Foca was a place I could have stayed a while. Such a great house (AirBnB…however much I hate how they operate!)…in a wonderful location.
But we made an early start….with the aim to avoid Izmir…. Turkey’s third biggest city and growing fast!
We had planned to get the ferry from Foca to Karaburun, to the West…by-passing Izmir altogether..but the ferry evidently only runs during the summer. So we were aiming for the ferry at Bostanli on the north west “fringe” of the city….which takes you across to Uckuyular, on the city’s south western fringe. (…but fringe is possibly an exaggeration…for we still had to cycle 25kms in the city…another monster!)
A good run out of Foca…bizarrely with a heap of traffic coming in the other direction, but very little in ours!
A bit of cross country…
…which ran out as we approached the city….
And then it was 10kms of battling city traffic…relieved by a bike path as we approached the ferry terminal.
Interesting…..ref my prior comment about the increased use of headscarves in Turkey….I saw but one…on the whole ride into Izmir! And…yes (I discovered!)..it is considered the most “western” city in Turkey! Much more so than Istanbul! No Erdogan posters here!!
A good coffee break…before we bought our ticket.
But we got everything wrong! Bought a ticket reserved for Izmir Travel Pass holders…and then queued up for the wrong ferry!!
Thankfully we realised just in time…and then scurried over to the right ferry place….biking through the exit (rather than the entrance!)..missing the ticket check altogether…and then happily cycled on to the ferry having really not paid for it at all!!
I do not think I have ever seen so many seagulls having so much fun following a ferry! It was intriguing!
And then it was still another 15kms before we got out of the city! (…without the ferry it would have been at least another 25km of city biking!).
Over a modest pass…then it was down hill to Sigacik!! But first….another awful development! At least 1,000 apartments. Mosques and all.
But what a sweet place Sigacik is…
But don’t they know it!
Not a ‘resort’..but 100% a tourist “village”! With prices 50-100% higher for accommodation!
We did not believe it initially
Especially given the the place is all but empty! You know…”supply and demand”…one might have thought folk would have been keen for the business!
But no…they were not……sticking to their “minimum price”…which was hugely higher then everywhere else we have been. Ho hum…..!
We picked the right place first off….rejected their “absurd” price…and then had to eat humble pie…. as we returned to accept their relatively very fair offer..after testing another four places…all empty!!
And the village IS lovely! Colourful and quaint.
But for the fact that there is nowhere to swim here! Nowhere!!
And today….was our very first WARM (not hot!) day! I even went out for beers without a second layer….for the very first time on this trip!!
Is that not amazing!!?? 24 May! southern Turkey!!!
But after the heat…the beers tasted good…
…and we had a great dinner!
