That said, it’s hard to find a subject that stirs as much pride, interest, passion and debate as a discussion of cuisine. Getting to grips with the local grub is as much a part of the travel experience as immersing oneself in the local culture, engaging with local people and learning the local lingo; it is definitely one of the highlights of any trip.

Thanks to the efforts of our whl.travel and Urban Adventures local partners around the globe, we’ve managed to assemble a pretty extensive selection of typical local appetisers, soups and stews, main dishes, vegetarian dishes, desserts, drinks and snacks and street foods, many even with recipes, but all recommended by inside local experts.

So start by using our photo gallery below, limber up your jaw and start munching!

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Appetisers

Soups & Stews

Main Dishes

Vegetarian Dishes

Desserts

Drinks

Snacks & Street Food

Now, some of you may look at this picture and see nothing more than a bunch of lazy blokes who have probably been sitting all day in this public house and letting others do all the work. There is, however, much more than meets the eye.

I believe that every picture tells a story without words. Nevertheless, just like in feature films, words can provide enormous insight into an image. With this snapshot, I hope to satisfy those who are content with image itself, but for others whose curiosity is answered only by text and the hidden meanings it offers, what follows is just one of many possible stories this picture has to tell.

In Turkey, a Hat Shows One’s (Political) Colours

In this picture, almost all of the men are wearing something on their heads: there is one man with a small embroidered hat, one with a typical Turkish bonnet, one with religious headgear, three with American-style baseball caps and one with nothing at all. While it may seem trivial, the headgear tells an important story.

The bonnet worn by the half-hidden man is a republican symbol that identifies the wearer as a follower of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who established the modern Turkish Republic in 1923. When I visited this village for the first time in 1997, most of the men wore such a bonnet. Since then, however, with every passing day it has become more and more clear – from newspapers and popular TV channels to books and conversations with people in the street – that fewer and fewer Turks are still committed to the official republican ideology. Dress and headgear are two interesting ways through which people show their dissatisfaction with the ‘old élite’. It is therefore notable that some of the villagers in this picture have changed their caps.

Some sociologists believe that Islam is an adult religion, since many Muslims become more observant after they turn 40. However, of the four older men in the picture, we see that only one wears a religious cap. This may be because, as other sociologists claim, Muslims in a environment hostile to the their faith are more inclined to show their devoutness than believers in a safe environment. For example, in the big cities of Turkey (and in Western Europe) we see more Muslims wearing religious garb than in the villages. In Turkey, however, internal migration has resulted in an increased show of piety in villages too, but our picture probably shows that most men are locals, since they’re less inclined to display their faith. This theory is supported by knowledge that migration is new to this area of Turkey, prompted recently by the construction boom that followed its ‘discovery’.

The baseball cap is the most common type of headgear in this picture. This American symbol is evidence of Turkey’s increasing involvement in the international market. It also shows that the peasants of Marmaris and Datça are becoming modern farmers.

Why Aren’t They Working?

This picture reveals another classic quality of Turkish teahouses at midday: village elders – those exempt from work – are a majority. I’m confident that this holds true throughout the Mediterranean world, from Morocco to Arabia and Lebanon to Portugal. While the older generations has earned its right to rest, younger men are either working or enjoying a short siesta from the heat of day.

Why Are Women Absent from this Image?

It’s a real a pity that we don’t see any women in this picture. Unlike most of Turkey, women in Datça do visit teahouses and join discussions on village matters. There are even teahouses run by women, like the one pictured here. In general, in Datça, girls are much freer than their peers in other parts of Turkey, as they can walk around freely and meet with friends, although, as a rule, they are seldom seen alone in teahouses.

About the Making of This Picture

To me, what really makes this picture special is the low angle from which it was taken. Like Yasujirō Ozu, the Japanese cineast famous for his low-angle camera positions, I pushed my camera down as far as possible. The effect is that it looks like we are sitting at the table too. The cigarette smoke practically teases our nostrils.

Teamworkz Consulting accepting its accolades as Franchisee of the Year 2008-2009 at the whl.travel Asia Pacific regional conference. Left to right are: Rob Shortland, whl.travel Asia Pacific Regional Director; Anne Done, Lee Sheridan and Mouk of Teamworkz; Len Cordiner, CEO of WHL Group

“An amazing effort,” comment Rob Shortland, whl.travel Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific. “Amazing especially when you consider they also won two of the three category awards (service and web marketing). They really worked hard for this over the last 12-18 months and it shows in their results, as well as in the growth of their business. A great job and well done.”

Reward and Recognition

The whl.travel Reward and Recognition (R&R) program is designed to encourage, recognize and reward franchise partners who show improvement in their pursuit of excellence in areas deemed important to the growth and wellbeing of the network, all in the spirit of friendly competition. The 2008-2009 program focused on three categories: sustainability (improvements in the quality and quantity of product with Caring for the Destination ratings); service standards (the ability of each franchisee to hit and surpass the 95% success level for responding to client queries within 24 hours, and to keep published rates current); and Web marketing. There were quarterly awards in each category, category leaders for the year and top honours given to the Franchisee of the Year.

Teamworkz Consulting basically dominated the rankings. While Vientiane sat atop the leader board, the next three positions were filled by Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng and Phuket (Thailand), and seven of the top eight spots included Koh Samui and Chiang Mai (both in Thailand) – all operated by Teamworkz. Only the whl.travel local partner in Vanuatu – the 2007-2008 whl.travel Franchisee of the Year – broke the run with its fifth-place finish tying with Luang Prabang as winner of the service category of the year. All 10 live sites in Laos and Thailand under Teamworkz management swept the Web marketing category for the year, while one local operator in Marmaris-Datça, Turkey (10th overall), was category leader for the year in sustainability, 87% of its accommodations and tours meriting a Caring for the Destination ranking.

“As much as I would like to take all the credit,” said Lee Sheridan, managing director of Teamworkz, “I have to admit that my team of Mouk, Anne, Vong, Phansee and Thouni have done all the hard work. A big thanks to them!! They are the ones who consistently demonstrate the power of the local connection.”

The R&R program rules will change in 2009-2010 based on important feedback from the local partners. The goal however remains the same: to ‘encourage, recognize and reward’. After all, “Who cares if we win or not again?” said John Nicholls, owner and operator of Vanuatu Hotels. “This R&R competition has greater rewards for all of us in the whl.travel organisation than a single franchisee winning a prize. It is an essential motivator for all of us to improve.”

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As a primary force in the Greater Mekong region, where whl.travel network coverage may soon know no equal, Teamworkz Consulting is the local connection in Laos (the Champasak, Luang Prabang [read more here], Vang Vieng and Vientiane destination sites are live, while Luang Mantha and Xieng Khouane are under construction) and Thailand (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Phuket and Sukhothai).

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A typical Turkish-village bread oven is the unlikely but excellent focus of a responsible-tourism project on the Datça Peninsula. Traditional bread is baked in these special stone ovens. Both oven-building and bread-baking are vanishing master crafts.

Going Local

There are nine traditional villages found on the peninsula, all inhabited by people whose livelihoods depend on local resources like almonds, olives, honey, fruit and vegetables, as well as, more recently, tourism. There are no large holiday resorts, however; here travellers turn to small, family-owned guesthouses and pensions, which, in an effort to preserve their natural environment, are pleasantly integrated into the surroundings. Many of these accommodations, like the Eski Datça Everli, even have their own gardens that provide for the meals served in the hotel.

A broad view of the Knidia Country Estate

Alternative travellers in the area seeking something truly different should consider staying at the Knidia Country Estate, a prime example of a responsible accommodation at the vanguard of efforts to respect the area’s environment and traditions. This 400-acre eco-farm welcomes guests to simple but comfortable huts and encourages them to learn directly about ecological agriculture. Far from the ‘civilized world’ in lodging without electricity, travellers discover starry nights, swim in pristine waters, relax to the sound of a watermill and partake of delicious organic food and wine.

Using What’s There

Grassroots projects are now also bringing travellers together with the local community, connections that are helping to preserve local traditions. One such initiative, the Village Bread-Baking Project, launched to help breathe life back into the local bread-baking customs slowly losing ground to so-called ‘city-bread’. Travellers are taken to a small village and engage with the local women in the social activity of baking bread, including gathering firewood, heating stones and preparing the dough. Although these women only speak Turkish, travellers communicate using ‘tarzanca’ – talking with a few words and lot of hand and feet gestures, much the way Tarzan and Jane did!

Experience is an important part of the bread-baking process. The colour of the bread changes gradually and only a practiced bread baker knows which loaves are ready or which ones need to be placed closer to the fire (out of sight on the left side of the pictured oven). The bread is flat with a hole in the middle to shorten the baking time and assure that it is well cooked on the inside. Each bread requires about 15 minutes of baking.

Unlike elsewhere in most of Turkey, agricultural methods in Datça are highly organic, making no use of pesticides or chemical fertilizer. With this in mind, the OWAHO Project came together as a means of attracting travellers to the area 12 months a year. Through this endeavour, travellers participate in the production of organic wine, almonds, honey and olive oil, working for either half or full days side by side with locals. On top of sharing ideas about green farming methods, travellers and locals live an incomparable experience of the cross-pollination of thoughts and culture.

Two Insider Tips

Local Ruins
Just 15 miles from Datça are the remains of a 200-year-old neo-classical church unknown even to locals of the peninsula. Visitors can stroll about freely and take pictures, but remember it’s a graveyard: no alcoholic beverages or picnicking on the graves. One special feature of the region is that people put long texts – often poems – on the gravestones.

The little-known Greek Orthodox church dating from about 1880. In the middle of the main doorway is a Muslim gravestone with a typical long text of the region. On some columns crucifixes have been scratched away. One may also wonder where the original graveyard was or how it completely disappeared.

Coming from Datça, take the road to Knidos. After passing Yakaköy, continue toward Knidos for 1km, until you see a sign for Çeşmeköy. This takes you to the village if Çesme, where you can stop for a tea in one of the teahouses and chat with the friendly locals who enjoy joking with visitors. Return to the main road to Knidos, where, after 50 metres, there is a small road going left. The church is on the left 100 metres ahead.

The Village of the Hundred Weeping Wells
Seekers of the archaic and untouched should head to the village of Taslica. Although the village is very dry, its inhabitants found it nearby in abundance and built hundreds of wells – at least one for each family. This is the ‘secret’ that accounts for the village’s survival. During sunrise or sunset, travellers can see the local women dressed in traditional clothing gather the water in this peaceful, yet rather social place. No different from a biblical scene, the women drop buckets on long lines into the wells and then pull them up again to fill plastic barrels strapped to their donkeys or mules.

Only two of the 100 Weeping Wells of Taslica

To get to Taslica from Marmaris turn to the left at Hisaronu from which you then follow the road to Bozburun, Selimiye and further to the south to Sogut and Taslica. From Taslica, head toward Sergeliman. After 500 metres, you’ll see the field filled with wells.

Our approach to sustainability in tourism is a holistic one. We don’t believe that you can develop one thing and neglect others. For example, you can’t create a beach paradise with a two-month-long tourism season and forget the lives of the original year-round inhabitants. We think such projects destroy historic, human and natural resources. As ‘holistics’ we do not concentrate only on accommodation, restaurants or transportation services; we place first emphasis on socio-economic features, looking at the local economic activities of the past, present and future.

We have noticed that on the Datça Peninsula, most people have lost important sources of income over the last 40 years without recourse to alternatives. This has resulted in (more) depression and alcoholism, especially among men, who, to afford pills and booze, have started selling land to foreigners and real-estate brokers. The effect will be the departure of the original people and their replacement by foreigners.

In our eyes this is negative, uneven development, the kind in which we do not want to participate. We have seen this type of ‘development’ at mass-tourist places all around the world. 
By contrast, a more holistic approach includes the local people in their historical habitat and incorporates all features that are beautiful and interesting for travellers.

Big tourism-developers could have practiced the holistic approach for many decades, but simply ignored it. Their notion of ‘looking forward’ was limited to the direction of the sea. Today, their tour buses arrive at beach resorts more often than not through a sprawl of slum dwellings, where everything natural has been destroyed. The resorts, areas once home to the colourful fishing boats of the original community, are now where white tourists on yellow beaches try to get red as quickly as possible.

Let’s get rid of these destructive mass-tourism practices. It’s high time to make tourism projects in the holistic and sustainable way. We owe it to the original people, the rightful owners of the land, and to our children!

A Responsible Approach

The following is one example of our approach – and the chain reaction of projects it has prompted.

Travellers attracted by sustainable tourism also tend to like ecological food and drinks, so we decided to motivate the farmers of the Datça Peninsula with their organic agriculture and even to encourage cooperative efforts to obtain the eco-certifications that are currently too expensive for single peasants (self-sufficient farmers). We have also observed local customs on the brink of vanishing, like the baking of typical round homemade bread. We therefore motivate local women to bake for restaurants and accommodations in the region. We do this through our ‘Village Bread Baking Project’.

Participating travellers spend one day with a peasant family, gathering firewood from the forest, preparing dough, talking with their hands and feet, exchanging pictures, maybe buying almonds and olive oil from the village women (earning them valuable income). The visitors pay for this project: one part of the money goes to the peasant family, another into the cash holdings of the village elder to be used for restoration of the house ovens.

This easy project demonstrates many things: preservation of local custom (bread baking) by turning a peasant product into a marketable one; income-generating opportunities for women; tourism-motivated production and consumption of a healthy product from the region. The beneficial results are also many: the improved wellbeing of the villagers; the survival of the villages themselves; satisfying opportunities for eco-travellers and peasants alike; and, of course, the preservation and revival of typical traditional practices.

As another example, we think that in our destination wine culture and cattle herding should be revived. Local wine production creates jobs, and better and cheaper wine than locals buy now. Plus, travellers love this local nectar with their dinner. Herding and cattle were very important sources of income until 2000, when something happened that still needs to be studied. We hope herdsmen and their families will return to the beautiful hills of Cnidos, because cattle breeding has advantages for the locals, for nature and for the traveller. Cattle generate dairy, meat and jobs, and help with the natural balance between land and those who live off it, including increasing biodiversity by keeping the maquis at bay. We also think almost everybody loves the romantic picture of herdsmen with their flocks in the hills. Travellers might even wish to sleep in the herdsmen cottages, experiencing a traditional life of homemade furniture, blankets, tablecloths, rugs, oil lamps, sickles and so on. This would motivate the farmers to continue to make these items, which tourists can purchase.

No matter what we look at, we see opportunities. In transport, why not encourage travellers to walk or bike the land or surf along its coasts. Why not design B&Bs for them or overnight stops in a tent camp, a pension or a village home? We’d like to see travellers hiking with donkeys along the old patikas (footpaths) from village to village, hoping for a sighting of the last jackal, wildcat or mountain goat. Believe it or not, we also like to drive cars or motorcycles through the exciting winding roads of ‘our’ peninsula. And sometimes we want to jet-ski over the high waves of the Turkish Côte d’Azur. That’s OK! But why not pay for the pollution with a ‘tree tax’ that helps reforest areas where once forest fires raged?

Just as we have discovered here on the Datça Peninsula, we believe that every destination has sustainable options through which the local people can combine tourism activities with their traditional economy. By thinking in a ‘holistic’ way, you also will find chains of sustainable projects.

To put it simply: Every house can be an accommodation and, by extending the vegetable garden, every family can feed its guests. Services built and run by the local community will increase regional income and keep people from leaving their homes.