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Article: Sailing Through History
About Peter Sommer
In 1994 Peter Sommer walked 2,000 miles across Turkey retracing the route of Alexander the Great. On his way he fell madly in love with the country, its ancient civilisations, and its people. An archaeologist and documentary producer Peter has made many acclaimed BBC TV series, including the award-winning Tales from the Green Valley. He now runs Peter Sommer Travels – www.petersommer.com You can read more of his travel articles at www.petersommer.com/travel-writing.
With over 5,000 miles of coastline, Turkey is a paradise for cruising. Its south and west coasts offer perhaps the most spectacular sailing in the Mediterranean, full of craggy coves and sleepy fishing villages, bustling harbours and deserted bays. Littered with antiquities - protected by law, large sections of it have remained undeveloped, still lapped by the clear waters on which the giants of ancient history sailed: Achilles, Cleopatra, Julius Caesar...
In places, mountains of limestone drop sheer into the sea, elsewhere pine forested peninsulas stretch out like sinuous fingers hiding a cornucopia of golden beaches, deep gulfs, and tiny islands. With such a stunning backdrop, I can’t think of a better way to see Turkey and explore its culture than to set sail on a gulet. Spared the need to constantly pack, unpack, and change hotels, instead one travels in luxurious style. Perhaps the key thing for me is that sailing was the number one way to travel in antiquity. Following in the wake of the ancient mariner, the past 2,000 years can literally dissolve in the waves.
A keen sailor, the celebrated actor and raconteur Peter Ustinov once wrote:
“The sea sharpens a sense of history. You are confronted with precisely the sight which met Caesar's eyes, and Hannibal's … off the magical coast of Turkey you rediscover what the world was like when it was empty…when pleasures were as simple as getting up in the morning…and every day is a journey of discovery."
Gulets are really the vessel of choice for exploring the Turkish coast. Handcrafted in local shipyards, stretching from Bodrum to Fethiye, they were originally built using wood from local forests, such as pine and cedar. Nowadays harder more durable woods, like mahogany, even teak are frequently used, giving the boats’ interiors a darker, richer feel. Stroll around any of the bustling harbours on the Mediterranean coast and you’ll see that these characterful boats come in a wide range of standards, from basic designs just 18m long, to super deluxe boats over 35m long with bathrooms glittering in marble. With anything between two and twelve cabins, they can cater for small families or large corporate groups.
They tend to have three, four, or more capable and helpful crew members, captain, cook, and one or two able seamen, who do all the hard work allowing passengers to relax in style. Most gulets have a spacious main saloon, a large rear deck where meals are served, and sun loungers on the roof at the front. The majority operate mainly under motor, but some are also designed for proper sailing. When the sails go up, and the engine turns silent, you have the same soundtrack as Odysseus on Homer’s “wine dark sea”, the slapping of water on the ship’s side, and the wind rushing through the canopy.
A defining characteristic of a gulet trip is the back to nature appreciation of the simple things: the clean fresh air, the canopy of stars at night, the time to lounge about and read. Swimming in the crystal waters of the celebrated turquoise coast is of course one of the frequent highlights, and there are usually windsurfers, kayaks, and snorkelling gear available for the slightly more energetic and adventurous.
One of the greatest delights is the food. The focus is all about simple but incredibly fresh local ingredients. Just watching the produce being taken aboard at the start of a cruise is enough to make anyone hungry. Up the gang plank go crates of glistening peppers and aubergines; bags of beans, all shapes, sizes, and colours; and a cavalcade of all things sweet and juicy – seasonal fruit from cherries and strawberries, to melons and figs. Just because it’s on a boat, doesn’t mean that the food is basic. Even out of the tiniest of galleys, the gulet’s cook can produce a varied menu of traditional Turkish delicacies, from sigara borek (white cheese and herbs in filo pastry), and imam bayildi (a renowned aubergine dish), to biber dolma (stuffed peppers). Moored for the night in a peaceful cove, it’s hard to beat freshly caught fish barbecued to order on the bow of the boat.
But with so many miles of coast where do you choose to sail? Two areas are particular favourites of mine. First is the ancient region of Lycia, a giant bulge into the Mediterranean on Turkey’s underbelly. Situated between Fethiye and Antalya, it’s an area oozing with myths and brimming with archaeology. Here, behind the soaring Taurus mountains, an extraordinary culture and a fiercely independent people developed. Their funerary architecture, unlike anything else in the world, still litters their once prosperous ports.
This was the fabled land of the Chimaera, a dreaded monster from Greek mythology, described by Homer:
“She was of divine race, not of men, in the fore part a lion, at the rear a serpent, and in the middle a goat, breathing forth in terrible manner the force of blazing fire.”
The legend probably owes its origins to an extraordinary site high up in the hills. Sacred since time immemorial, it was the main sanctuary of the port city of Olympus. Here flames leap out of the ground, a phenomenon arising from a subterranean pocket of natural gas which spontaneously ignites on contact with the outside air.
Not only is a gulet cruise the best way to explore the coast, sometimes it’s the only way. Even now, there are tiny villages accessible only by sea. One very special place is the sleepy hamlet of Kale, on the southern tip of Lycia. Above a few piers where small fishing boats jostle, rises a ramshackle series of houses made from ancient stones. Dominating the entire scene is a mighty Ottoman fortress built 550 years ago to overpower the Christian knights of Rhodes and secure the all important sea lanes between Constantinople and Jerusalem. The castle, however, was a latecomer. 1,800 years before, a small town called Simena was perched here. Its small theatre remains, and all through the village are tombs hewn into the rock, and sarcophagi standing ten feet tall. The view from the top of the fort ranks as one of the finest in the Mediterranean.
A second great area for sailing is the southern shore of Caria, between Bodrum and Fethiye. This was where gulet trips first became popular, thanks to the writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, now hailed as the pioneer of the Mavi Yolculuk or Blue Cruise. Exiled to Bodrum in the 1920’s, because of an article he had written, he took immense pleasure in exploring the surrounding bays in local fishing boats. His simple trips kickstarted a now large and growing tourism industry.
Sailing on this stretch of coast today, you can discover a wonderful blend of architectural and historic marvels: the exquisite temple tombs of Caunos, carved into a cliff face by masons dangling from ropes; the monumentality of Knidos, famed for Praxiteles’ statue of Aphrodite, the first female nude in history; and Halicarnassus itself, site of the fabled mausoleum, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
If you fancy sailing and exploring some of the world’s finest ancient wonders, late spring or autumn is the best time to go. A breathtaking display of wild flowers adorns the ancient sites from the start of April, although the sea is still chilly. From mid May the sea becomes eminently swimmable. After the heat of summer has abated, September through October sees the Mediterranean perfect for leisurely bathing.
In places, mountains of limestone drop sheer into the sea, elsewhere pine forested peninsulas stretch out like sinuous fingers hiding a cornucopia of golden beaches, deep gulfs, and tiny islands. With such a stunning backdrop, I can’t think of a better way to see Turkey and explore its culture than to set sail on a gulet. Spared the need to constantly pack, unpack, and change hotels, instead one travels in luxurious style. Perhaps the key thing for me is that sailing was the number one way to travel in antiquity. Following in the wake of the ancient mariner, the past 2,000 years can literally dissolve in the waves.
A keen sailor, the celebrated actor and raconteur Peter Ustinov once wrote:
“The sea sharpens a sense of history. You are confronted with precisely the sight which met Caesar's eyes, and Hannibal's … off the magical coast of Turkey you rediscover what the world was like when it was empty…when pleasures were as simple as getting up in the morning…and every day is a journey of discovery."
Gulets are really the vessel of choice for exploring the Turkish coast. Handcrafted in local shipyards, stretching from Bodrum to Fethiye, they were originally built using wood from local forests, such as pine and cedar. Nowadays harder more durable woods, like mahogany, even teak are frequently used, giving the boats’ interiors a darker, richer feel. Stroll around any of the bustling harbours on the Mediterranean coast and you’ll see that these characterful boats come in a wide range of standards, from basic designs just 18m long, to super deluxe boats over 35m long with bathrooms glittering in marble. With anything between two and twelve cabins, they can cater for small families or large corporate groups.
They tend to have three, four, or more capable and helpful crew members, captain, cook, and one or two able seamen, who do all the hard work allowing passengers to relax in style. Most gulets have a spacious main saloon, a large rear deck where meals are served, and sun loungers on the roof at the front. The majority operate mainly under motor, but some are also designed for proper sailing. When the sails go up, and the engine turns silent, you have the same soundtrack as Odysseus on Homer’s “wine dark sea”, the slapping of water on the ship’s side, and the wind rushing through the canopy.
A defining characteristic of a gulet trip is the back to nature appreciation of the simple things: the clean fresh air, the canopy of stars at night, the time to lounge about and read. Swimming in the crystal waters of the celebrated turquoise coast is of course one of the frequent highlights, and there are usually windsurfers, kayaks, and snorkelling gear available for the slightly more energetic and adventurous.
One of the greatest delights is the food. The focus is all about simple but incredibly fresh local ingredients. Just watching the produce being taken aboard at the start of a cruise is enough to make anyone hungry. Up the gang plank go crates of glistening peppers and aubergines; bags of beans, all shapes, sizes, and colours; and a cavalcade of all things sweet and juicy – seasonal fruit from cherries and strawberries, to melons and figs. Just because it’s on a boat, doesn’t mean that the food is basic. Even out of the tiniest of galleys, the gulet’s cook can produce a varied menu of traditional Turkish delicacies, from sigara borek (white cheese and herbs in filo pastry), and imam bayildi (a renowned aubergine dish), to biber dolma (stuffed peppers). Moored for the night in a peaceful cove, it’s hard to beat freshly caught fish barbecued to order on the bow of the boat.
But with so many miles of coast where do you choose to sail? Two areas are particular favourites of mine. First is the ancient region of Lycia, a giant bulge into the Mediterranean on Turkey’s underbelly. Situated between Fethiye and Antalya, it’s an area oozing with myths and brimming with archaeology. Here, behind the soaring Taurus mountains, an extraordinary culture and a fiercely independent people developed. Their funerary architecture, unlike anything else in the world, still litters their once prosperous ports.
This was the fabled land of the Chimaera, a dreaded monster from Greek mythology, described by Homer:
“She was of divine race, not of men, in the fore part a lion, at the rear a serpent, and in the middle a goat, breathing forth in terrible manner the force of blazing fire.”
The legend probably owes its origins to an extraordinary site high up in the hills. Sacred since time immemorial, it was the main sanctuary of the port city of Olympus. Here flames leap out of the ground, a phenomenon arising from a subterranean pocket of natural gas which spontaneously ignites on contact with the outside air.
Not only is a gulet cruise the best way to explore the coast, sometimes it’s the only way. Even now, there are tiny villages accessible only by sea. One very special place is the sleepy hamlet of Kale, on the southern tip of Lycia. Above a few piers where small fishing boats jostle, rises a ramshackle series of houses made from ancient stones. Dominating the entire scene is a mighty Ottoman fortress built 550 years ago to overpower the Christian knights of Rhodes and secure the all important sea lanes between Constantinople and Jerusalem. The castle, however, was a latecomer. 1,800 years before, a small town called Simena was perched here. Its small theatre remains, and all through the village are tombs hewn into the rock, and sarcophagi standing ten feet tall. The view from the top of the fort ranks as one of the finest in the Mediterranean.
A second great area for sailing is the southern shore of Caria, between Bodrum and Fethiye. This was where gulet trips first became popular, thanks to the writer Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı, now hailed as the pioneer of the Mavi Yolculuk or Blue Cruise. Exiled to Bodrum in the 1920’s, because of an article he had written, he took immense pleasure in exploring the surrounding bays in local fishing boats. His simple trips kickstarted a now large and growing tourism industry.
Sailing on this stretch of coast today, you can discover a wonderful blend of architectural and historic marvels: the exquisite temple tombs of Caunos, carved into a cliff face by masons dangling from ropes; the monumentality of Knidos, famed for Praxiteles’ statue of Aphrodite, the first female nude in history; and Halicarnassus itself, site of the fabled mausoleum, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world.
If you fancy sailing and exploring some of the world’s finest ancient wonders, late spring or autumn is the best time to go. A breathtaking display of wild flowers adorns the ancient sites from the start of April, although the sea is still chilly. From mid May the sea becomes eminently swimmable. After the heat of summer has abated, September through October sees the Mediterranean perfect for leisurely bathing.
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