Not so much a Turkish delight

I'm back from my recent holiday to Turkey with mixed feelings. Whilst out there, the weather was lovely (though not as hot as when I was in Jordan and Egypt in May), but the attitude of local people - read, local men - made the holiday not be the Turkish delight it should have been.

I hate being negative, but I've travelled to many different countries across the globe and never once come close to the level of hassle, rudeness and general feelings of unease experienced in Turkey. I'll probably only ever return there to go to Istanbul, but I suggest if you're female and travelling with female friends, you avoid Turkish coastal resorts... unless you want to be plagued, that is.

Putting the negatives aside, I'll tell you about the delights! We went on a cruise down the Dalyan Delta and I amazingly got to see one of the endangered loggerhead turtles. They will be nesting on İztuzu Beach in a few weeks (pictured top left), and they are HUGE! Naturally, the boat chorused "aww" when she popped her head up. I know she was a she because the sex of a turtle is dependent upon temperature - it was female weather!

The cruise also took us to the Sultaniye mud and sulphur baths. The mud was disgustingly squelchy, the sulphur pool smelly, but both have benefits - they supposingly cure ailments and make you look ten years younger! Nope, I can't say I look fourteen!

The cruise also took us past the tombs of Lycia. Carved into the cliff-side is the resting place of the Kings of Kaunos:

We were actually based in the resort of Ölüdeniz on the Aegean Coast though, staying here.

Ölüdeniz is renowned world-wide for being where you can paraglide off the 1,975 m high Babadag Mountain. Of course, I did it! ;p

OK, I didn't but, as you can see from the above photo, the paragliders really do land anywhere... that's not exactly restful when you're on the beach and you have people yelling at you to move so they can land! Meep!

All-in-all, it's a nice enough place scenery-wise, but I wouldn't class it as a must-visit destination - unless you're a paragliding fanatic, that is.

Still, looking on the bright side, I have a nice tan! {^_^}