Ramasan’s Bar, Adrasan Village

We’ve been visiting Adrasan (or Cavus) since 2004 and every year we go at least once to the market near the village which is held every Sunday. The best bit about going to the market is visiting Ramasan’s Bar afterwards! It seems a tradition for the ex-pat Brits and the regular visitors to do this on a Sunday.

I like sitting having a beer and watching village life go by and I always dream about buying this bar. It is not an old building and it is not what you might call picturesque. But it is has a certain faded charm, I like the fact that it is just a bar / cafe and I like Ramasan, the owner. Over the years we have got to know Ramasan and seen his daughter and son grow up.

Ramasan used to sell draught Efes and served it by the litre glass and I think that was particularly popular in the days when a package tour operator used to send people to Adrasan. Adrasan is no longer a destination for tour companies, that ended in 2003 (I think) and Ramasan no longer serves draught beer.

Photographs:  The first is a collage of the 7 years we have visited Ramasan’s (2004 to 2010). The second was taken in April of this year, the one day when it rained a bit.

Ramasan's, Collage 7 Years, Adrasan

Ramasan's, Adrasan April 2010

Chill House, Adrasan, April 2010

 The Chill House was one of the few places open when we visited the bay in April. I was very pleased to find it open as it is one of my favourite places on the bay. It is a great place to have lunch or just a beer whilst enjoying a great view over the bay and Musa Dag. The place is run by Musti (I hope that is the correct spelling) and he is one of the nicest most genuine people I have ever met. The decor, ambience and music of this beach bar / restaurant remind me of the hippy days of the 60’s and 70’s.

The Chill House also has some sun loungers and cushions on the beach and we made good use of these during our stay, enjoying the warm Spring sunshine. However, we didn’t quite go swimming but did do some paddling. We also had fun collecting shells and interesting pieces of driftwood.

Musti and Mustafa (the chef) are great hosts and I always feel slightly younger when at the Chill House!

Buying Jewellery - Chill House Adrasan April 2010

Above: The Musa females survey some jewellery outside the Chill House.

Lunch at the Chill House, Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: Lunch at the Chill House

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: The view from the Chill House

Musti and Musa Dag from the Chill House, Adrasan April 2010

Above: Looking down the beach from the Chill House towards their sun loungers. Also a view of Musti’s back.

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: One of our driftwood ‘creations’!

Arikanda River Garden, Adrasan, Turkey

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 So, the entire Musa family went off to their much frequented haunt of Adrasan in Turkey for a week over the Easter holidays. Adrasan is also known as Cavus, which I think is the newer name, it seems that increasingly people are going back to the name ‘Adrasan’. The actual  bay is referred to, in Turkish, as Çavuşköy or Cavus Bay.

This trip we stayed at the Arikanda River Garden just up the river a short distance from the beach. The place is run by the brothers Vahit, Felamoz and Akif plus other brothers and family members. We’ve known them ever since we started going to Adrasan, about 7 years ago. The Arikanda River Garden is a restaurant / bar with seating set on platforms in the river. Last year they built a small hotel on site of about 8 rooms. Being April and the possibility of rain, the seating platforms have yet to be placed in the river in case of flooding. But there are tables along the edge of the river to sit and have breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a beer. The evenings were quite cool so we ate inside beside a log fire.

If this sounds like an advert, I suppose it is! The rooms are large with air con / heating, the balconies look over the river. The rooms are simply furnished but I believe they are going to add things like dressing tables, mirrors etc. The food is very good and they have a stone oven in which they bake the traditional pide bread. The brothers and staff are very friendly and will do everything to make the stay enjoyable including breaking into impromptu Turkish dancing! Room prices are very cheap compared to this country, it is just a pity that flights to Antalya are so expensive.

Clicking on the hotel logo at the top of this post will take you to the Arikanda Hotel website.

Arikanda River Garden - Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Image above is of the rest of the Musa family having breakfast. As you can see, the table is full of plates as breakfast consists of: bread, omelette, a plate of grilled mushrooms, plate of grilled tomatoes, plate of fresh tomatoes, plate of cucumber, plate of black olives, plate of green olives, plate of white (feta) cheese, plate of yellow cheese, plate of sliced oranges, bowl of yogurt, bowl of honey. And, of course, coffee and fruit juice. It is just marvellous sitting by the river eating this massive breakfast in the sunshine with the ducks waiting for any spare pieces of bread.

Arikanda River Garden - Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

The photo above was also taken at breakfast. You can see the bridge that gives access to the hotel and restaurant.

Arikanda River Garden - Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

The photo above was taken from the restaurant seating area, looking up-river with the new hotel block on the right.

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: positioning the stencil for the new hotel sign. Mrs Musa can be seen lending a hand, holding down the ‘D’!

Arikanda River Garden - Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: the hotel with its newly painted sign.

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: from the room balcony, looking down on the river and bridge.

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: Felamoz leads the dancing

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

Above: sitting by the river drinking Efes in the late afternoon sunshine

I’m afraid I will post some more stuff about our stay in Adrasan and I will also add some links to sites that give more info on the area.

For more information on Adrasan including links to other hotels, walking routes etc. The following link takes you to a very good website: http://www.adrasan-cavuskoy.com

Adrasan, Musa Dag, Easter Hols

Just returned from a few days in Adrasan Turkey (aka Cavus). Had a great time enjoying warm Spring sunshine and the odd Efes beer or two.

I thought I would post a few pictures of the mountain, Musa Dag, as seen from the beach as this blog is named after the mountain.

View through the waves:

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

An artistically? placed piece of driftwood:

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

The same driftwood:

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

 

Tried a shell for a bit of foreground interest. The cloud over Musa Dag makes it look like a volcano:

Adrasan / Cavus April 2010

I will post some more photos and notes about Adrasan.

Clicking on the above photos will take you into Flickr where you will find more photos of Adrasan (as if you would really want to!)