Mudbath! (The Ultimate Day Trip Of All Possible Day Trips!) by Alfred N. Muggins (from his recent holiday in Marmaris, Turkey!) Part 4 : (Journey Upriver To The Tombs From Turtle Beach)

May 2022

(Written 31/10/22)

    The tourists of the multinational human species were only accorded one hour to relax and share the beach with the, hidden from sight, Turtles of Turtle Beach. the calm and tranquility of the warm sunkissed afternoon time and the beauty of this large strip of sand at the mouth of the Dalyan River! Frankly it was a bit of a rush! Alfred would have liked to sit on the beach and write a novel about the place, or at least start one, (but there would hopefully be time for that in later times, and particularly back at the hotel poolside on a sunbed!)

     No sooner had a flurry of photos been taken in all directions, and those sea worshippers gone in for a paddle or a swim, and the rest sat upon their towels for a while, than it was time to stand up again, and make their way across the sands to the wooden boards and back onto the boats, lest they be left behind on their pilgrimage towards whatever lay ahead. It was indeed an option, taken by some, to stay at this beautiful beach while the small boats ploughed on up the river towards whatever awaited them ahead, and to be picked up on the return journey later on. Those who had presumably already visited the Tombs and the Mudbath on previous trips, some of whom may well have been granted eternal or longer life, apparently felt no need to repeat the exercise!

     Up river between the reeds which accompanied the river on both sides, they could see mountains, in the not so far distance, on both sides. Like a magnet Alfred’s gaze, and the boat itself were drawn towards the sides of mountains which dominated the valley more as they approached. Alfred was seduced by romance and curiosity as the river winded first closer towards the rocky outcrop, and then away again. Finally they came close to the rocky outcrop mountainside! Alfred knew it was the Tombs before their guides even mentioned it, speaking different languages in turn, one of which quite probably was Russian, which sent a shiver up Alfred’s spine, knowing of the violence the Russian leadership today was inflicting upon democratic Ukraine! But he could hardly blame the ordinary Russians for the gross faults of their leadership and in particular the leadership of one man who had brought this disastrous terror upon Ukraine and Russia. There can be no doubt now that there were Russians upon this very boat, but looking at their faces he was not completely sure which ones were Russians. Everyone looked perfectly normal to him. All were tourists together, despite which place they came from, and how they happened to be ruled or led. Despite his fear of Russian spies and Putin’s assassins, he could see no danger here, thankfully.

    There were quite a few Tombs, all carved into the rock, half way up the mountainside on the left side of the river as they approached towards the town of Dalyan, which was on the right bank after the Tombs. As the river wound left and right, sometimes the Tombs appeared straight ahead, where they could see them clearly at the nearest point over the reeds and trees on the shore. The rulers’ of Caria’s Tombs were the best, the most photogenic, carved beautifully into the rock. To the left were Tombs for the rich servants, perhaps generals and administrators, he guessed, not so perfect, but still impressive. The tour guides explained this, in between speaking German and Russian, and probably some other language or other. He wasn’t fully sure which was which (although he could tell which was German, (as he had seen plenty of war films over the years, although he wasn’t quite sure whether it might have been Dutch or Danish (or even Swedish or Norwegian?), being a lazy linguist, (like most of the British population!).

     Apparently Alexander the Great’s Macedonian and Greek army had robbed and partly destroyed the Tombs when they came here on their way to smash up the Persian Empire!