Tickle the Trout

Tickle the Trout

After passing Tlos we continued to drive winding around the mountaintop, searching for the restaurant Elisabeth remembered visiting with her parents last year. 

 

The RIGHT Yakapark
Don't be fooled by other Yakapark signs

Ah, but they do try to confuse the tourists.  The name of this place is Yakapark.  We had been following signs both for Yakapark and for The Original Yakapark.  Which one were we really looking for?  Elisabeth only remembered the name Yakapark and that there was more than one of them.  Nothing but the SAME Yakapark would do.
As always, click on any image
for larger view.

Can you picture a more relaxing lunch stop!
Eating platforms are placed throughout the grounds

Past more roadside veggie stands manned by children.  Past more roadside handmade table linen stands manned by elderly women.  Past several small restaurants or eating establishments.  All out on this very narrow mountain road, along with the odd chicken or rooster or goat and occasional dog.  

The smile says it all.  This is HER place!

Sometimes there would be a break between the trees alongside the roadway and the views of the valley were spectacular.  Sure seem to use that word a lot lately, but cannot think of a better descriptor -- just spectacular.  What a valley down there!  No wonder they built Tlos way up here on that outcrop of this mountain.  It commands views of the entire valley.  Even Alexander the Great wouldn't have arrived here unannounced.  Great place to oversee the work of the peons, peasants and slaves down in the valley.

But, forget Tlos and the valley.  Continue on the search for the 'right' Yakapark.

A Turkish family sharing lunch nearby

On the back side of the mountain we finally say a big sign for Selale Yakapark.  Elisabeth did not remember the entrance looking like that ---- but, hey, she admitted she slept several times in the car when on the trip with her parents last year, and might have missed the entrance.

In heaven!

We continued on around and up the mountain and soon found a sign for The Original Yakapark.  We turned down that road, but upon arrival Elisabeth loudly announced that this was not the right place.  Okay, turn around and go back to the Selale Yakapark.  A few hundred feet after we turned into the entrance roadway Elisabeth announced that THIS was the way to the right place.  Sure enough, it was.





And we are so very glad she insisted we search it out and not settle for The Original.  This Selale Yakapark was so much nicer.  A perfectly relaxing place to enjoy a leisurely lunch.

Trout stock tanks

Cooler mountain air; delightful after the heat at sea-level elevation of Fethiye and Gocek and the anchorages visited.  We would recommend this restaurant.  The restaurant stocks tanks with trout -- a lot of tanks filled with trout.  There are enough fish grown here to supply more than just this restaurant.  The Original place probably had the same kind of stock tanks and we just didn't see them.  Seems quite the thing to do up here.

More trout stock tanks going down hillside.

Very cold water circulated down waterfalls into small pools located all over the restaurant grounds, spilling ever lower into other pools, until it flowed through pipes over to the stock tanks to be pumped back up to the top of the hillside and start the downward process all over again.  Mountain streams added to the circulation.  And the fish thrive here.

Cold, cold beer!  Shows just how cold that water is!

The water is so cold that it is used to chill the beer and other beverages submerged in a pool behind the bar.  Colder than most drinks served straight from a fridge!

Trout bar.  Not really.  Just a bar with trout to amuse patrons

On the top of the bar is a long shallow pool where trout swim.  Patrons are encourage to "tickle the trout."  Elisabeth thought this was great fun.  There is a larger and deeper pool where people can swim with the trout but we had already had enough icy water at Saklikent Gorge, so we skipped that activity.  Even Elisabeth wasn't ready to get back into icy water.

Just as we arrived a large group of tourists in a Jeep Safari were loading up to leave.  Good! They were loud and boisterous and ruined the whole ambience of the location.  We wanted to enjoy the serenity.

Think that thigh is long enough?  She is going to be tall.
Notice more eating platforms in background.
We liked our spot the best.

We wandered the grounds and selected our 'table' for lunch.  It was higher up and near one of the waterfalls, with a tiny stream flowing beside the table.  Lounging cushions are placed around very low tables.  This looks comfortable but I found it most UN-comfortable.  It is almost like sitting on the floor, except on a 4-inch cushion.  My legs and hip are not made for this position and my legs kept going numb.  





Bill stretched out in a corner and said he was never leaving.  Cold beer was delivered and he was happy as could be.  Pretty scenery, trickling waterfall and stream, cool temperature, no insects -- plus beer and good food.  What more could he ask for!

Plus french fries and a large basket of what I know as mountain bread.
It is very thin and cooked in or on a traditional wood-burning oven.

Our food arrived and was soon devoured.  Bill and Elisabeth opted for the tavuk shish (chicken shish kebab) and cips (pronounced chips -- french fries).  I figured since we were at a trout farm that the only thing I should eat was trout.  And salad to share.  The fish was delicious, not strong fishy tasting as I feared it might be.  

The lady who made the bread

Her oven and bakery space

We hung around longer than we  should have.  But none of us was really in a hurry to go.  




Finally we could neither eat nor drink another bite or sip, so it was time to move on.  There was one more place we wanted to visit today since we had rented the car for only the one day.

We would love to return to this restaurant again before it closes for the winter season.