A more detailed version of my article published in Hürriyet Seyahat
Mars i am ok. I’m going to Salda. I am very curious. Turkey’s Maldives Salda, one of the two places on earth with Mars formations. The other is in Canada. Is Lake Salda as in the photos? Are there really white beaches with turquoise waters? I’m very excited.
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How to Go to Salda Lake?
Salda Lake is in Yeşilova, a district of Burdur. 5 km from Yeşilova, 56 km from Burdur, 96 km from Denizli, 159 km from Antalya. We set off from Akyaka to go to Salda Lake.. You can reach Salda Lake in two and a half hours without any difficulty.. It’s like there’s no risk of getting lost with navigation anyway.. As you get closer, the signs for Lake Salda appear.
I see On the raft ski resort signs on the way we came. I wrote in my mind that it was done on ski. It means that you will come to skiing and you will see the winter state of this place.. I can see the whole lake where the road leads me to Salda. Dark blue in the middle, turquoise and white beaches. The word wow came out of my mouth. There’s no sign showing where we’re going. It says On a raft and an arrow points to the lake. You arrived at On the Salda and turned right. Do not leave the road until you see the Yeşilova Municipality Campground sign on the left of the straight road.. don’t come back. We are looking for the Yeşilova Municipality Campground’, which I saw on the internet.
Salda is a crater lake, it is the deepest lake in Turkey and the third deepest in the world, and on Mars. I have read that it is a protected area due to the rock formations. Since it is a protected area, they do not set up tents everywhere.. It was said that nails cannot be driven because of the protected area, but I saw a huge hotel by the lake.. On the way, we went here and there and came back and floundered a bit.. There is no sign until you reach the municipality’s camping area and it has a very sharp entrance.
Salda Lake Camping and Caravan Area
We finally found the campsite. I’m getting out of the car on a whim. We are quite a distance from the lake.. An attendant enlightens us as we think about what to do. We learn that we cannot set up our tent wherever we want, where we can see the lake.. There are rows of bungalows at the front, quite a distance away from the lake.
- Click if you want to read my camping adventure at Hacilli Waterfall.
- Click if you want to read my Sardala bay camping adventure.
It has a double and a single bed and a bathroom. You can spend 75 liras on the veranda with a table and a chair and sleep against the lake and wake up, but we want to camp.. My dreams of sleeping against the lake, watching the lake, seeing the lake when I open my eyes are shattered.
- Salda Lake camping area is suitable for caravan camping.
Bungalows
There is a wire mesh separating the bungalows and the tents. Behind the bungalows there is a whole tent city. They came from the surrounding provinces.. When the tent place is free, the tents like the house you know look like a neighborhood with all their equipment.. Is it overflowing on weekends and holidays. When I visualize all those tents coming, I am grateful to be there during the week and to be there in the off-season.
People like us are behind them.. There was one more camping area, but the clock has already advanced, and when the desire to go down to the lake as soon as possible combined with the desire to set up our tent before it gets dark, we are willing to accept our fate and try to choose the most strategic location by saying that at least there is a socket.. A few trees have triple sockets.
We can park our car next to our tent.. WC in the campground is clean, everything is free, no entrance fee. let’s go to the lake. When we go, the light wind turns into rain and a small storm in an instant. I reach the white sands at the municipality’s beach and put my feet in the lake.. A lot of playful dogs accompany us on the beach.. They play friendly with our Persian cat next to us.
When the weather blows, our kite surfing friend comes to us on a whim, picking up his supplies, but the air is down until we get ready.. At Salda, her enthusiasm for kite falters. It would be legendary if it was. As soon as the weather sets, we set up our tent and go shopping in Yeşilova village for the evening.. Actually, there is a restaurant in the camping area, the prices are very reasonable, but we are determined to barbecue, which is an indispensable part of the camping event.
It would be unfair to call Yeşilova a village.. Even the grocer greets us with a suit.. The female butcher delivers great meats. prices are reasonable. We came without buying anything, but we found what we were looking for.. There are many alternatives to eat in the village.. There are young bikers in our camping area.. One of them lights the fire, I make a salad with the boiled potatoes I brought with me, the other finds oil in the salad.
Salda Lake Sunset and Night
I missed this solidarity of camp environments.. Time to run for the sunset. We are sinking the day in a legendary way. We sit on the porch of one of the empty bungalows and dive into the distance.
Because the internet is not very healthy here, we put our phones aside and enjoy our freedom.. Being disconnected from the world cleans the soul well, especially if we are at the campsite.. Do not leave food outside, even on the table.. I’ve barely managed to fall asleep because of the loud music and I burst out loud at three in the night.
” There’s someone outside, there’s someone outside. “I don’t know how many times I’ve said sleepyhead. There are dogs outside.. When I stick my head out of the tent, I see everything on the floor on the table, when I look the other way, I see a huge dog up on two legs attacking the engines.
All that noise it’s so weird that i wake up. If we don’t chase the dog, it will overturn the engine.. It’s time to sleep with folk songs coming from afar. When the night goes like this, I get up late in the morning.
How to Go to Salda Nature Park?
I love camp mornings. Again, everyone prepares something with the limited means at hand.. Something is washed, prepared, and breakfast is served in a running water, but if it were a five-star place, it wouldn’t taste like this one.. Time to pack up our tent and tour Salda and enjoy. We pack up and head back the way we came and see the Salda Lake Nature Park sign. We did not see such a sign on the way.. Why?
Because the sign is only for those going in this direction, those coming from the other direction will enter via the Venus Restaurant sign and turn left when the road splits in two. Nature Park, as the people say, Forest Camp, vehicle entry 7.5 lira. Pedestrian 2 lira, motorcycle 5 lira. I think it’s newly built, it’s sparkling everywhere. The greenery of the pine trees merges with the white sands and reaches the turquoise waters.. The turquoise color of the lake mingles with the clouds of the azure sky. There is a great cloud feast. Those who like to take cloud photos like me will love it. We are 1193 meters above the sea.. Could this be the reason for these beautiful clouds?
The disappointment caused by the municipality beach, where no one confessed to each other the day before, and where they remained silent so as not to lose their joy, turns into happiness here.. This is where we saw in those photos. I wish they’d let us camp here, I wish it was paid, we’d agree. Camping is prohibited here.
Can you swim in Salda Lake too?
A long and wide beach. If I said sand, don’t imagine normal sand.. Like a hard little rock. It is written everywhere that it is forbidden to enter the lake, but there are changing cabins and showers.. Barges pulled into the lake. There was no one when we went. We were alone on the white beach. Such a private beach for us. It’s like a fairy tale, like a dream.
It is unthinkable that I won’t come to the raft and swim. Since the lake is a crater lake, it is said that after one step it suddenly became very deep and people drowned.. oh be careful. The part of Nature Park drawn with pontoons seemed safe to me.. Naturally, you are stumbling to the bottom of the lake.. The water was clear and a little cold.
Turkey’s cleanest water on the raft. Not a Zanzibar but. i have to say this. If I hadn’t seen it before, it is unquestionable that this place would have impressed me a lot, but I think my bar is too high.. Turkey’s deepest lake that can be measured with a depth of 184 meters. This is the reason why the turquoise waters suddenly turn into navy blue.
When the sun comes out, the lake turns turquoise as if it had been touched by a magic wand.. Its soda and magnesium water gives the color of these sands.. In fact, for a time, everything left here turns white.. This is the answer to the question “what happened to our feet?” on the way back.. It is also true that it is good for hair and skin.. We were all like cotton on the way back, but my hair changed color.
It’s impossible to open your eyes from the whiteness of the sand.. We’re so burnt from this whiteness. Those who are sensitive should not forget their sunscreen. There are three endemic fish species in the lake.. This is where the extinct upright ducks spend the winter. We heard that there is a water snake in the lake but it is harmless.. We were happy with the squirrel we encountered in the forest camp.
What I remember from Salda: I rolled on the white sands, swam in turquoise waters, watched the grass at the bottom of the water with a mask, had my fill of the clouds, sunbathed on a deserted beach, I became friends with a pack of dogs, I witnessed a Persian cat playing in the sands of Salda. I camped like the old days.
