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ABOUT
ALTİNKUM
According to
myth, "After God created men, he shook off the scrap clay
from his hands; and the pieces of clay fell on the Aegean
Sea. The islands and shores of this region are so awe
inspiring because they have been created from the same clay
with men." With its thousands of islands of which some are
not even shown on the maps and with its curved shores,
Aegean Sea couldn't possibly be described in a better way!..
Didim is set on this fantastic geographical part
of the world. İt is 175 km south from Turkey's third
largest city İzmir; 70 km from Kuşadasi and 110 km from
Bodrum, which are the two important touristic resorts of the
country.
We will talk about the advantages of this position later on.
Now, let us first tell you the means to come here. Of course,
it would be very nice to come to Didim with a yatch from the
sea. But if you don't have a yatch or enough time, you can
always come by plane. Milas-Bodrum airport is only 73 km
from Didim and it takes approximately 80 minutes by coach;
İzmir-Adnan Menderes Airport is 175 km. The Turkish people
normally prefer to travel by motorway to Didim, because then
they have the privilige of seeing some marvelous sights and
ruins on the way.
  
Didim is one of the peninsulas surrounding the Güllük Gulf (the
other is the Bodrum Peninsula). İt has a coast of 53 km in
total full of bays. Almost all the bays have sandy beaches
and allow people to sunbathe and swim freely. Among these
bays, the most important one is of course Altinkum (meaning
the golden sand), which lies right in front of the hotels
region and which is one of the most beautiful and worldwide
famous beaches of the Aegean coast. With its very fine sand
and its clear blue waters, it highly deserves its reputation.
Though it is in quite a hot climate and on a peninsula,
either for its air of very low humidity or the breeze which
mildly blows from the land towards the sea all day long, or
for the sea which covers your horizon, Didim creates a
feeling of infinity and eternity, as well as a feeling of
limitless freedom in every visitor. Don't you believe? Then
come and live it for yourself!...
There are about 200 touristic accommodations with approximate 25.000 beds.There
is a wide range
of accommodations varying from boarding-houses
to hotels, and from camping areas to holiday villages, you
will be able to find a place to suit your expectations. Some
of these properties work with holiday makers and some are
independent and most have pages on the internet.
You may spend your days swimming in any part of the
coastline, cuisine on a boat in the magical Agean blue
waters, doing water sports or joining the daily trips to the
nearby archeological or natural sites. You may spend your
nights eating delicious foods of the international or
turkish cousine in one of the restaurants, and enjoying
yourselves in bars and discos where you'll find different
types of music and drinks. Of course you have other choices
like; shopping at Dolphin Square or after watching the
sunset in Mavişehir, eating "manti", "gözleme" or "İzmir
lokmasi"...
Have you ever seen a forest of stone? We are not talking
about rocks in mountany areas, but a man-made "stone forest".
Would you like to see it? Then come to Didim and visit the
Temple of Apollon. Those columns erected by people who lived
7-8 centuries before Christ and who did not yet know how to
mix sand, pebbles and cement to make plaster, have been
standing almost for 3000 years.
You will surely experience one of the most special moments
of your life. Because at that moment, you will not only be
in a foreign country, surrounded by foreign people but also
you will be standing in a place shared by different
civilizations for 3000 years. And from that moment on you
are one of those who shared it. You are in the third
greatest temple of the ancient world. That temple is the
architectural twin of the Artemision, which is one of the
Seven Wonders of the World.
Artemision is no more there to see, but Temple of Apollon
still exists with all its majesty. Besides, if your holiday
coincides with the festival in Didim, you can even watch a
concert here at night time. We have mentioned that Didim is
very adventageous because of its position. İn fact, many
settlements of the Aegean, thus the ancient world, is close
enough to visit by daily trips.
For example, the ancient "city of the philosophers", Miletus
is 20 km from Didim. One of the seven philosophers of the
ancient world, Thales; Anaksimandros who drew the first
world map to be known; philosopher and historian Hekaitos;
city planner and architect Hippodamos have all lived in
Miletus. The city which was originally by the sea, is now in
the middle of a plane, due to the earth carried by the
Meander River. And that plane is so huge that, the local
people, in situations requiring patience and serenity say
that "to endure all this, one must have a heart as wide as
the Balat Plane".
Another "work" of the Meander River is the Bafa Lake, 30 km
from Didim. Once beeing a Gulf of the Aegean Sea, again by
the earth that the river carried throughout the ages, it is
now a lake. You can swim there or watching the many islands
on it and the surrounding forests you can eat fresh fish. 15
km from Didim is the pretty holiday resort, Akbük. The green
of the forests mix with the blue of the sea to create a
picture from heaven. İts coast of approximately 11 km allows
all sorts of water sports to be enjoyed. Not over yet! There
is the ancient city of Priene, which was a bishopary in the
Bizantium period; old Greek village of Doğanbey, with its
interesting stone houses; a natural wonder, Karina; another
natural wonder Kazikli bay; Haydar's bay, which makes a
foreigner exclaim, "Where am İ, in Acapulco?"; and many more,
still untold of...
The last but not the least, two more sites to discover:
first, Pamukkale (meaning cotton castle) famous for its
calcium terraces which really looks like made from cotton.
You will admit that nowhere else but in a scenery of snow
you can see this much white all around. And the glamorous
final! Ephesus, home of the temple built for the goddess
Artemis which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient
world. With its roads, anfitheatre, library, houses, baths,
agoras and even its brothel, Ephesus welcomes you, as vivid
as its ancient times. We tried to describe a "picture of
Didim" for you.
Altinkum
means Golden Sand is fast
becoming one of the top tourist locations for British People
to purchase property in Turkey.
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