Fez Bus: Sector 5 – Kas to Olympos

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Too soon we had to get back on the Fez Bus and head for what we expected to be yet another highlight of Turkey - Olympos and its treehouses. A fairly uneventful journey was followed by an exciting arrival as we caused unintentionally caused controversy. We arrived at the “House of Fez” in Olympos, a place called Kadirs which we weren’t staying at because we had heard that it was a massive party place and we just wanted to relax. The tour leader said he would get someone to contact Sabans (the place we were staying) so they would send someone up to collect us but in the meantime we should come into Kadirs for a welcome drink (normally reserved for those actually staying there). We were not going to refuse a free drink so headed up to the bar and waited for our pick-up... and waited, and waited. While there we spotted a couple of friends we’d met on the Fez Bus a couple of weeks before and who we knew were staying Sabans. They had been having a massage at Kadirs and were heading back to Sabans so said that they would find out what the delay was for us.

About 20 minutes later the manager of Sabans, an Aussie guy called Mike, arrived in the bar to collect us. We collected our bags and headed out to the car only to hear a man shouting and screaming at Mike as we left. The shouting man, had in fact been Kadir himself, and it turned out that Mike had worked for Kadir for 5 years and that, due to the rivalries and politics of small town Olympos, Kadir hadn’t taken kindly to him turning up on his turf and ”stealing” his customers. Apparently Sabans had sent someone up to collect us as soon as they’d got the call but when we weren’t waiting outside had given up - if it hadn’t been for our Fez friends we might still be waiting! It was hilarious and as we heard more about the family politics and petty arguments we were reminded that small-town mentality is the same the world over and that’s why we will always live in a big city.

We had been planning to stay in a treehouse while in Olympos but when we realised that meant a mattress in a shack at the top of some rickety steps we decided that it was worth splashing the extra tenner to stay in an air conditioned cabin, with a proper bed and ensuite bathroom. It was brilliant value for money - all the pensions in Olympos do half board so we were paying £35 a night for the air con cabin, breakfast and dinner for 2 people - we immediately decided to stay 5 nights rather than the 3 we had originally planned for.
After a fantastic feed we stayed up very late drinking and chatting to Kim and Leoni (our Fez friends and saviours) and a variety of other guests including Jacinta and Rick who we had been kayaking with at Kekova the day before. It was another brilliantly random drunken backpacker night out and meant that we were constantly bumping into people we knew wherever we went over the next 5 days. We spent those 5 days sleeping in, having a late breakfast, going to the beach, reading, eating and drinking. To get to the beach at Olympos you have to walk through the ruins of the ancient city of Olympos and it is gorgeous. The beach, while not particularly well maintained (I have never seen so many cigarette butts on a beach), is also gorgeous with ruins in the cliffs above and the warmest water we’ve ever swum in. It was a wonderfully relaxing few days made even better on the third day by the arrival of more Fez friends - Glenn, Jayne, Lyle and Chiara who were also staying at Sabans.

We also experienced another brilliant example of Turkey Magic while on the beach one day. After our sea kayaking adventure I had been, not for the first time, pondering the difference between canoes and kayaks but no one had been able to explain what the difference actually was. On our first full day in Olympos we got talking to a couple from Sheffield who have semi-retired, rented out their houses (fully paid off) and are living in a camper van while travelling Europe rock climbing. They had checked into Kadirs but quickly realised that there is no such thing as a good nights sleep there so were hoping to move to somewhere quieter. We recommended Sabans and after chatting for a while they asked if we wanted to read an English newspaper - we snatched their hands off and while reading the travel section I finally found the answer to my question - there was actually a small article on the difference between canoes and kayaks! Turkey Magic strikes again - if I had been in any other country I could have been pondering the question for years - in Turkey I had the answer in 2 days! In case you’re interested a canoe is the one you kneel in and use a one ended paddle - you sit in a kayak and use a double ended paddle but the terms are used interchangeably in the UK, hence my confusion.

On our last night we headed to see the Chimaera flames - basically another hike up a mountain in the dark, this time to see a cluster of flames that have burned for thousands of years. The cause, depending on who you believe, is either a fire breathing monster (part lion, part goat and part dragon) or leaking methane gas - my money is on the monster. The climb wasn’t easy so we were really hoping the flames would be worth it and they were - we only had a limited time up there but the lucky people who weren’t constrained by their tour had brought beers and were toasting food and baking potatoes in the flames - they were seriously hot. We headed back to Sabans in time to see another Fez busser, Richie, singing for his supper and had a few beers before heading to bed to ensure a good nights sleep before getting on the Fez Bus again.

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Comments

[steve chong]

great account
really enjoyed reading your experiences, am planning my turkey trip for August 2010 New Zealand