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Published: January 29th 2008
Turtles on the Lycian Way
Thank goodness we travelled faster than they did!Turkey (23rd Oct - 19th Nov 2007)
On the 22nd of October I finished working in Barking (East London) at the Community Rehabilitation Service as did Bern and Elizabeth. It's certainly not ideal having 3 locums running a service! Our working holiday visas were soon to expire. Unfortunately we didn't have any new staff to hand over to which was very disappointing for us but more so for our patients who had no idea when they would be receiving any ongoing therapy.
London to Istanbul to Antalya
One would think that after all the travel we had done to date that there would be a few crucial things that we wouldn't get wrong! When we flew in to Istanbul we were prepared for a good 6 hour wait until our next flight to Antalya where we would meet Megan (friend from Melbourne). Elizabeth and I were just about to unpack some things and set up to play cards while Bern was off checking to see if we could get on an earlier flight. Bern comes back and tells us that we are at the wrong airport. The airport we needed to be at was a good hour away!
Antalya
Relaxing before the start of the hike. We no longer had a 6 hour wait.
We met Megan in Antalya and it was great catching up with someone from home who we hadn't seen for such a long time. We spent the next day exploring Antalya which included swimming in the Mediterranean and sampling the local beer - Effes Pilsner. We had dinner with Robbie Williams - well a very good look alike! He took a shining to us all calling me Shakira, Bern was Demi Moore, Elizabeth was Jennifer Aniston and Megan was Jennifer Lopez! At the end of the night though I was the one who scored a flower, his business card and a pair of earrings! Sorry Rupesh!
The Lycian Way
The Lycian Way is a 500km walk along the south west coast of Turkey beginning in Antalya and finishing in Fethiye. The track was officially opened in 1999. We chose to do a number of sections of the track covering about 100km and it was by far the highlight of our trip.
Antalya to Phaselis to Last Beach (Lycian Way)
We caught a bus to Phaselis and from here walked past some ruins to the Last Beach. We
had an amazing camping spot on the waters edge and watched the full moon come up from behind the mountain as we played cards. Along the Lycian Way walkers are permitted to camp anywhere and there is no charge!
Last Beach to Cirali to Olympos (Lycian Way)
This is the life. We stopped at Maden Beach for lunch and a swim before continuing on to Olympos where we camped on the beach and again watched the moon come up over the sea.
Olympos to Adrasan to Lighthouse (Lycian Way)
We had a look at he ruins around Olympos and then had a beautiful freshly squeezed mixed juice. A local taxi took us to Adrasan and from here we continued our walk to the lighthouse. Unfortunately there weren't all the water points that our map told us there was so we were all glad to reach the lighthouse and find a good supply of water in a well. We camped beside the lighthouse overlooking the sea. It was while cooking dinner that we discovered that instead of buying a tin of tomatoes (as pictured on the tin) for our pasta sauce, we had a whole tin of
tomato paste!
Lighthouse to Karoz to Finike to Ridge (Lycian Way)
It was a beautiful walk along the coast to Karoz. Since arriving in Turkey we have experienced nothing but random acts of Turkish kindness. And arriving in Karoz was no exception. We stopped at a small shop to buy a drink and while we were there we asked the shop keeper about getting a dolmos (small bus) or a taxi to Finike for the next stretch of our walk. He said there were no taxis or buses but that he could drive us! We all squashed in to his car and he tied our packs in to his boot. Although we tipped him he really didn't want to charge us anything for the trip. And he dropped us right outside a shop that sold kebaps for 1 lira ($1). The next part of the walk found us having some difficulty finding exactly where we were on the trail. Just as we decided to set up camp Bern tried to get some water out of the well and the string on the bucket broke leaving the bucket in the bottom of the well. We continued on for a
few reasons but the short of the story is that it became dark quite quickly and we camped next to a shepherds hut and at 6.30 the next morning were woken by goat bells as a herd of goats and their shepherds came past our tents! We remembered that daylight saving ended yesterday so we put our watches foreward an hour!
Ridge to Somewhere beyond Belos at about 1400m. (Lycian Way)
Some local shepherds were very kind, giving us some water this morning before we headed off past a bee keeper that was checking his hives. We made it to a quiet village and set up camp in a field close to a well come shower! It was our first cool night so we had our first fire, not only keeping us warm by drying off our smelly, sweaty clothes!
Beyond Belos to Church of Angel Gabriel (Lycian Way)
So peaceful this morning, not a single goat bell could be heard! Some locals offered us a lift this morning on the back of their ute and then started taking photos of us with their phones. We were clearly the tourist attraction out here! We hadn't seen
any other walkers since we started the hike. Getting a lift was tempting but we declined fearing we may not find our markers again! We continued to climb and the mist rolled in across the hills. The descent was tough - lots of scree to negotiate. We reached what we thought was the ruins of the church and met some shepherds with their goats. They bucketed water out of the well for us and then we sat with them and shared some sunflower seeds. They didn't speak any English. One of many priceless moments on this trip. The goats weren't so sure about our tents and had a few nibbles on the ropes!
Church of Angel Gabriel to Myra to Demre to Kas (Lycian Way)
Not sure what we were looking at yesterday but it wasn't the church ruins. About 20 minutes down the track we reached the one remaining wall of the church. A disused well at the ruins kept Bern amused as she sang and spoke in to the well enjoying the deep sounds and echo. Today we climbed to the highest point on the trail at just over 1800m. A bit more scree today and
a few more slides today resulting in a few crucifix like wounds to the hands. We saw quite a number of land turtles on the track leading down to Myra. In Demre we stopped for a drink and to work out how to get to Kas. An hour later we were being driven to Kas by a friend of the shop owner to get on a boat (Blue Cruise) for the next 2 days!
Blue Cruise
After a night out with the boat crew we discovered that for the past week we have been on our own time! We were two hours ahead of Turkey time. We should have turned our watches back not forewards. Lots of things that had happended over the past week started making a lot more sense like why it was pitch black at 6.30am when our alarms went off (it was really 4.30am), why the shepherds wondered why we were setting up camp at 4pm (it was really 2pm), why I got annoyed when I tried to ring a HR department in London and they were on a lunch break at 3.30pm (it was really 1.30pm) and I could go on! We spent
the next 2 days swimming, relaxing and exploring the coast including the sunken city.
Demre to Bogmacizi (Lycian Way)
The boat dropped us back in Demre and from here we got a bus and then a taxi to Bogmacizi. We walked a short way and came across some bee keepers in a tent all decked out in their bee protection suits getting honey from the hives. One of them then poured some honey in to a bowl and gave us some spoons and there we were standing on the track eating the fresh honey with a spoon. We emptied a water bottle and took the rest of the honey with us using it over subsequent days on damper and bread. Bern then took a photo of a couple of bee keepers in the field who were at the hives. She then went to show them the photo and in the process was chased by a swarm of bees and was stung 5 times! Megan also got stung as she tried to whack Bern at Bern's request! Just up the road from the bees we saw the sun setting over the sea and decided that the terraced fields was
a good place to camp. We haven't found a bad campsite yet!
Bogmacizi to Kabak Beach (Lycian Way)
Bern was in the wars! On the way to Kabak Beach she was climbing up some rocks looking for more markers when the rocks gave way beneath her and she crucifixed both hands and grazed her arms. And then when we were almost at Kabak Beach one of her feet slid down off the path and she landed heavily on one of her knees and a small rock became embedded in her knee. She wasn't looking foreward to the salt water treatment when we got to the beach!!! It was a beautiful beach and it was here that we saw more turtles including 2 turtles mating. There was a lot of shell knocking!
Kabak Beach to Faralya to Fethiye (Lycian Way)
Just out of Kabak Beach near Kabak village the rain started to come down and it came down so hard that we could not continue walking. Some locals invited us to sit under their verandah and that's where we stayed for the next hour until the downpour and hail stopped. We continued on to Faralya where the
Ruins at Phaselis
The start of our hike along the Lycian Way. rain came down again and this time we found shelter under someones house. We soon met the Turkish family from the house and it just so happened that there was a taxi outside the house! That taxi just happened to be able to take us to Fethiye!
Fethiye
Showers were non-existent on the trail although we did go for a few swims and made good use of the wells. So in Fethiye we really enjoyed a shower and had our first hamam (turkish bath)! A hamam is very unique experience - to begin with you are given a checkered piece of cloth to wrap around yourself after you undress. You then have a sauna before laying down on a big marble slab for some exfoliation followed by a good scrub and massage. At the end you relax and enjoy feeling clean with a glass of apple tea and some turkish delight.
It was Megan's 30th birthday so the day started with chocolate birthday cake and presenting Megan with a Turkish head piece that she was required to wear for a good proportion of the day. We also had some Raki which is an aniseed flavoured spirit like
sambuca. We were still in debt with regard to showering so another Turkish Bath was in order. The evening took us to the fish market where we bought fresh fish and took it to a restaurant where they cooked it for our dinner.
Fethiye to Ephesus to Pamukkale
We hired a car from Fethiye and drove up the west coast to Selcuk where we visited the Roman ruins of Ephesus. It reminded me very much of Athens. There were a lot of tractors on the highway chugging along at tractor speed. We decided to drive inland to Pamukkale and see the travertines - calcium carbonate shelves, pools and stalactites. Unfortunately this natural area has been disturbed quite significantly by tourists and has lost some of its beauty.
Canakkale
Found our first Turkish pancakes (gozlemes) in Canakkale filled with cheese and ham. We spent a day on a tour of Gallipoli and had a great Turkish guide who shared many interesting stories including how the trenches of the Turkish and Australian troops were only 8 metres apart and how the troops would share rations with one another including newspaper, tobacco and powdered milk.
Despite heavy rain
we made it out to the ruins of Troy. We had to take shelter in a replica of the Trojan Horse that was used to capture Troy! It seemed only fitting that after getting drenched we look for a hamam. We definitely found the female hamam and a local one at that. Clothing was optional!
Cappadocia (Goreme)
Almost 18 hours on the bus from Canakkale to Goreme. Stops were frequent though - you just had to make sure that you got back on the bus before it took off. One guy was a bit slow getting back on the bus and had to get in a taxi and wave down the bus to pull over so he could get back on!
Goreme is filled with loads of fairy chimneys - spectacular rock formations, some of which have become peoples homes, guesthouses, pigeon houses and some were once churches. We had a great few days exploring the area by foot, bus, bike and even in a hot air balloon. The ballooning was spectacular however Megan did reflect on her past experience of ballooning in the Yarra Valley where safety standards were a little different. For example, she remembered there
being lots of sandbags to keep the balloon on the ground where as we had about 5 or 6 people using all their strength to keep the basket down!
Our mountain bike adventure through the Rose Valley ended when we were lifting and carrying the bikes more than we were riding them!
We enjoyed a night out in Goreme where we got a taste for Turkish dancing and watched in awe as the Whirling Dervishes (dancers) spun continuously but didn't fall over!
Istanbul
Another overnight bus from Goreme to Istanbul but this time only 11 hours. Being on a long haul bus trip in Turkey is a bit like being on a plane. They have a waiter on the bus (and sometimes the waiter is dressed in a full suit with a tie) who brings around water, coke, tea, coffee and cake throughout the trip!
With 5 days in Istanbul we enjoyed all it had to offer - the spectacular skyline at night with all the mosques lit up, the Blue Mosque, Ayasofia, Grand Bazaar and Topkapi Palace. We continued to try out Turkish Baths wherever we went and found one in Istanbul that was
300 years old. The building was amazing and what continues to amaze us is all the skin that keeps being exfoliated off our bodies despite having a bath almost every day!
We found ourselves at the Thursday markets in Kumkapi with lots of fresh turkish bread, fruit, clothes and lots of other delicacies. The only way we found our way out of the market was by identifying all the stalls we'd stopped at to buy something!
Caught a ferry up the Bosphorus River (which separates Europe and Asia and Turkey is part of both continents) to the town of Anadolu Kavagi Kalesi (in Asia) which overlooks the Black Sea. Had our first fish kebap here before heading back to Istanbul.
Just near Taxim Square in Istanbul Bern and Elizabeth continued to teach me how to play backgammon and we tried a Nargileh Joint/Water Pipe with strawberry flavouring. Given that none of us smoke it wasn't as bad as we thought it could be. And the thing to do while you're smoking and playing backgammon is to also drink Turkish Tea of which there is also loads of fruit flavours to choose from.
We had a very
positive experience in Turkey and found the people to be very friendly and accommodating in so many ways.
After our 'wrong airport' experience at the beginning of our trip to Turkey one would think we would have learnt our lesson! Nope. Just as we were about to catch a tram out to the airport (20 minutes away) the guesthouse manager told us that he was quite sure that Easyjet did not fly out of Ataturk Airport and he was right! To make our flight we had to get a private shuttle to the correct airport which was an hour away!
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mariame
non-member comment
i met also robbie willas
you made a beautiful travel, people like you impress me your are wonderful women. i had met also robbie willas he is a wonderful boy , very correct evry body in antalya no him. very charming like this little town of kaleiçi.