Blogs from Kas, Mediterranean, Turkey, Middle East - page 2

Walking along the Lycia way - part of it - was a sort of last minute decision. We had thought about it when planning our Turkey trip but dismissed it as it would have involved lot of domestic travel and would take days away from other things. But true to our nature - hikers at heart - we curtailed other plans to accomodate the backpacking trip. Overall we hadnt planned much about the trip. We had a broad idea of the route and had picked the Patara to Kas portion of the hike, but didnt know the distances between the campsites or the elevation profile or whether it was well maintained etc. We assumed it would be a easy hike and we have already done a lot of hiking so it was up our alley. Oh ... read more

We left Cappadocia behind and travelled to Konya, a very religious town. Konya was known as Iconium in roman times. It was also the capital of the Seljuk Turks from the 12th to 13th centuries and home of Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, who founded a mystic Sufi order popularly known as “Whirling Dervishes”. We visited Mevlana’s Mausoleum and the museum housing manuscripts of his works, as well as various artifacts relating to the mystic sect that he founded. We then stopped at the Lycian city of Phaselis, which was founded in the 7th century BC and flourished as a commercial trading centre where anything could be bought and sold, including citizenships for 100 drachmas. The Phaselians were more concerned about preserving the affluence of their commerce than staking any political independence, so they accepted any conquerors that ... read more

When I woke up this morning I felt a cold coming on, but then I went out on my balcony and; Voilà! The sun was out and in a jiffy all my symptoms were gone. All night Kas had been as under siege with constant power cuts, flooded houses, thunder claps and a very angry sea. So in the morning there was a feeling of culmination for the Kas-villagers trying to tidy up the place. I had no appointments to keep so I took my time over breakfast; reading my legal philosophy book and sipping numerous coffees. I have a new - quite large -feline friend; it is a male cat of some kind of oriental pedigree and most likely with an owner somewhere. I started feeding him under the table (as you do not to ... read more

In June this year I came to Kas as part of an 15 day adventure journey of Turkey. It felt like paradise; a mix of Nice or San Tropez on the Côte d'Azur where I used to live and the bohemian chic town of Nelson in New Zeeland with the layout and blend of a Swedish costal resort called Fjällbacka. Our round-trip of Turkey only stayed here for 2 days and I swore to come back a s a p. So, here I am on an off-season excursion, supposedly mixing business with pleasure (it's mostly been my fav "Pleasure" so far.) It is not obvious how to get here. Kas is many hours away from any airport and the roads are Monacanly winding and any fall will be your last....I decided to come via Dalaman airport ... read more

Kas to Fethiye Sadly it was our last morning in beautiful Kas. Had another lovely breakfast on the terrace then packed up all our gear again, paid our bills, popped down the street to the Eczane (pron ejzarn-e, means chemist) for a packet of anti-diarrhea and some anti-emetic medicine, all of which cost us about $3 or 4. Also withdrew some more cash  from the ATM. When we returned to the hotel, Ahmet kindly offered to drive us to the bus station, which was certainly better than walking in the hot sun. As usual there was a bus there waiting, so our gear was loaded in and so were we, and soon we were away. These local buses seat about 25 people and they use every one of the seats with the usual picking up along ... read more