Grocery prices in Turkey, and our first hike here

Friday morning, we left the apartment at about 10:30am. We were actually aiming for earlier than that, but it just never happened. We wanted to hike up the dirt path I found that leads into the hills behind our apartment building, and of course the morning is the coolest time to do it.

And it was definitely starting to warm up by the time we got going. They were calling for a high of 27C (81F).

First, we had to walk through some of the residential area to get to the path.

Someone had left a comment here the other day about the fact that dogs are not as common as cats in Muslim countries, and that is certainly true here. We have seen a few dogs, but very few... while cats are very common.

Cats outside this apartment building.

The cats don't bother with this rooster at all.

Heading up hill.

Tiny flowers.

It's amazing how a plant like this even survives after four and a half months with no rain!

Looking back at where we came from.

We made our way over the hill to a view of greenhouses in the other direction.

Most of the greenhouses apparently grow tomatoes. I read an article that described an abnormally cold period in January of 2016 when the temperature here went down to -2C (28F) and the growers installed wood stoves in the greenhouses to keep crops from freezing.

Ruth spotted another rock tomb.

I went in to have a closer look. We had read that these rock tombs (dating to around 300 BC) are all over these hills, and that does appear to be the case.

I couldn't get up high enough to see inside.

On the way back, a vine caught my leg and it had these sharp thorny things that left a scratch.

As we were walking along, we both wondered out loud what kind of wild animals might be around. A few steps further, we came across some quills of some kind. I did some research, and apparently the Indian Crested Porcupine lives here although it is an endangered species in this area.

Porcupine quills.

A few steps further, and we came across this...

This tortoise was getting some sun.

Nice view looking back at Fethiye.

Me, exploring another rock tomb.

More rock tombs.

We made our way back to the outskirts of town and then a detour to a produce store that we had walked by before but never stopped in. We had bought a few items of fruits and veggies already, so we knew that they were inexpensive... but we hadn't realized just how cheap.

They had a good supply and the produce was in really good condition so we stocked up on a few things...

Total cost for everything?

33.8 lira ($5.60 CAD, $4.25 USD)!!

So, we know that we won't go hungry in Turkey! 

Beef looks to be a little cheaper than in Canada, but not by much. We haven't bought any yet. And chicken is reasonable and so is fish depending on what you buy. And of course pork is hard to come by in a predominantly Muslim country. We splurged and bought some salmon that was actually pretty expensive at 60 lira ($10 CAD, $7.60 USD).

Alcohol is pricey, due to high taxes. Most Muslims do not drink alcohol in the first place, and 98% of the population in Turkey is Muslim. Although, we notice so far (at least in this area) that it's a much more moderate version of Muslim than when we were in Morocco. A 500ml bottle of local beer is 12 lira ($2.00 CAD, $1.50 USD) in the grocery store which is only slightly cheaper than in Canada. We found a cheap 750ml bottle of wine that we like that costs 27 lira ($4.50 CAD, $3.40 USD) but the vast majority of wine available is double that.

In the afternoon, I had a nap and then booked us a place to stay when we leave here. We will head about 100 kms (62 miles) northwest up the coast to a farm stay where we have our own fully equipped cottage and we will spend two weeks. We will have a car rental so it will be easy to do lots of day trips from that location.

Yet another beautiful sunset.

Ruth did a great job baking the salmon

It was melt in your mouth delicious!

Gotta get going.,. today we are headed out on a boat trip and we are being picked up soon!

Total distance walked in Turkey 30 kms (18.6 miles).

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