Ali BaBa [without his Thieves] or Our perfect wildcamping spot.

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Bay in Turkey our perfect place to wildcamp for a few days.

On our trip to Turkey in 2013 along with Clyde and Anna we went to a small bay south of Marmaris, a place where Clyde and Anna had visited some 17 years before. They had gone on a holiday and stayed in a hotel between the bay and the village. Driving down towards the bay we came across a huge resort complex which we discovered later was owned by the president and was entirely Muslim run. Parking up we decided to walk further to see where the bay was and what lay ahead. As we left our vehicles a security guard approached us, of course we expected to be told to move on or worse but instead he gave us directions to the bay saying that it would be a good place to stay. Amazed by the security guards friendliness we followed his directions, found the bay and parked up about 3 metres from the beach. There was a bit of rubbish around so our first job was to clean up the beach before we settled in.

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Clyde, Ewout and Ali Ba Ba around the camp fire.

From our parking spot we could see the resort on the right, restaurants to our left with a few holiday cabins, floating in the bay were two wooden tourist boats being prepared for a voyage and behind us were dilapidated buildings and a couple of caravans. During the day Clyde has disappeared for a few hours only to emerge with a Turkish gentleman by the name of Ali Baba. They had been busy fixing up a toilet block that even had a shower. They had cleaned it got it into working order and even fitted a door to the toilet for privacy. Ali Baba was staying in one of the caravans and had been busy doing some renovation work to one of the dilapidated buildings. He spoke no English and of courses we did not speak any Turkish but he had seen us park up and thought we could do with a toilet and shower.

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Great spot right on the beach

Also during the day we discovered that we could get good Wi-Fi from the resort across from the bay. Our next bonus was electricity, Clyde and Ali had restored the electricity to the building that Ali was working on and we combined our power leads to give the motorhomes some power. At this stage we had water, toilets, shower, electricity and Wi-Fi as well as a great view next to the water. More amenities than some of the campsites we had stayed in.

We stayed there for four days, visiting the village, snorkelling in the bay, had a fish meal at one of the restaurants, bought ice-creams from the other restaurant and totally relaxed. Each night we had a fire going on the beach from wood we had collected during the day, Ali joined us and on the last night his wife arrived and sat by fire with us as well. We sat sharing coffee and some Turkish delights which we had bought earlier. They didn’t understand any of our conversations but were content to sit with us and enjoy the ambiance.

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Jenny and Anna enjoying a relaxing afternoon .

During our stay many of the locals passed by and they were all friendly and one man even said that if we needed anything his cousin was just up the road at a local shop. No-one seemed surprised or worried that we had just parked up on their beach and stayed for a few days.

Reluctant to leave we said our farewells to Ali and his wife and continued our travels. It was a great spot made even better by the kindness of our Turkish friend Ali Baba.

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The local town , just a short walk from the beach.

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