Olympos

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About halfway along Turkeys Mediterranean coast lies Olympos, a favourite beach destination for Turks and backpackers alike. The water here is a clear pale blue, it is warm, and the lack of tide and waves make it an ideal swimming spot, which makes the unbearable heat bearable. Behind the beach the Lycian city of Olympos lies in ruins. İt flourished from the 2nd century BC, when the Olympians worshipped Hephaestus, the god of fire. This probably has something to do with the chimaera on nearby Mt Olympos. There is gas trapped in the base of the mountain which finds its way out of various pores throughout the mountain and spontaneously combusts upon contact with the air. Flames have been continually spouting out of the mountain for thousands of years.
The Romans took over in the 1st century AD and built on the already prosperous city until it was ravaged by pirates in the 3rd century. After this and a series of earthquakes it was pretty much left to decay, used only as camps for nomads and herders, and was used briefly by the crusaders in the 15th century.
The rubble is fun to walk through, partially due to the thick and varied jungle that has grown up amongst them. Not that much is recognisable except for some sarcophogi, parts of the city wall, roman baths, an acropolis, and fragments of a floor mosaic.
The beach at the end is a treat, especially due to the heavy and intense heat. On the road leading down to the beach there are dozens of pensions catering to backpackers. They house you in little huts that they call treehouses. Some pensions have a capacity for 400 people. The most popular places are also the worst value, but thats the price you pay for having the opportunity to rub shoulders with the creme-de-la-creme of the backpacker community. Wanting to avoid the big party pensions we had a look at Bayrams, which is famous for being such a chilled out place. We got there and the management were barely able to stir themselves awake to quote us a price. Eventually one of them made a heroic effort and actually managed to stand up. Then he stumblıngly led us to a dilapidated hut furnished with half a dozen mattresses on the floor. Amid the grunts with which he was answering our questions we were able to dıscern that to occupy 2 of these mattresses would cost 30 euros. We declined and went next door to Zetin pension which looked quite nice despite the distinct lack of backpackers sprawled out in hammocks sucking down efes pilsner. Here we got a newly built airconditioned cabin with a private bathroom and dinner and breakfast included for 25 euros. The management were hospitable and cooked us some delicious food. The aircon was a real treat too, especially in light of the quality sunburn İ'd acquired on the beach.

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Comments

[trish]

love this blogging business
hey guys looks like your travels are going well, turkey is beautiful i love hearing about olympos and all the food pics are great (yum yum). i cant wait to read and see more. dont be afraid to include yourselves in more photos i miss seeing you two. what kind of night life is there to be had in turkey? be well