Dalyan Tour

A road shaded with aromatic frankincense trees leads to the tiny village of Dalyan on the inland waterway. The maze of channels is easily explored by boat as you immerse yourself in this tranquil dream world. The restaurants which line the waterways specialize in delicious meals of fresh fish. High on the cliff face, at a bend in the river, above fascinating ancient harbor city of Caunos, magnificent tombs were carved into the rock.  The Dalyan Delta, with along, golden sandy beach at its mouth, is nature conservation area and a refuge for sea Turtles ( Caretta Caretta ) and blue crabs. In the channels of Dalyan was filmed the famous film ‘’African Queen". The tour starts in the morning ≈ 8.30 hrs, we drive to the small town of Dalyan  set in the centre of a broad delta, one of the few surviving places of paradise, an area of natural beauty and historical interest. On the way we have break at Kaptan for breakfast. We will continue our way and next we visit the ruins of ancient city of Kaunos . It was founded around 9th century BC. Once it was a Mediterranean city port, but over the centuries the silt from the Dalyan River choked the harbor and today the town lies several kilometers from the sea. Kaunos is famous for its rock-cut tombs. These were graves for the kings and important people of the city. Since the paganist people of the area believed in resurrection, they put lots of food, money, jewellery and other valuable items in holes at the entrance of the tombs, but because of grave robbers nothing is now left today. You can also visit here: Roman Baths, the theater built 150 – 200AD, fortress and church ruins ( about 4000 BC ). After having lunch, we have a boat trip, which will take us to the Mud baths. They are said to remedy rheumatism as well as cleanse and beautify the skin. Popular belief states that a mud bath will take ten years off you. Once you have covered yourself in the mud  then you wait for it to dry in the sun. The sulfur pool in which you clean yourself after your mud bath is also at a temperature of 40 degrees. Next on our itinerary is the wonderful sandy Iztuzu Beach ( 7 km length ), which is one of the last nesting areas for the Loggerheaded Turtle ( Caretta Caretta ). They are considered endangered species of wild life and therefore, they were taken to the agenda of  UNESCO. Since the beginning of time, between May and October, the female turtles come to the beach to lay their eggs, keep checking on them from time to time and finally take their babies to the sea. On the way back to Marmaris, The tour finishes around 19:00 hrs, with dropping you off at your hotel.