It looks like winter, but we are in the peak of spring. The trees are dead. A huge bushfire came through here in February, 2009. Many people were killed in Marysville, the town at the bottom of the mountain. This area is the main area for cross country skiing in Victoria and is a short drive from Melbourne (less than 2 hours). For a map and more photos see link to map
Much cooler in Istanbul. Didn't look at the map, having too much fun walking down Istiklal St, so got lost looking for the hotel. Asked around, eventually found it, next to Hotel Libya. Crowds of people on a Monday night in Istiklal St. Great to spend a day in Istanbul, walked down through Galatasaray and across the bridge, through the spice market. Got to the Hagia Sofia early but there was still a queue. The Musuem of Islamic and Turkish Art is a lovely building and some wonderful carpets and other pieces.
This has been a short but really great trip. I did a lot of it on my own, but thanks to Murat, I went far in a short time, and learned a little bit more of what goes on in this country.
I have booked my flight for April 2012 already, I will be returning with Alyson to do what we intended in 2011, except we are making it up ourselves.
I get the bus from Kaş to the dolmus stop at the top of the hill above Çıralı. The dolmus down the hill costs more than the bus from Kaş (25TL v 15TL). Apparently Çıralı and Olympos are very popular weekend party places. I find a pansiyon on the outskirts of town, close to Chimaera. The ultra marathon people are following me again, and have set up their tents on the beach. It is raining as I come into Çıralı, and I put on my rain coat for the first time, but it is too hot and I take it off again. I walk a short 5km over to Olympos. The ruins are overgrown in the forest and scrub. At the other end of the ruins there are numerous bars and pansiyons, catering for a crowd that comes on the weekends to drink and go via the ruins to the beach which is also home to nesting turtles. Not sure how all this co-exists. A very strong wind blows from the mountain Tahtalı Dağ, apparently there is a very large difference in temperature and pressure between the warm sea air and the cool mountain air. The next morning I walk up to Chimaera. About 250m up the mountain there are naturally occurring flames coming out of the rocks. There are legends about monsters and the eternal flame. I continue walking over the mountain pass to the village of Ulupinar, famous for fish farms. The track on the south side of the mountain is harsh and stony, very hard going.
It would be great if people would carry down their empty water bottles. A tree has been decorated with the remains near the top of the path. The north side is a complete contrast with shady forest, and cyclamens growing near the path. Ulupinar has water flowing in numerous gushing channels and pipes. I am glad I am carrying only a light day pack, it is quite treacherous walking back down the south side, but I definitely need new hiking shoes. These Asolos are great but 500km in Spain, more than 100 in Australia, Jordan, Egypt and now Turkey, time for a new pair.
I say goodbye to Murat and become a conventional tourist for a day. I go on a boat trip to Kekova, a sunken city near Ucagiz. I meet Julia and Henry, two New Zealanders. Henry was bitten by a dog while running near Ovacik. He has had rabies and tetanus shots, and is very pale by the end of the day. A beautiful day swimming and seeing amazing things in the warm Mediterranean Sea.
We get conflıctıng advıse on how to fınd the path, but a guy on a motorbike points us back up the hill past his cafe. A few minutes later two Brazilians ask us for directions to the path and we walk together for a few hours. It is very hot today, and we walk through more rocky paths with sublime views of the coast. We hear gun shots coming down a hill, assume it is hunters. A few minutes later we come across two guys with shotguns, hunting birds, not pigs. We are looking for the village of Delikkmer, they tell us it is at the top of the very steep hill in front of us and there is a bus that goes from there. We climb over the hill with several stops for rest, water and fresh socks. Walk for another hour, no sign of Delikkmer. Not many cars on this road, we need a lift. We stop for another rest, Murat is sitting on the road and has to scramble out of the way when another battered old Renault comes along but going the other way. We walk a bit more, then some guys marking the route for the ultra marathon give us a lift in the back of a landrover to somewhere near Delikkmer. We walk up a big hill on the road, then down the other side. A dolmus goes past going the other way. An hour later we reach the main road and hitch to Kalkan. We get the bus to Kaputaş beach. Kaputaş Beach
Another stunningly beautiful beach with clear water. We stay there a few hours then get the dolmus to Kaş.
View from the pansiyon in Kaş of the Greek island, Meis
We have a lovely breakfast with the muhtar and his family, with the yellowest egg yolks I have ever seen.
A man comes on his tractor and fills his spray unit with water.
News from the pig hunt - they didn't find it.
We set off through the village, lose the markers after about 15 minutes. A man looking after some sheep points us in the right direction. It is the same guy we saw and spoke with briefly in the village the night before. We walk up through a stream bed, steep uphill to the right. At the top we come to a recently paved road. Murat wants to go left, I think the guide book suggests right. Murat rings the imam in the village to get his advice. We go right up the hill. We walk past an area with a big tent set up - there is a ultra marathon being run today or tomorrow. People are paying $900 to run the same route we are walking. We walk through forest then find a road and walk down into the small town of Bel, population about 50. We have tea with a lovely family with a cok guzel bebek (very cute baby), and come across 2 Belgians. Turns out the man and his wife were the people who passed us on the motorbike on the road to Sydma. We walk up the road, then through forest with the Belgians, then begin a descent down a very steep rocky and fairly tricky path. I really need to get new hiking shoes, the tread is letting me down, well that is my excuse, I fall over two times coming down this stretch.
We pass through Gavuragili, not much here, and climb out a steep path to the road. We are heading towards Pydnai, long walk on the road with no cars. We stop for lunch and a drink at a very well promoted Pensiyon. Murat gets a lot of conflicting advice about the direction to Letoon. Pydnai is a sea of glass houses, and there seem to be more tractors than cars. There is a huge plain growing vegetables under glass. We walk past back yards and kids home from school and find the road. Two men stop and offer us a lift to Letoon for 10 lira. We accept and are dropped at the ruins. Letoon on Wikipedia Murat is told about a dolmus about a kilometre away that goes to Xanthos, so we walk and find the stop. Two minutes later it comes. Xanthos is near a big prosperous town called Kinik. Another huge area covered in glass houses. We leave our bags at the Otogar (bus station) and walk up to Xanthos, a world heritage site, most of which is in the British museum: Xanthos on Wikipedia We get the last bus to Patara at 7pm and are dropped off 5km from the town. The road is well lit, and we get a lift from a man in a battered Renault. He drops us off at his brother's hotel, we find the car doors that open and Murat negotiates us a good deal. Patara is a beach town, with a bit of a hippy feel and more ruins. Very long day.
Spain May 2010. Walked some of the Via de la Plata from Seville to Casar de Caceres. Returned in April 2011 to complete the unfinished bits from Merida to Salamanca. An interlude in New Zealand in November and Vietnam for Xmas/New Year (calendar). Turkey, Jordan and Egypt May 2011. Returned to Turkey in September 2011 and walked the western end of the Lycian Way.
A very strong wind blows from the mountain Tahtalı Dağ, apparently there is a very large difference in temperature and pressure between the warm sea air and the cool mountain air.
The next morning I walk up to Chimaera. About 250m up the mountain there are naturally occurring flames coming out of the rocks. There are legends about monsters and the eternal flame. 
I continue walking over the mountain pass to the village of Ulupinar, famous for fish farms. 
The north side is a complete contrast with shady forest, and cyclamens growing near the path. Ulupinar has water flowing in numerous gushing channels and pipes. 
We have a lovely breakfast with the muhtar and his family, with the yellowest egg yolks I have ever seen.
