Fethiye

Volunteering

July in Southern Turkey was hot to say the least. I always thought that I enjoyed excruciating heat but that was because I was used to having a pool, ocean, or AC to cool me off. Unbearable heat without relief is exactly what we experienced in Fethiye. We would sit down in the shade and even with no activity sweat beads would roll down my face. Despite this unforgiving heat, we had an amazing time in Fethiye. At the time I’m writing this I have now done fourteen different Workaways and volunteering for Ali near Fethiye is still my favorite one. While the work was quite repetitive, the atmosphere, company and vibe made it an unforgettable experience.

Since it was summer, all of the baby olive, fig and chestnut trees needed watering. Ali had a massive amount of land and it took two weeks of watering (five hours a day) to get through one entire cycle. Ali had large hoses that took two people to operate. One person would lug the extra coil around, dragging it over trees, unkinking it and often running to get a screwdriver to reattach the hose if it fell off the pipe. The other person would water the plants, often watering themselves to relieve the heat. There were a few days in which we broke the monotony of watering and instead harvested thyme, sage and lavender. Clipping fuzzy, aromatic sage all day was such a pleasant experience.

Ali’s farm was picturesque. The sun would set beautifully over a valley full of hay bales, which inspired a new frisbee game. To play this game, one person throws the frisbee to their teammate from on top of a hay bale. The other person must also be atop a bale, and the challenge is to throw accurately so the teammate doesn’t have to jump off to make the catch. However, if you do miss, the other player has to jump off, run to the frisbee and then immediately run to the closest hay bale. This leads to frantic running and lots of giggles. If you and the other player somehow end up on the same hay bale then you’ve won the game! 

Our host had turkeys and chickens roaming about his yard. How funny that I was around turkeys while in Turkey! He also had fig trees that became ripe while we were there. Prior to that month I had only experienced dried figs. A fresh fig is a heavenly experience and is now my favorite fruit!

 

We had lots of Turkish coffee and tea. The tea in Turkey is cooked in a two-chamber pot. Water is heated in the bottom chamber and the tea steeps in the top chamber. Pour a quarter glass of tea from the top chamber, then dilute it with hot water from the bottom chamber. In our free time we played a lot of card games and chess. It felt like summer camp because we had such a wonderful group dynamic.

What made this such an enjoyable experience was the communal atmosphere our host created. I’ve done plenty of Workaway projects where I volunteered for a family and despite having allowed me to stay there, they still wanted their alone time. It often left me feeling like I needed to hide and get out of the way. In contrast, Ali was a professional Workaway host. His huge farm only had one staff member besides himself, so if he didn’t have volunteers the plants wouldn’t get watered. That meant he usually had a handful of volunteers and had completely reorganized his life to meet their needs. He made us feel completely welcome in his kitchen. He asked us as a group to coordinate who would cook meals. We would have bonding, family style dinners where everyone helped set the table. We could write Ali a grocery list and he would get whatever we needed.

The Attractions

On our days off Ali would take us wherever we wanted to go. Near our host site was Saklikent, which is a gorge with a river walk. Walking through the slick stone with only a slit of sky above us was calming. The end of the walk is very anticlimactic but the experience is more about the journey rather than the destination. Another time at Saklikent we rode inflatable tubes down the river. A Turkish tubing guide came with us, keeping us together and helping if we got stuck on something. After the tubing we ended the day in a mud bath. We even ate at a restaurant with hammocks by a river. We sometimes spent half the day at these restaurants relaxing and using WiFi, since internet access at the host site was limited.

We also spent much of our free time at the beach. Calis beach in Fethiye was perfect for a half beach day and then going to a cafe for WiFi and Efes beers. Once we went to Oludeniz beach, famous for its blue lagoon. The free beach is magnificent with crystal clear blue water. Upon my insistence we paid to enter the lagoon area which was absolute bollocks. It was so crowded we couldn’t find anywhere to sit and ended up returning to the free beach.

Paragliding

Above us it looked like pterodactyls were flying,which turned out to be the paragliding that Oludeniz is well known for. A few weeks later Derek and I went paragliding ourselves to celebrate his birthday. The price was way less than you would expect for half an hour in the sky in the most surreal setting.

The ride up the mountain to the take-off ramp was bumpy and full of twists and turns. I became car sick before we reached the launch site. We got out of the van and found ourselves on an exceptionally steep cement ramp that quickly disappeared as it dipped out of view. We were each strapped to a professional paraglider who, once we were ready to go, instructed us to run off the ramp. As we ran we took flight and soared into the sky.

I was surprised at how safe it felt. Everything felt secure sitting in that seat. At first I looked out at the blue water and mountains in amazement. Later my instructor tried to do some tricks and I immediately started to dry heave. I typically get motion sickness in cars so this was a normal reaction. Derek’s instructor had him doing twirls and flips, and Derek was having the time of his life. I felt so sick it took all of my energy to control my stomach. My instructor assumed I was afraid but the height really was not the issue. I’ve always said my dream super power would be to fly but it turns out that my body prefers to stay on the ground.

Also annoying was all of the damn pictures they kept taking. After the flight they offer to sell you the pictures for $25. During the flight they constantly hold out the selfie stick and tell you to make a peace sign or smile. I just wanted to enjoy the experience and live in the moment but it was hard to do that while constantly being instructed to pose. Plus, due to my sick face, the pictures were quite horrendous. We flew with Reaction Paragliding Company and despite my sickness and the excessive photos, they were very professional and Derek had a great time!

 

Trekking

We did the paragliding after we ended our month-long Workaway. After the gliding we hiked the Lycian Way for a few days. There is a starting path at Oludeniz that we decided to use. The descent was quite steep as we found the path, especially as we were each carrying five liters of water. We camped at the top of the mountain with a lovely view of the lagoon and the mountains. The next day we did not make it as far as we had hoped due to the extreme heat. Ideally somebody would spend a month hiking the Lycian Way in the Spring or Fall. It is a 540-kilometer trail going from Fethiye to Antuka. The trail follows the path of Lycian tombs and runs along the coast. Since we only had three days to hike, and since it was the hottest time of year, we set out to enjoy the views, camping, and short day hikes rather than hike the whole thing.

On the second evening we camped in the woods outside of ​Kozağaç​. When we woke up the next morning we were surrounded by goats and a shepherd. On the third day we made it to Butterfly Valley, went to a restaurant and had a delicious pancake, before finding a camping spot in the forest. After our adventure we took a Dolmus back to Fethiye.

 

Onward Travel

From Fethiye we boarded a Pamukkale bus to Izmir. Pamukkale buses are luxurious. An eight-hour bus ride cost only $15. The bus was equipped with screens in front of every seat that had card games, movies and recent news. We were given chips, cookies, ice cream, coffee and tea. Pamukkale is definitely a bus company I would recommend for travel within Turkey. Once in Izmir we met up with our next host to have a very different type of Work Away experience!