We left Uzumlu and the delightful family after an early breakfast. This time a boiled egg rather than omelette. All the jams, fruit and vegetables from the garden and goats cheese from a friend. Metin (father) and mother waved us goodbye but Nevern (son) was still asleep, so the farewell was all in Turkish. For a while it was fairly easy going on roads but all uphill. Think heartbreak hill in the city to surf but 1.5 km. We met a Turkish couple going our way but neither spoke any English. We gathered they were waiting for a ride.
Soon after the fun began off road through the scrub and the usual rocks and more and more prickle bushes. We could see our destination of Akbel but then someone had built a house in the middle of the path. We were warned about construction and detours. We tried to go between houses but realised we would have a 3 mtr jump possibly onto someone’s car so had to climb further up the cliff on shale and up around a gully. Eventually we shimmied down over rocky terraces, paths and water way, and we were in someone’s back yard. We were about to knock on the back door to see if we could go through the house and down the cliff when we spotted a gap in the fence, squeezed through traversed out a bit and came back on their driveway. We could hear the people at home but just hope they didn’t see us. That was an hour out of our lives we were not getting back. Unfortunately the GPS is playing up again and there’s no blue dot showing us where we are but the map hones in to show us whereabouts we are and we knew we were between the trail and a road so just had to have guess work. Then in Akbel the same thing happened. Another grand house with golden gates built right in the middle of the road/trail but this time someone had marked a path around it through the thorny bushes and over a creek. Then into Akbel and there were our 2 Turkish friends – they had definitely got a ride. We had lunch in a road side restaurant with various road workers. Only one dish, chicken yiros either served with rice or bread roll, bought some water from the market 60c for 1.5 ltrs and soldiered on. We walked out of town with the Turkish couple relying on them for GPS to find the right path, passed the aggressive dogs we had been warned about, but mr Turkish had a dog whistle that calmed them and then once again another construction site but made our way around this one with mr Turkish’s help. We soon got ahead of them on a valley floor and then up onto a flattish path running alongside and on an old aqueduct. It went for over 3 kms and for the first time we commented that we were walking at normal speed and actually making some progress even despite the prickles and thorny shrubs that were shredding our arms and legs. A few gullies later and a rocky decent we came across Delikkemer which in an area where the ancient Romans/Egyptian/Greeks. (Whoever was running the place at the time) built a syphon going uphill. Instead of just an aqueduct it’s a clay pipe through square blocks of stone joined together.. thankfully they have stopped the trail walking across it and instead we had to scramble down and walk below it. This was our meeting place for Metin, we found our way out onto the road, and phoned him and after a little wait and a case of we could see him but he couldn’t see us and another phone call in no common language he spied us through the scrub and we were in the car on our way to Kalkan.
Kalkan is a seaside tourist town but it’s a steep walk down to the water and steeper coming back. I doubt we will see the harbour /beach. Our room is tiny but we have a terrace view over the water. The bathroom is about 1.3 mtrs x 1.8 and it’s one of those that you could shave your legs in the shower whilst sitting on the toilet. The door to the room and the bathroom are both about 1.8mtrs so of course Danny has taken some chunks out of his head.
We walked down to some of the tourist streets filled with upmarket restaurants and bars and half of England. We found a terrace bar for a gin and tonic and a beer and then back up the hill to a local restaurant recommended by the hotel owner for a lamb kabab.
After reading the description of the first stage of tomorrows walk – difficult, steep, get the legs pumping, poorly marked, easy to get lost……we have decided to catch a bus to about 3/4 of the way. Although the weather was milder, only 27C it’s still hot when there is little shade. Interestingly we asked about a taxi to the next place which is Saribelen but it’s a farming community in the middle of nowhere and the hotel owner here said no taxis would take us there. Not sure at this stage how our luggage will get there. Just hope it does.
No photos loading with this very poor internet, will post them tomorrow if the farmhouse has something better.
Jane treks Lycian Way 2022 