The çöp adam (Bin Man)

I know this terminology is non PC nowadays, I'm sure I should be saying Refuse Collector, but this was the best I could do for a Turkish translation, soz and all that. The çöp adam in a Turkish town looks very little different from what we see in the UK, but what happens to the rubbish in the bays we visit? As you'll have seen in previous blogs the bays in this area of Turkey are generally very remote and usually not connected by road. The restaurants in the bays, whilst very rustic, are very tightly controlled, licensed and regulated by the government. Apart from in the two local towns there are very few buildings, but there are a lot of boats and 10 or so restaurants in bays. Despite the amount of traffic (boats) the area is very clean, on shore and at sea.

The question is then, who deals with the rubbish? The answer is the boat çöp adam of Gocek Bay, probably the best refuse collector job in the world. The chaps on the boat in the picture have just collected from 22 fathom and whilst they were there had lunch with Ragip (22 fathoms proprietor). The boat çöp adam.

I've mentioned before that the restaurants here are generally very rustic, but 22 fathoms out-rustics the rest by a mile. I've only been here once before, almost 20 years ago, then the boat in the picture (now the kitchen) was the whole restaurant and there were no mooring facilities (pontoon). I was on flotilla and a tad surprised when armed police turned the next day to close the restaurant down (I think because a license issue). Fortunately the restaurant has survived and now has a properly rustic pontoon to park side too. The whole place is just a delight and Ragip and his family even more delightful. Here's 22 fathom and Ragip and dinner (the fish and the goat).

Just to finish off, as this is the first blog I've written since we left Kas, here's a bit about Kas. Kas is just down the road from Kalkan, and whilst it's Kalkan that's now much favoured by us Brits, it's Kas that has seduced us with it's charm. Kalkan is still nice but is becoming loud and, in my view, over commercialised. Kas on the other hand is charming, more tranquil and just feels more Turkish. here's a couple of pictures of the bustling harbour in the late afternoon light, chaps playing backgammon in the middle of the street and what has to be one of the prettiest streets you'll see any where.

We're off to Fetihye tomorrow where we'll be picking up some special chums for the last few days of our holiday. No doubt there'll be more tales to tell before we get back to Gocek.

Serefe