see we had certainly chosen a quiet time to visit and I paid the 30 lira (69p) each entrance fee, which incidentally has no time limit on it. This allows you access to the mud pool, a sulphur hot bath and 2 separate hot pools which are usually inside a dome structure but they were being repaired and currently in use as an open air hot pool. The lake was also there to swim in, there was a hose pipe type of shower, changing rooms, toilets, a café and a bar. If you’ve not been before it is advisable to remove silver jewellery as the sulphur will tarnish it and I’d recommend taking old swimmers as they will get smelly. It was so lovely to get in the red hot sulphur pool which only had Turkish customers there today. We stayed in a while then went in to the open air hot pool, Captain Caveman had a lake swim along the way but that was too cold and choppy for me to indulge in without my glasses on! At the café Captain Caveman fancied a snack and a beer so I ordered in Turkish a mixed toastie, a beer and a tea. The woman told me to take a beer from the fridge, that the toastie would be brought to our table and that I had to wait for the tea to brew. I ended up asking for the tea again and she said she was still waiting for the machine but we saw others drinking and I never got mine. I wasn’t about to ask for a 20 lira (46p) refund as I paid on card but I never got my hot tea. Debbie, Captain Caveman and I loved the Sultaniye mud baths experience and it is easily the cheapest spa/pamper afternoon I’ve had. It’s a shame it is just a bit too far to walk and a taxi would cost more than the visit. Here’s a breakdown of what we spent there, in lira;

Sultaniye mud baths
3 x entrance fee 90.00 lira (£2.07)

Café
1 Turkish tea 20.00 (not received)
1 mixed toastie 100.00
1 Efes Malt 120.00
Total spent 240.00 lira (£5.52)

Car ferry 100.00 lira (£2.30)

Total spent 430.00 lira (£9.89)

We got the ferry back and decided it would be nice to have a walk along the river, rather than going to Debbie’s and walking back home from there. As the sun was going in, it had turned quite cold and we were all togged up in our winter coats. It was just before 5pm when we got home so, after hot showers and getting all our sulphur smelling clothes in the wash, it was time to make the Yorkshire puddings I had promised. We had a roast chicken with cabbage, carrots, onion, garlic and potatoes with the Yorkshire puddings and of course I just had to have 4!!! It wasn’t looking good for a weight loss this week.