Saklikent Gorge

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We drove to Fethiye and on the way we stopped at Turkey’s second largest canyon, Saklikent Gorge. We get to the Gorge and we had a few options of what we could do. I decided to opt out of tubing down the freezing cold rapids that come from the mountain and instead we (Dora, Fatih, and Hasan who also didn’t go) lounged in a shaded lounge right on the river and drank cay. There was also a little mini waterfall right behind me, I felt like a queen! (I stuck my toes in the water and it was freezing! I am glad I made the decision I did!)
Not long after we were sitting down, the others who were tubing floated past us, they were in for a treat as there is a mud bath at the end (where they ended up having a mud fight) as well as there were rocks, and Taylee managed to hit her butt on them twice. (Ouch!)Dora, Fatih, Hasan, and I just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves until the others came back from tubing, and then they joined us. We all had lunch right there by the river.
Then it was time for the gorge walk, it was only 4.5 TL and I really wanted to do it. All but Hasan and Faith decided to go, and note to self if your guide doesn’t want to go on a walk with you it’s a red flag. Also if you are in a country where safety precautions are very lax and there are warning signs, it’s another red flag.
Little did we know what we were going to get ourselves into. . .
We started on our walk on a raised platform, so this is what we thought the walk was going to be like, Fatih did say we would have a few crossings where the water would come up to our thighs but that was it, and to just be careful at those crossings since it was a strong current.
We got to the crossing that he was talking about, and he was right it came up past our thighs and it was a very strong current, and cold! So we started walking and these nice Turkish guys came and held my hand as I crossed, it was nice of them but I really didn’t need it, and at the end of the crossing they asked for tips, bastards! (I just thought they were being nice. Of course none of us had money so we just walked away.)
As we walked we found a little space on the side where there wasn’t any water, just a lot of sediment. When we first started out we got these cool little water shoes to wear so the rocks hurt, but not as bad as if we were barefoot. All 7 of us continued on and we soon realized that the path of sediment no longer existed, the water level was rising, and the current got stronger the further we got upstream. We were literally fighting to walk forward and not fall down (although some of us did, but those who did fall didn’t have anything to lose, I had my camera with me {note to self-buy waterproof camera or case for next adventure} and was happy that I could take pictures, but I didn’t want to ruin it so there were big consequences if I fell) I am glad I captured the experience on film but it had me worried the entire time. (One girl had everything on her, money, camera, passport, and she was really worried) The water wasn’t clear, so you couldn’t see where you were stepping at all. Sometime you would step and there would be a sudden variation on the bottom, like a hole or a rock, and you would lose your footing and almost fall down.
We trekked on for what seemed like ages (only about an hour) until we made it to the waterfall, but in order to get to the waterfall you had to climb up these rocks that looked impossible, so everyone helped everyone out with getting up the rocks, whether they were with the group or not. At one point Steph lost her water shoe and we all looked back and only Josh was standing back behind us and he was our only hope to recover Stephs shoe, nobody could see it, but by chance it hit his leg and he bent down and recovered it. Not too long after that I lost my shoe and a random couple stood a few meters behind me (luckily) and I yelled to them and the guy by chance felt my shoe hit his leg and bent down and picked it up, it was just blind luck both times! I would have been in so much pain if I had to walk all the way back (only 1 kilometer mind you, but still it’s on rocks) with only one shoe. We made it up and celebrated the fact we actually made it. Then we all booked it home as it was a great experience but we were all tired of it.
We got back and told Fatih that it was not how he had described it, but that we all had a good time. In his defense he said the last time he did it there was a path on the side (I pulled out my camera and scrolled through the pictures asking him where the path was) so who knows about the mystical path.
We drive to our hotel in Fethiye which has beautiful views of the Mediterranean sea. We get back and unpack and we all hang out around the hotel bar since that is the only place you can pick up an internet connection. It’s a little inconvenient, but it gets people out of their rooms. A few of us aren’t feeling very well (and I was one of them) so we opted out on dinner, but it looked amazing: A plate of meze (appetizers) with stuffed eggplant, salad, and rice; then the main kebab meal. I decided if I was hungry the next night I just wanted the meze because it really looked amazing. We all had a good time chatting and hanging out with one another because tonight was Steph and Josh’s last night with us. The next afternoon they were leaving to tour the Greek Islands, but will be in Croatia after that, so we might get to catch up again! Only time will tell!
B

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Photos

Dora, Me, and Josh
Chilling on the Lounges on the river