Arikanda River Garden, Adrasan, Turkey

 

 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.

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.

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

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

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

Above: the hotel with its newly painted sign.

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

Above: Felamoz leads the dancing

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