From Olympus to Ilhara Gorge

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20 April

We arrived at Bayram's Tree houses late yesterday afternoon and split ourselves into two groups to share rooms. Talbot had said we were staying in treehouses and I was SO excited until Nic showed me her Lonely Planet that said they might not actually be in trees. Which turned out to be correct. If they're tree houses because they're built from wood, then I stayed in a treehouse. But I tend to think it means they're houses up in trees...

The price includes breakfast and dinner so it was nice to spend the hours lounging about whilst waiting for the 8pm dinner call. I found the staff who made me a gluten-free meal with grilled chicken, salad, cheese and yoghurt which was excellent, as was everyone's.

At 9pm we piled into a minibus and made our way up to Chimaera where flames burn continuously from vents in the earth. It was a tough climb over uneven stones and up stairs, not knowing how long it was meant to take. The first sign that we had arrived was the sight of a flame and the hum of conversation.

People sat talking, singing, smoking and drinking, their faces illuminated by the fires. It smelt of methane and something else as we sat near one flame and watched it dance in the breeze. Talbot lay down near one but in the darkness was nearly stepped on! When it was time to start heading back, I gingerly made my way down, using Nat's torchlight for guidance. It was a tough walk on the knees but I managed okay, feeling Nic's pain when she slipped on a step. A strong Turkish tea, served from a brass samovar awaited us at the bottom as our group trickled in.

Quinn, Steph, Scott and I didn't wake until almost 10am the next morning. Glorious. We went for breakfast then some left for a kayak and snorkelling trip while Nat, Nic, Scott and I made plans for the nearby ruins and beach. We were sitting on our staircase chatting under orange blossoms that smelt amazing, listening to the hum of bees at work and watching a solo rock climber ascend across the road when I was stung by a bee on my arm. I've no idea how I annoyed him but I must've. Scott expertly removed the sting and Nat moved off as she's seriously allergic. We gathered our stuff, met at the truck and started the short walk down.

A cheery man with a weathered face stood next to his vehicle selling strawberries and mulberries for 5TL and 3TL respectively. As we understood it, he proudly grew them himself and we happily bought a small box of strawberries. Then within 25 metres, just before we entered the gates, I ran back and purchased another strawberries and a box of mulberries, tipping them into a bag and leaving him to reuse the containers.

It was 5TL per person to enter the ruins and the beach beyond but for 7.50TL we could buy a 10 visit pass that the four of us could use. We ate berries, wandered past ruins and through the ankle deep freshwater stream that eventually reached the sea. Once on the pebbly beach, Nat and Nic were happy to sit whilst Scott and I continued, looking for the castle ruins we'd seen on the map.

Instead of finding a castle, we reached the end of the beach and clambered over the rocks that took us around the other side to another bay. The water was so clear and so blue and we decided we needed to get up higher. Scott had spied a rope halfway up the cliff and with less thought than usual, I followed him up with a lot less grace to where we circled around the pretty but thorny bushes and onto the top of the point. You could see for miles in all directions including down into the water. We sat on the edge and watched the clouds clear from the far away mountain where the gondola moved slowly up and down the side, just a speck against the one white cloud left. We talked and sat in silence and talked some more, taking it all in.

Reluctantly, we eventually moved before the cold chill arrived and after a few more photos from other vantage points, made our way back down the rope, across the beach and onto the road for an easier walk back.

I'd remembered early in the morning that it was Easter Sunday but it wasn't until an adorable blond boy came up to us with a bag and an Easter egg in his hand. Gesturing with the bag, we were unsure whether he was asking for chocolate or what but eventually I put my hand in the bag and took a small chocolate egg. He smiled and walked off to the next person. Happy Easter, everyone.

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21 April

It was an easy start to the day not having to take tents down or prepare breakfast. Instead, we emptied out the room, had breakfast omelettes and yoghurt with fruit prepared for us, 'stole' some firewood (with permission!) and were on the truck ready to go at 9am.

The road took us back through Antalya and then wound up through the mountains again. Turkey has a LOT of mountains. Our highest crossing point today was 1856m and the snow capped mountains seemed quite close. I slept for a bit; the antihistamine for my bee sting seemingly knocking me out but then played Scrabble and card games for the rest of the afternoon until we pulled up at a bush camp at 5:30.

It's a wonderful find at the top of a gorge with water rushing along below and I'm lying in my tent listening to it, very content. Dinner was finished early and everyone pitched in to clean up before pulling chairs in around the fireplace to toast some marshmallows. We watched the bush television (aka the fire) and star gazed, spotting satellites and even Jupiter! The app on one phone could tell you all the stars in the sky.

With a Bluetooth speaker and my iPod, we stayed warm around the fire until almost 10pm when people started drifting off to bed. It is cold tonight but the sound of the water is a lovely consolation.

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April 22

Ilhara gorge was our first stop for the day where we'd have a couple hours to explore the rock-cut churches and houses, dating back to the Byzantine period. It is 16km long and Suse dropped us off at one end, giving us a couple hours to explore the honeycombed volcanic rock before picking us up a couple miles down the road.
The Black Castle church and Serpent church were chosen primarily based on their name while
the church of St. George was a nod to all the Ethiopian churches I'd been to with depictions of St. George slaying the dragon. We followed the meandering path at various speeds for about two hours, clambering over rocks (by now a reoccurring theme in Turkey!) and up steeps stairs. The early Christians that settled here were definitely fit people. Crossing the river, under trees, over small bridges and through a picnic spot with adorable ducklings waddling about (I couldn't catch one!) it made for a pleasant walk with a load of steps stairs to the churches thrown in for exercise.

We're en route to Goreme in the heart of Cappadocia and the tractor game has yet to lose steam. Everyone plays to varying degrees but with the addition of several rules, it's hard to know what's going on. Even during card games and somewhat serious conversations, calls of 'tractor!' would ring out. We're a mature bunch of travellers. You kinda have to be here.

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Comments

[Jareb]

Oh my wow!
Your Ilhara pic is really nice. It seems so sleepy and timeless. Glad you are seeing these places. The world is your playground!