Olympos ruins and Chimaera Flame

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The tranquil hill town of Kas was a far cry from the muddy street of Olympos which greeted our dolmus minivan on Wednesday afternoon. For 3 TYL you are dumped at a highway stop and shuffled into another van for the transfer downhill. Aside from flooding 2 weeks prior it was in reasonable shape although the bulldozers were at work in spades (ha ha)! around the ruins site.

To enter Olympos involves a steep road down into a narrow valley where many treehouses are built on the river bed or nearby. Citrus trees abound giving some earth stability but I did wonder if the creaky platforms around everywhere would support the continuing shoulder season tourists weight!

After a chatty and stormy night with Aussie, British, Turkish and German company I managed to get up early to see a gorgeous clear day and this Chimaera flame thing. The myth goes something like Pegasus breathed fire and poured lava on Chjimaera god and ancient one at that and somehow left loads of gas smells and reserves which continue to burn to this day....so that saved 15TYL on a tour tonight at 9pm (entrance fee is 3TYL and several folk there to sell you food or drinks under a shady area) and got to see and wander the site in daylight so as not to cause another accident!!!

I was not overly impressed by an open fire on some rocks, but the random and clearly ancient (built in 200BC approximate) ruins amongst it were. To walk from Olympos treehouses takes about one hour and 10 mins (fast walk) but an extra 15 mins uphill once at the site entrance. Following your nose along the beach past the ruins first (enter for 3TYL daily or 5TYL week ticket) and then veering inland through neighbouring Cirali village - this seemed the best bet and I managed to get back in time for a late breakfast served up until 11am which is just wonderful!

Food front - if you love fruit, then Olympos Bayrams treehouses has an organic garden which they allow you to pick from (green citrus things) ..............and also pomegranates !! - there are plenty of stray trees growing aside the road to quench a thirst for red juice. I think everywhere is similar here and with chooks roaming along the pristine Akdeniz (Mediterrean) sea and accommodation "plus", having a shoulder tourist season break here is easy.

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