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Published: October 10th 2008
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Swimming on the Med looking for the sunken city
Day 5: Kas to Olympos The plan for today was to sit and do nothing, whilst sitting on a boat and enjoying the sun before a drive to our next destination of Olympus - And we did exactly that.
We picked up a boat in Kas that was to take us around to see the nearby islands (we didn’t actually stop to see any of them though). A noteworthy item on our itinerary was the views of a “sunken city” from our boat. I don’t want it to be said that I use the Lonely Planet guide as my only reference - but I should have figured it was a bit fishy that there was absolutely no mention of this city in the books’ reference of ‘Things to see & do in Kas’. When we eventually got to the site - all we could see was a set of stairs leading into the ocean, starting at nowhere - That was it. A set of stairs that looked like they had been built sometime in the most recent century (or at least towards the very end of the last one). Needless to
say - this did not warrant a photograph or any further information within this story.
Kadir's Tree Houses Our next destination was the town of Olympos. I read somewhere that Olympos was once a very important city, with a long period of prosperity until it was abandoned after the 15th century. (The ancient city is now a protected area) but that history it is also renown within Turkey as being a favourite destination for the backpacking set for its very laid back atmosphere.
We arrived at our accommodation late in the evening and were staying for the next two nights in a selection of tree houses. In actual fact - staying in a rustic tree-house is a typical Olympos experience. Thankfully - I had already gravitated towards my ‘upgrade’ group of accommodation buddies and ended up in a lovely cabin with ensuite facilities. The atmosphere of the place was almost like Peter Pan‘s wonderland (or hippie commune), with rows of what looked like ramshackled cabins made out of different panels of wood & other parts (eg wheels, off-cut machinery etc) either in trees or standing side by side. There were even cabin style shops & bars made entirely
out of wooden logs and warmed by bonfires in the middle of the room.
Given the lateness of our arrival - there really wasn't that much of a chance to go exploring. Instead after dinner, some of us decided to sit around one of the ready made bonfires scattered around loungers covered with typical Turkish carpets (Bedouin style), followed by a visit to the 'Bull bar' - a very interesting place made entirely out of wood, with no roof, a tree growing from the center & a bon fire beside it. It had all the makings of an native tribal dance ceremony around the fire for those with enough alcohol to contemplate it.
Day 6: The town of Olympos There didn't seem to be an actual town as such. It was more like a smattering of shop stalls, tree house accommodation alternatives and some run down houses with overgrown trees.
The backdrop for this town is the Olympos Bey Daglari National Park - With it's scraggy mountain ranges & a thicket of bushland, olive & pomegranate trees. All of this natural beauty was great for those wanting to go bush walking or rock climbing - all the
things I had such high hopes of doing when I first got here. However in the end laziness won out and after walking through a clearing of bushland and clear water streams too find a very long pebble beach surrounded by rocky outcrops, I decided to spend the rest of my day doing absolutely nothing but sit on the beach, snoozing, swimming & snacking.
Lunch soon beckoned - so it became necessary to find somewhere to eat on this beach. Walking along very large pebbles is not as easy as I thought. It wasn't long before getting to the restaurant areas (conveniently - the furthest point away from where we were based!) became half the battle as I spent part of the time attempting not to sink in the sand and trying to balance over the pebbles as I walked.
We found a quiet little restaurant called 'Ikir's Restaurant' - The owner of which was so pleased that some of the girls in our group had come back with more people - that he proceeded to bring us out dish after dish of meze, bread & salad, as we sat there looking at the menu to place our
order.
On our way back to the tree house we meandered our way through the ruins. Sadly most of these ruins have been left in disarray, with only the commentary plaques giving any real indication of what was once there. My attempts to walk off the beaten path in search of a necropolis ended with me being lost amongst a clearing of orange trees, next to a shed with an assortment of farm animals & overgrown bushland - so in the end I abandoned my attempts and instead went back for a nice relaxing drink.
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