River cruise so we overslept again and rushed to get ready to meet our retired Ohio School teacher tour mates at 10:45 in the show Room to embark on the tour. Finding Sara and Phyllis in line already we got our little Green Stickers identifying us as ship sponsored Tourists, Officially Green #4 we followed Green #3 to the tour bus where we met our Turkish guide for the 1+ hour ride to the restaurant where we would have lunch before boarding the boats for the cruise.
Our guide MERT was a handsome 37 yr old divorced former army officer with a Ph.D. in Archeology. 5 on the personality scale and quite a character. He clued us in on the sights as we wound through the middle valley of 4 mountain ranges, amid sesame, olive, and pomegranate groves. With a short history of the region and some political commentary out of the way we arrived at the Denizkizi restaurant operated by the Dalyan River Cooperative, an open aired hall where, as the first bus to arrive, we quickly ran through the cold buffet, grabbed a passable mushroom soup, a cold beer and found out seats at long tables arranged by bus. We had ordered ahead on the bus and we all mistakenly chose the Local Fresh Grilled River Briz, served head on and not really that bad once you got past the bones.
Food 3+, Big Beer Good 4+.
After a WC break… there won’t be one for the next 4 hours, we board 2 rickety Tuk- Tuk boats for a leisurely cruise up the brackish Dalyan River that alternates between fresh and saltwater depending on the direction of the winds since it runs between the
Mediterranean and Lake Koyeegiz. This allows it to support both fresh and saltwater fish which in turn supports the local community.The seashore South of Dalyan is also famous as the internationally protected breading ground of the Caretta-Caretta, loggerhead turtle and the beach’s there are a protected area closed to visitors between 8PM and 8 AM from May to October when the eggs are laid and the young turtles hatch.
As we meandered “Up a Lazy River” on the way to the Ruins at Caunos, we stop for KODAK moments at the Rock Tombs, which were actually carved out of the mountain side for the wealthier Worshippers of Apollo, all facing East to great their God with the morning sunrise. The carvers had hung suspended on ropes from the precipice above and carved the tombs from the top down deep into he face of the mountain.
We finally dock for a loooonnnnng walk up a muddy path between the rocky face of the mountain supporting the ruins and pomegranate and olive fields, passing goats, and cows along the way. For those that couldn’t or wouldn’t make the long hike up, there was a tractor ride to the top for €1. One taker didn't seem worth if for the gas burned but I'm sure it had to be the volume all season working for the driver. The gravely goat dung, crushed olive covered mud path gave way to a brick walkway at a little Pomegranate juice stand and continued up an even steeper incline to the Ruins of Caunos.
Settled as early as the 9th Century BC on a high, fertile ground with fresh water from the lake in abundance, it was the perfect defensible location. The Periplus, the 5th century BC account of a sailing voyage, indicates it was a Carian foundation with no evidence of the Greeks established here. However when the Carian Cities 
were Hellenised later it became fashionable to trace their foundation to a deity, demi-God or hero and keeping with this trend would explain the un-Greek name which may be Hittite or Lelgian in origin… or so says MERT. Thus Caunos, according to Ovid, was a son of Miletos and consequently the grand son of the God Appolo. According to legend, Caunos fled to Caria to escape the incestuous advances of his twin sister Bybli. This and other legends of the opposite, may account of the expression “a Caunian love” which often used to describe an unhappy love. Since legend also has it that Miletus had been expelled from Crete by Minos, Caunians believed that their ancestors came from that island too. The Historian Herodotus debated this and held that the Caunians were of Anatolian origin. However, both their customs and language marked them as different from their nearest neighbors the Carians, while they adapted the Carian Script adding letters and symbols to meet requirements of their language. When the Persian Harpagus invaded Caria
and Lycia in 540BC, Caunos and Xanthos were among the few cities to offer any resistance which may explain the shrine in Xanthos dedicated to Caunos.The ruins are an amazing example of roman style architecture with several key elements still intact showing a thriving community high on this mountain top with elaborate flood gate controls to open and close gates in the
lake to trap fish for harvest. With roman baths, a Gymnasium and Bazilica for politics and religion the boys were trained both as warriors and citizens. Along with a Temple dedicated to 
Athena, there also exists a roman styled amphitheatre that seated 2500 used both for gladiatorial exhibitions and eventually political debate and drama/tragedy events. Chuckie, part mountain goat himself, climbed to the very top of the theatre for Pics and with the 
outstanding acoustics could hear DL and the teachers quite well as they called for him to pose for a pic of him at the summit. After a little more KODAK work, we headed back down 
the slippery slope to the Pomegranate stand for a quick cup of the tart juice and a careful stroll down the
equally slippery mud path to the docks and “Down the Lazy River” to the restaurant dock and through the Captive Audience Tchotchke Shop for a WC beak and quick sparkly purchase for a special God-Daughter.After a brief nap on the hour-long ride back, MERT gave us a rundown on the Turkish culture, family traditions, and life in Turkey in general answering many questions.
Back at the ship in time for embarkation to Izmir, we grab a quick shower, download the digital pics and convert a few to send out before heading down for a pre-dinner cocktail with some dinner table mates.
Our meal was nothing exceptional but well served and after a stroll around to check for any decent debarkation Cruise Sponsored Photos, it was back to finish posting NOWAT, checking and returning mail and finally catching about 4 hours sleep before Room Service rolled us out to get ready for our day at Ephesus..
Stay tuned for an incredible journey through an important center of the spread of Christianity.
Ciao 4 Now,
Chuck and the thoroughly exhausted but very happy with trip so far, Dragon Lady.
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