Piggish Delight

  Dalyan, Turkey
Saturday, April 14, 2007

  Our second day in Dalyan was entertaining if a little touristy.  Our tour leader put together a few activities for the group of us to try out.  We rented a boat to traverse the river beside the town and went upstream to an apparently famous mud bath and hot springs area.  Dustin Hoffman and Sting are said (and photographed) to have visited these very pools, and if it's good enough for Sting, who am I to complain.   

Arriving fairly early in the day (about 9:30am for us early risers) we had the place to ourselves.  After a tour around the area, we were educated in the art of mud bathing.  First one wallows in the pit of mud, covering oneself head to toe in said mud.  Next, one stands out in the chilly breeze, under the sun to bake.  After all of the mud cakes and dries on you, you are the allowed to traverse over to the cold showers, rinsing off said mud.  Then, screaming like a little girl and shivering uncontrollably, you are allowed to run over to the hot springs and warm up.  This left us miffed as to why the showers were so far away from the mud bath, yet the hot springs were so close...  we came to the conclusion that it was probably for the entertainment value of the Turkish staff.   We stripped down and dove in. 

We somehow expected the mud to be warm... it wasn't.  However, as a group, we lathered up in the mud and slopped on as much as we could.  The only single guy on the tour, a dodgy American construction worker of 40some, quite enjoyed being in a mud bath with many young ladies in bikini's, not missing the opportunity to offer his services to do someone else's back.  We convinced our tour guide to join us, after finding out he had never actually done the mud bath before.  He resisted at first, but relented and dove in with gusto, thoroughly rolling around and not missing an inch in thick black mud.  After drying and braving the showers (refreshing!) we sank into the hot springs with relief.  It was a little tingly, I must say.  Now, the hot springs are particularly noted for their gynaecological healing properties, and are meant to be done in the nude.  Our group decided to forgo this particular experience, instead clinging to what little dignity we had left (all to the disappointment of the only single guy).   

After this, we hopped back on the boat and headed for food.  We were brought to a nice river front restaurant buffet.  After filling our plates and sitting down (again the only group there) the landing boats full of gray haired German and Italian tourists arrived.  The horde took some time to end, but we eventually got back in for seconds.  Waddling back onto our boat, we set off for the beach.    The beach near Dalyan is famous for being a loggerhead turtle nesting ground, protected from developers.  It is absolutely gorgeous, with soft sand, turquoise water and stunning views.  Two hut areas with shop, change rooms, and bathrooms exist, as well as a long line of wooden beach chairs.  In saying this, it was a very very hot day and there was no shade anywhere.  We tried renting an umbrella, but apparently they don't do that till summer.  So, we opted for a quick dip in the ocean followed by much sun screen and a hat over the face. 

We had split from our group and taken an area where no one else was around for some area.  Sure enough, a loud Turkish man and his wife and kid decided to take the one seat next to us (as opposed to the huge areas he could have had alone) and talk very loudly on his cell phone.  After about 20 min. plus many scathing looks from us, we gave up and went for a walk.  Gabrielle beach combed for shells and rocks and I found a nice spot to avoid paying the 1 Lira fee for the toilet and enjoyed the view.   

After the beach, our group got back on the boat and cruised slowly down the river.  Our group got dropped off at the ruins we had seen the day before and we had some cruising by ourselves.  We got off at the next stop and made our own way back to town, Gabrielle taking the row boat ferry and our gear, while I tried swimming again.  We felt like right pigs after a day of wallowing in the mud, stuffing ourselves with food, and sunning ourselves for the afternoon. but it was nice to have a day of relaxing after much hiking.