Jesus, it was a good day at Jesus Beach
Tuesday we decided to take it easy. After all, we need a day off from exploring so, we did nothing but sit at the pool, swim and read. We managed to walk back up the forty steps to our place and shower but we were so lazy, we simply drove down into the town and ate again at Deniz Yildniz, same place and same food as the first night here.
But today, Wednesday we went to a small town, almost halfway back to Marmaris, Orhaniye, to a small cove called Jesus Beach. There are many legends about this place but they are all similar. Here is one version:
"Once upon a time in Marmaris, somewhere in the southern coast of Turkey, a fisherman and the daughter of a King fell in love.
However, like all of us know, the love between a fisherman and a princess simply would not get the blessings of her father. Because of this, they would meet secretly at nights. But the old King soon learnt about his daughter's nocturnal trysts. One night, he asked his soldiers to follow her. The soldiers returned and informed the King that every night the princess would leave the palace and go to a small bay out of town. She would signal to the fisherman at the other end of the bay by flashing a light and he would come to that light to find her.
The King then ordered his soldiers to set a trap. They followed the princess, caught her and flashed a light to entice the fisherman. The princess managed to escape from the soldiers and ran as fast as she could to warn her lover. She realised though that it would not be possible to reach the fisherman if she were to run along the beach, so she thought she would swim.
A miracle happened. Wherever she stepped into the sea, the water turned into sand; and the sand turned back into water whenever the soldiers followed her. But, as she was reaching her lover, a soldier's arrow meant for the fisherman struck her, killing her instantly. The people of Marmaris say that when the blood of the princess got mixed with the sea water, it changed the colour of the sand....."
Today there really is a small strip of sand, maybe ten feet wide and reddish in color, that goes from one side of the cove almost to the other. Although the sea does not part, you really can walk across and it looks like everyone is walking on water, hence the name, Jesus Beach.
So, of course, we went to do the walk and hoped there would be a beach bar and some sunbeds to while away the day and swim in the sea. Turns out, the spot could not have been more perfect - as perfect as a day at The Aquarium in Grenada or the Cenote restaurant in Tulum. There were sunbeds, 10 TL ($5) for two beds and an umbrella, beer and slushies with vodka, pide for lunch (Turkish pizza) and two very young and handsome Kurdish waiters who spoke English and loved to talk.
Since it was off season, the place, which probably could handle 250 people, was almost empty until........the Jeep Safaris arrived!
Turns out that one of the day trips everyone in Marmaris does is a jeep safari. They pick you up in the AM and you ride out on the peninsula, a caravan of four or five or ten or fifteen jeeps, tops down, wind in the hair. They stop at the waterfalls, they stop for water gun fights, lunch at a small village and of course, at Jesus beach, but only for 45 minutes. So all day long the place ebbs and flows from quiet to HERE COMES ANOTHER JEEP SAFARI! Each time we get to figure out what group it is - Spanish, Russian, Turkish, British? We saw it all. I even had to hop in and translate Spanish to English for our Kurdish waiters.
>> Only one of us is over 30 ....Guess who? <<<<
So these waiters were charming and they love Americans, America and Obama. I am sure that Amir was ready to come home with us, he even offered to clean my house. They live in the Kurdish part of Turkey, near the Iranian border, and each summer they come for the season to work. It reminded me of years ago at the seashore amusement piers when the Irish teens would come to work for pennies. They got a flight and housing and worked seven days a week for little pay...but they were in the USA. We saw Amir and Ismael's house, nothing more than a tiny wooden hut on stilts across the road and up the hill from the restaurant. Too hot to even sleep in in August and too cold to sleep in comfortably now. We heard what they earn, 30 TL a day ($15) for 15 hours. So we did our part, as the overly generous Americans, because all day long we saw the Brits come, order a drink for 9 TL and take back their change of 1 TL ( 50 cents) instead of leaving it as a tip. We, on the other hand, we're thrilled to pay our bill for eating and drinking all day, 90 TL ($45) and tip each of them generously.
On our drive home, we went past the now familiar boatyards, the last remaining place where the unique Turkish wooden gullets are built.
And of course, since it was the end of the day, we hit all the commuter traffic........the women walking home from the village, the sheep being herded home by the sheperd, the goats being herded down the hill by the motorscooter,
And the boy riding the donkey bringing home water from town.
And then we arrive at this little palace of a villa full of marble and terraces and swimming pools and chandeliers and it is hard to believe we are all living in the same small village of Sogut, where right now, this very second I get to sit high on our terrace and watch the sun set and hear the call to prayer as the light left in the sky layers the mountains and islands in shadow and silhouette, just for me.
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