Wednesday, September 30, 2015

The Lycian Way // day 17 // Sura - Myra

The Lycian Way day 17.
Distance: 11.0 (276.9km), time spent: 3:59 (110:06).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 187m / 17m / 514m.
Weather: Nice in the morning, rain and thunder later in the day.


The night is as expected hot; I just sleep on top of the sleeping mat and listen to the sound of raindrops on the canvas during the night. Since I washed my clothes yesterday and they are hanging out to dry, I have to make a short trip outside to rescue them. The rain really does not materializes and in the morning, blue sky has banished most of the clouds from the night. How I look forward to when the temperature drops so it becomes bearable to sleep properly in the tent again, I miss that.

On the way up from Sura, Andriake and the Çayağzı beach by the sea.

My plan for the upcoming mountain walk is now ready. To carry with me all the water I need for three days will be way too heavy I think. When I look at the map, I see that the trail passes by a small village, Belören, and there is a road going up to the village from Demre. My plan is to go there today and then get down again by way of the road, for then to get up again tomorrow carrying water for two days. It will be heavy, but should be doable. You may say that I buy myself out of the problem.

At Gürses, looking down at the valley I have climbed up from.

To get back to the junction at Sura, I choose to take a taxi. From the beginning, there is no other thing to do than to start using the muscles in my legs, the path ascends steeply up the cleft above the road. The view back is good in the beginning and then close behind me when I get higher up. With the view gone, there is not much exciting left on this part of the path. The markers goes as usual on a holiday some time during the walk and I spend a lot of time and effort to find it again, there are enough paths to choose among.

Goats everywhere, by a small farm after Gürses.

Eventually, the white and red blazes leads me up to a road, with Gürses just below, a signpost indicates that it is 7km to Myra. Where I am does not corresponds with the description in the guidebook, the sign points to the right, the book points to the left. The map is somewhat unclear, but so am I in my mind. Anyway, the path shall according to the book leave the road 100 meter further up to the left. As said, the sign points to the right. I walk the hundred metres and more and there are no markings visible. I make a u-turn.

The ruins of the castle at Myra. Demre with its greenhouses in the lowlands below.

After a break in a small store in Gürses, the path takes off from the road and follow a gravel track past some greenhouses (which there are not few off here). It is one thing that I have not wanted to meet down here and that is exactly what I do here. There are many stray dogs in Turkey, something of a problem for them, and many of them may be aggressive too. Suddenly I stand face to face with a dog that is everything but calm, a menacing light shines out of its eyes. To mess things up further, there are no signs of the waymarking and the more I try to find out where the trail goes, the more aggressive the dog gets.

It is far from a pleasant experience. The dog begins to bare its teeth and to me it seems it could be charging at me anytime. In the end, I decide that I have to show it who is the master, though that I on this point is not entirely sure. So I gather all the air I can muster in my lungs and yells at it with all I got. My unusual aggressiveness partly does the trick, the dog is running away and hiding, but as soon as I continue walking, it gets back again.

Dark clouds approaching from the mountains. To the left in the picture, you can see where the trail goes up towards Belören.

I give up finding the path, I walk back and take the road instead; I cannot keep the aggressive dog at bay at the same time as I search for the trail. Some hairpin turns later, the path emerges again next to the road. I do not think I missed much on my short detour.

However, it goes from bad to worse. Down towards Myra the trail goes through one of the worst thorny bushes, of the type of maquis you find around the Mediterranean, I have ever walked through. The path is overgrown by and disappears in the scrub, which make me often go the wrong way and have to bash back through the scrub again. After cutting myself to blood here and there, I finally gather my senses and zips on the trousers. In the direction of Belören it is pitch black. I am not having fun at the moment.

The ruins of Myra seen from the castle above.

To say that I have had a good walk today would be a lie; I can safely say that this has been the worst day on my trip so far. Even so, getting to the ruins of the castle at Myra is great (though my legs could use some band-aids after the walk through the thorns). The castle lies at the top of a hill just above Demre, from the walls I can almost look straight down at the ruins of Myra itself. The amphitheatre at Myra is surely impressive. Around Demre, the roofs of all the greenhouses are shining with a pale light, but behind me, it is anything but bright. Dark clouds are rapidly descending from the mountains.

Down in the ruins of Myra, the amphitheatre behind and above are the ruins of the castle beneath dark clouds.

Fortunately, there are no thorns on the way down from the castle and the trail goes on a good rocky path. Coming down, I scare a tortoise into running as fast as it can away from me, which is by no means fast at all. I walk to Myra and let me willingly be surrounded by tourists. Lisa, Tobias, Sasha and Alice are in the ruins, I keep company with them; my stay there hence becomes a short one. The rain arrives in the moment we leaves the past of Myra.

The necropolis of Myra, tombs carved into the mountain.

From Demre, Sasha and Alice takes a bus to Antalya, Tobias and Lisa will return to Andriake. When I look at the dark sea of clouds that lies over the mountains I am set for, and with the walk so far in my mind, I make a quick decision to stop walking for today. As I have said, I have been warned against staying in Demre and I do not want to spend the night in my tent, I want to keep it dry. I consider taking a bus to Ûçağız, but the next bus going there does not leave until several hours, I opt for Kaş instead. The sky is rumbling.

On the bus to Kaş, a wall of rain above Demre.

After today's walk, it feels remarkably good just to sit down and look at the views from the window of the bus. The rain arrives at full strength when the bus drives above Demre, moving across the greenhouses is a distinct wall of rain. In Kaş, the sky is clear and blue. I get a room in the same guesthouse as last time. Dinner is had at Blue House, the food is excellent, but I feel that I do not entirely belong at the restaurant.

Sunset in Kaş.

What a day this has been. I am glad that I got away from the dog without any serious problems, though it might be that the situation seemed worse than it actually was. By looking at the map, I probably should have understood where the trail as described in the guidebook went; still, it should have been a signpost on the trail indicating where the new and old path split.

<- SuraBelören ->

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The Lycian Way // day 16 // Kaleköy - Sura

The Lycian Way day 16.
Distance: 19.5 (265.9km), time spent: 6:41 (106:07).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 22m / 187m / 187m.
Weather: Nice, some clouds.


Another nice day is coming up; behind Kekova in the east, the sun rises unobstructed on the sky. I eat breakfast out on the platform in front of the guesthouse, and even though I miss the kind of bread we have at home, I am now accustomed to the Turkish breakfast (which I now order without tomatoes and olives). The morning's highlight is however not the sunrise, the fine view from the breakfast table or the good breakfast in itself. That is when a large caretta caretta turtle swims right next to me where I sit, it is one of these small magical moments you have. It is undoubtedly tempting to throw of my clothes and jump into the water to swim next to it, but I will not do that, of several reasons.

A caretta caretta turtle swims past me while I eat breakfast in Kaleköy.

I am on my way to pack together my belongings to continue my walk when Melike arrives at Kaleköy, by seaway. It made some kind of sense and is slightly humoristic. And it turns my plans upside down, or rather delays them. With the arrival of Melike, I take up on the offer from the owner of the guesthouse to see the sunken city at Kekova, since we now can share the prize. I was originally tempted, but had chosen not to do it.

We drive out in a small boat, which gives us a small advantage over the bigger operators that uses larger boats; we can get closer to the land and the ruins. From the boat, we can see staircases that leads down into the water, remains of buildings and walls that are submerged. On the land, we can see the contours of houses that fell into the water during one of the earthquakes between year 140 and 600 that lead to the coast here sinking into the water. Though it is only a short boat trip, it felt like a good break from all the walking. On the way back, we drive past what was once an old windmill, now not really an island even anymore.

The ruins of a sunken city at Kekova.

Melike stays behind in Kaleköy and probably takes over my room at the guesthouse. Out from the village, I meet Sasha and Alice just below Simena, who today had started walking from Ûçağız, we keep company further. The day goes straight from the wet element and back to the dry and cracked landscape I have become familiar with in the last days. Here it is so dry that the path is visible as an even drier line on the ground. Just beyond the trail is another ruin, a twin-castle of Simena, recognizable by the characteristic ramparts.

Kaleköy with Simena seen from the sea.

There is a somewhat absurd pattern in the places you get to along this part of the trail. After Kaş, the places alternates between being more of a 'straight' place (Boğazcık, Ûçağız) and a more 'alternative' place (Ufakdere, Purple House). Now, we arrive at a third 'alternative' place, Smuggler's Inn / Pirate Bar. In the bar, there is a group of young and sleepy people that appear to just have woken up. It smells of rum everywhere, quite fitting, probably has been some partying here last night. We settles with just some freshly pressed orange juice and coke without gas.

The path goes through a dry and barren landscape with some odd rocks sticking up from the ground.

We are quickly approaching Demre now, the three Englishmen was not altogether excited about that town. See the ruins of Myra they said, but stay away from the town itself, do not spend the night, it is nothing there. I eventually leaves Sasha and Alice behind me; I am quicker on foot than they are. Just before Çakıl Beach, a small beach with white and round pebbly stones, I meet yet another German, Tobias. Who has lost his camera on the way and is on the way back to try to retrieve it. I think it had become a small crisis if I had lost my camera, but since mine is so big and heavy it will be hard not to notice that it is not there anymore.

The Pirate Bar in Smuggler's Inn, the smell of rum everywhere.

At the Çayağzı beach the path splits in two, that is, it is a little bit difficult understanding what the path really does. The description is somewhat unclear. I however understand as much as I from here can choose between walking further to Andriake and the campsite there, from where you can follow to road to Demre and further through the town back to the trail (unmarked), or take the turn towards the ruins of Sura and walk from there to Myra afterwards. It is further complicated as that path is splitting again.

Path by the sea.

I consider walking further on to Gürses that you will come to after Sura, but needs to fill up with food and water, so I make my way towards Andriake camping first. The entrance to the beach (Çayağzı) goes over another rickety bridge like the one at Pydnai, but I am 'all in' for that kind of amusing crossings (it is not that dangerous either). In Andriake camping, the pleasure is big when I again meet Hanna and Lisa. An unexpected meeting. They had ended up taking a bus to Kaş instead of Kalkan, but was not free of problems even so. Lisa's knee had not been good, but they were anyway finished with their trip and were now just relaxing.

The rickety bridge at the entrance to the Çayağzı beach.

With the hunger satisfied and water refilled, I continue onwards, which is back again to the frail bridge and the junction. Tobias, Sasha and Alice are walking across the beach when I am leaving. The walk up from Andriake is pleasantly enough an improvement, it is a lovely walk with great views back towards the beach and Andriake (which really is the ruins that lies above the beach), as well as back towards Kekova. The waymarks disappears in the usual way later on the climb up and I quickly learn that the Turks are more pragmatic when it comes to following paths. A shepherd directs me in a straight line to where the path will go later, which is somewhat against its purpose. I find back to the trail, which leads me onto a road above.

The trail follows the road for a few kilometres, until it leaves the road at a very steep slope. A quick look at the clock and map makes me forget the initial idea of going to Gürses. On the other hand, I am not entirely sure if the trail as described in the guidebook goes there at all. The ruins of Sura are situated both far below and nearby the road a short walk away. The view is quite cool, with the ruins in the valley below that leads out towards the beach.

View back towards Çayağzı beach and Andriake from the path towards Sura.

The finishing line for today's walk has been drawn; I decide to get back down to Andriake camping again. That means that the night will be spent in the tent, but there are so many there now that I have met, so I want to spend the evening together with them. Getting there without walking back the same way as I came from is however a little bit tricky. It takes some time before I get a dolmuş ride to the road leading down to the beach, from where I have to walk for a while before I am finally back at the campsite. And tomorrow, I have to get myself back up to the junction again; I do not make it easy for myself.

View down to the ruins of Sura and the valley below that goes down to Andriake and the sea.

It is then good that the evening is pleasant and the dinner served is good (köfte from the barbeque). The campsite is nice, though there are many stray dogs here (not aggressive). I have to switch tables at times to speak to all I have met. The evening marks yet another typical parting; it is the last night on the trail for Sasha and Alice. Lisa and Hanna will be staying one more night here, but I will continue walking again tomorrow, alone again. Tobias is also walking further, but he is thinking of having a zero day tomorrow. A curiously famous pattern for me here.

Sunset at Andriake.

<- KaleköyMyra ->

Monday, September 28, 2015

The Lycian Way // day 15 // Boğazcık - Kaleköy

The Lycian Way day 15.
Distance: 20.0 (246.4km), time spent: 8:11 (99:26).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 301m / 22m / 405m.
Weather: Clear blue sky, some clouds.


Melike has already left when I wake up in the morning; she enjoys starting walking when it is dark. Something I also enjoyed very much when I walked the Camino, I have of uncertain reasons stopped doing it on my later walks. Probably because I do not want to miss out on something. Down here by an altogether different reason though, to walk the wrong way in the dark. The waymarking down here is bad enough as it is, so it will not become any easier in the dark.

Apollonia. The ruins are entering oblivion, at the summit of Kale Tepesi the ruins grows over, like this amphitheatre.

It is an easy walk I look forward to today anyway, where the heat is probably the biggest obstacle. How far the trail will take me today, I cannot tell. A short walk from Boğazcık lies Kale Tepesi, a rather unseemingly summit (more of a hill though). It is there, but you really do not make any real notice of it (which may be the reason why it is named as Kale Tepesi in the guidebook, but Asar Tepe on the map). Then again, it is not the summit itself that is interesting, but what is located at the top of it. The ruins of Apollonia.

A door to the church-ruin in Apollonia.

Climbing up to the top and enter the ruins are almost like walking through a jungle and arrive at the ruins of a lost city on its way to be reconquered by the nature. Where the traces of an old civilization disappears in the vegetation. The old buildings and tombs are overgrown and it is quite cumbersome moving among them. The association of finding a lost city (even though it is not) makes the walk cool, but at the same time it is quite sad to see that the ruins has been left to themselves to decay. The most interesting remains I saw was the overgrown theatre, a huge cistern in the ground with a curved roof and what was left of the church.

Trail winding on a rocky and dry ground among trees between Boğazcık and Aperlae.

The area around has not changed a lot from yesterday. The ground is dry and rocky, it is however no less vegetation. Yesterday was a from bay to bay walk, this day looks to be a from ruin to ruin walk. After Apollonia comes Aperlae, where the first has grown over on the summit of a hill, Aperlae has sunk into the water. The first encounter with the ruins is a large cistern that for long has been without a roof and creates a gaping wound in the ground. In the dark you would not have seen the two exclamation marks drawn on a rock just before, and barely the hole itself.

The ruins of an old cistern creates a pitfall at Aperlae. The hole is filled with water. If you fall down into it, you would have problems getting back up.

At the head of the bay at Aperlae, lies Purple House / Hiker's Inn. Further than here Melike and the two German women has not come, then again, the place is a peaceful oasis. It quite definitely would have been a good alternative to walk to Ufakdere instead of Kaş and from there to here. I make up for it by having a longer break here with the mandatory swim. However, I probably should have swum further out than I did, so to swim above the sunken ruins in the water. For the most part, I look at the ruins from a distance this time.

Two dogs had decided to make friends with the two German women, and they are now lying tired next to them. Probably not the best of ideas to attach yourself to a pair of walkers if you are not in good shape, but what does a dog know about that. Melike is calm about her walk and likes to take her time; she has decided to stay at the place.

At the Purple House at Aperlae, Melike and the two German women having a break in the heat.

There are some huge waymarks meeting me after leaving Purple House, clearly a work of someone who wants to lead walkers to his place (there is another café on the other side of the isthmus), the problem is that the official marking has been removed by the same reason. I have some problems finding the correct path, but manages in the end to find my way, there are almost no days without going (a little) wrong. The trail is in the same manner as before, dry, but there must have been grass here before. There are remains of it everywhere; it must be significantly greener here in springtime. Tortoises slowly hurries on.

Aperlae, large parts of the ruins lies underneath the water. Notice the tomb lying half submerged to the right.

Craig, Mike and Chris had said that Ûçağız was a very nice place and recommended a stay there. When I arrive at the place, it is not so difficult understanding why, the small town does look like a pleasant place, but I still feel to carry on. It is all quiet at the place when I am there, as I am the only visible guest there, I sit alone at a restaurant. I have indulged myself with a beer in the heat, together with some good cheese cigars (sigara böreği, great snacks).

An old cistern / will is growing over on a large ova (plain) between Aperlae and Ûçağız.

Ûçağız is situated where Teimiussa was in the old days and the trail leaves the small town on a gravel track above the ruins. I have not in mind walking very far away from Ûçağız however; on one of the promontories closing off the harbour are the ruins of Simena, with Kaleköy lying below it. From the road, I can see the flag fluttering in the wind from inside the characteristic walls of the old fort. A sailboat lies lopsided inside the bay where the path to Kaleköy leaves the Lycian Way.

From the harbour in Ûçağız.

It is relatively quiet in this small village also, though there are a number of tourists here to look at Simena. The place is supposed to have several guesthouses, but I cannot find a single one. Until I by chance ask about it in a restaurant, which turns out to be a pansiyon as well. Kekova Sahil Pansiyon that is more expensive than usual, but of a very high standard. When I am taking a bath outside the guesthouse I understand why I could not find any one at first, all the signboards are pointing towards the sea. It is after all from there the customers usually are arriving from.

On the way from Ûçağız to Kaleköy, which lies behind the ruins of Simena that you can see to the left in the picture (a small red flag marks the location of the old fort).

Simena made the last ruin of the day, from the top there is a great view over the area. On the other side of the strait lies Kekova with its sunken cities, at the end of the bay lies Ûçağız. The walls of the fort has very distinct parapets, inside of the fort there is a tiny theatre carved out from the rock. I had to pay a small entry fee to get in, but when I follow a path out of the ruins it turns out that I come down to the other end of the village, where there were no ticket booth.

View down at Kaleköy and across the strait to Kekova from the ruins of Simena.

While evening descends upon the strait, I sit on a small platform out on the water and eat dinner. I have ordered Turkish meatballs, köfte, which tastes excellently. My mind are now beginning to be preoccupied with the three days long mountain walk between Demre / Myra and Finike, where there are no places to stay or to get food at. That is no problem in itself, what is worrying me is that it is very dry and people that I have talked to says it is probably no reliable water available underway. I have to make a plan for that walk.

<- BoğazcıkSura ->

Sunday, September 27, 2015

The Lycian Way // day 14 // Kaş - Boğazcık

The Lycian Way day 14.
Distance: 19.0 (226.4km), time spentt: 7:37 (91:15).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 6 / 301m / 405m.
Weather: Clear blue sky.


In as well as all the blogs about Likya Yolu that I have read, the writers has taken at least one zero day in Kaş. To me yesterday was a sort of a half zero day, so I want to continue further today. It will be a very hot day, though, as I became aware of yesterday. Coming down from the mountain, the temperature rose considerably. According to the guidebook, I should take the boat over to Limanağzı, which I will not do in any way.

The Greek island of Castellorizon (Meis) that lies outside Kaş. There is a small airport on the island and it is located so close to Turkey that I got a welcome to Greece-message on my cell phone.

On the way out of Kaş, I walk amongst tourists ready for their daily walks, when I am outside the town they are not to be seen. In the guidebook, the next stage is just the short walk to Limanağzı, two hours by its estimates. Is it because the writer thinks it is generally too far to the next place with accommodation that this stage is so short? I do not get any wiser of the walk.

The descent towards Limanağzı, turquoise water below.

After just about an hour, I arrive at what the book in my eyes almost describes as a death defying experience (ok, I do exaggerate a little here but). I have been warned against walking this section alone, in wet conditions and with a large backpack. I can check off that I am walking alone and quite possible that I carry a big backpack. The weather is though far away from being wet, above me the sun is baking incessantly, if it becomes wet it is because I sweat.

Tombs carved out in the mountains at the steep descent to Limanağzı.

Down to the beach, the path goes steep down, on that point I do agree with the guidebook, some parts contains attached ropes you can use to hold on to. I did not find any use of the ropes. The climb down is an easy scramble, with almost no climbing involved. Personally, I am of the opinion that it is a little bit wrong to describe this section as the guidebook does; it will frighten away people that probably would have managed to get down with no problems. The descent is very different from what you encounter at the GR20 on Corsica for instance, the Cirque de la Solitude is of an altogether other grade, still the book gives the impression that they are sort of the same. I had expected an exposed climb where I stood half balancing on the way down to be able to get my backpack with me.

On the other hand, I shall not complain, I enjoy the descent. Turquoise water beneath, historical tombs carved out of the mountainside and some funny scrambling.

Towards Çoban Plajı, the trail goes on a small ledge above the water.

It is a more isolated area the path enters after Limanağzı; I should not rely upon finding water. The trail becomes rocky and rough, the bushes dry, the earth red. From bay to bay. At a point, I suddenly hear the sound of waves crashing towards cliffs on the other side of me. It turns out that I walk on a small natural bridge of stone. Beneath me, the ocean goes in under the cliffs; I can look down into a deep ravine where water is sprayed at the cliffs with small rumbles. Further on, the path goes on a thin ledge above the water, before it continues over quarrelsome cliffs to Çoban Plajı.

Ufakdere, a former excavation site for a ship from the bronze-age, now a place with accommodation and a café.

In almost every bay that I come to there is a boat, everything from yachts to ornamented sailboats. It is popular to hire a boat with a crew down here. In Ufakdere, there was everything else than a modern boat they found, there they dug out a shipwreck from the bronze-age. On board the ship, they found amphorae's (jugs) filled with resin, ingots of copper, tin and blue glass, as well as luxury goods such as ostrich eggshells, ivory, ebony, drinking cups of bronze and copper, beads of amber and glass. The ship is no longer located here, it lies (almost complete) in a museum in Bodrum.

Deveçikaralan, a small bay. Above the bay, there were several houses illegally built, now razed to the ground by bulldozers.

The buildings used during the excavation work are now turned into a place for accommodation and a café. I take a longer break here. With the exception of the deluge on the way to Bezirgan, and it barely can be called a bath, I have not had a swim since I was in Gelemiş. It is about time, the water is cooling, even though it is not cold.

At the end of the Üzüm Iskelesi, a lonely palm tree grows up between the rocks; in the background, you can see the remains of the Roman tower at Dinek Tepe.

Sasha and Alice are at Üzüm Iskelesi (grape-harbour), we seems to be passing each other's steadily (not unusual on long distance trails). In defiance of the rumours, there is a good water source just nearby, so they are content with their walk for today and will stay here. I join them for a swim before I continue further, while Sasha gets to try the fishing rod of a local fisherman.

A salamander does not look further pleased by my presence.

The coast with its rocky path is left behind in the end and I move inlands. At Dinek Tepe stands the remains of a Roman tower, only three of the corners still holds. At a junction there is a chaos of waymarks, someone has gone to great lengths to mark that the trail is continuing on the gravel track and not onto a path leading away from it. It is painted crosses everywhere. Two German ladies having a break next to the junction clears up the confusion and tells me that the trail follows the path and not the gravel track. The wind has gotten stronger and there is quite the hold in it on the last dry section towards Boğazcık.

A cistern with an aqueduct to gather water.

In Boğazcık, I feel content with the walk. I meet again Melike in Ali's House. Which is nice, but quite surprising to me, until she tells me that she has skipped the part of the trial between Kalkan and Kaş. I am allowed to pitch my tent in the garden to dry it; it is still wet after yesterday's morning even though I put it out to dry on the floor of my guesthouse in Kaş. I dries quickly in the wind. The two German ladies are also coming here, also being on der Lykischer Weg.

Ali's House in Boğazcık, a nice stay with pleasant guests and hosts.

The place is nice. They are quite concerned here that it should be clean as opposed to how it was in Bezirgan, perhaps a little bit too much, but also as opposed to Bezirgan they got Efes here. I am satisfied with the day, but still there is something missing without me managing to pinpoint what it is. It was nice after Limanağzı, but not so very exciting; the heat may take the blame. Two weeks has passed.

<- KaşKaleköy ->

Saturday, September 26, 2015

The Lycian Way // day 13 // Gedikefe Ovası - Kaş

The Lycian Way day 13.
Distance: 4.0 (207.4km), time spent: 2:03 (83:48).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 497m / 6m / 497m.
Weather: Clear blue sky.


The night did not turn out so bad, but it still was not a festive night for the sleep either. There were sounds of animals roaming past the tent in the night as well, wild pigs grunting. Our tents are completely wet from condensation in the morning, while the plain seems just as dry, all the water there are probably gathered on our canvases.

Gedikefe Ovası, a large and rocky plain.

A cairn and cracked earth at Gedikefe Ovası.

I have decided that I will only walk to Kaş today, which nearly is just a stone's throw away. First and foremost the rest of the huge plain stands before us. Big, rocky, dry, cracked earth. We follow small cairns on the ground, left behind by other hikers, waymarking is scarce. Near the end of the plain, a tree is rising up from the ground in an awkward way, it turns out that it grows out of a large hole. Must have been a well once upon a time.

View down towards Kaş and where the trail continues towards Liman Agızı.

The plain ends in a small belt with vegetation, before cliffs and precipices abruptly lies in front of our feet. The view is magnificent, in extent one of the best on the walk so far, but not the finest. Kaş in its entirety lies below us. The Greek island of Castellorizon lies now in front of us with the blue sea as a backdrop. Both Serkan and I are a little bit downhearted that we did not go here yesterday afternoon; to sit on the edge of the precipice with a fire would have been amazing. Looking down at the lights from Kaş. Unfortunately, we would not have reached here before the sun had descended.

Nothing to complain about when it comes to the view from the cliffs above Kaş, below. Castellorizon (Meis) further out.

From the cliffs, there is a steep walk down, the town is about 500 meters below and most of the descent goes over just one kilometre. Down it goes in wide zigzags. It looks definitely more fun to go down for the paragliders that glides above us in the air, even though the path is good to walk on. On the way down, the path passes by a large cave in the mountain.

Inside a cave on the way down to Kaş.

Precipices and vegetation above Kaş, visible holes in the mountain.

It is only four days since I left Kalkan, but it still is a small transition coming to Kaş. More people, definitely more tourists, and more noise. For Serkan, this is the end of his trip, which started in Kalkan. He has still got some days left of his vacation; from here, he will catch a bus to Ismir. Before he go, we plan to find something to eat. I make a short excursion to a guesthouse, Kuytu Köşe Pansiyon, to check if they have an available room so that I do not have to drag my backpack with me further.

Street in Kaş, details from old buildings still apparent and next to the tree is an old saddle-backed sarcophagus.

Our choice of place to eat turns out to be an unfortunate one. Just after we have finished eating Serkan feels that he has a stomach problem, I am luckily off the hook. To add insult to injury, it turns out that there are not any free places on any of the buses going to Ismir. Instead, he will take a bus Antalya and hope to get a bus from there.

Inside a big tomb standing on a hill in the town.

I meet again Sasha and Alice, who could tell me that they had stayed in a guesthouse in Çukurbağ (so there was one there after wall, as it stood in the guidebook). They do not wish to stop here in Kaş and will continue further. Serkan go for a swim before he takes his bus and we say farewell. And so I am alone again.

The amphitheatre is still in good shape. In the background the cliffs we came down from.

Kaş was once Antiphellos and the port of Phellos. The steep path we came down to the town from is described as the link between the two places and the only direct route out of Antiphellos, to transport goods in that time must have been hard work. On a hill in the town, there is a big square tomb and a short walk across the hill leads you to a white amphitheatre. Nearby my guesthouse, there is a big saddle-backed sarcophagus, which is the most photographed grave in the town.

The sun going down behind the hills in the west, from the roof terrace at my guesthouse in Kaş.

Getting back in a bustling crowd was luckily not so bad. It is a nice small town, which has experienced some changes in the latter years, but you can still see buildings and details from the old houses the city consisted of. As with the guesthouse in Kalkan, the guesthouse I chose here (at random) also has a nice roof terrace I can sit down and relax at. The Lycian Way has come down from the mountains to the coast and tomorrow the trail will follow it further. That means higher temperatures, but at the same time possibilities for a swim in the ocean.


Serkan Aydın, who I walked together with has made this video from his walk, I make some guest appearances in it.

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