We stays at a guesthouse that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere and I’m not sure what it’s attraction was – why people stay there. It did have the best pool to date and we were given a bungalow complete with four poster bed and mozzie curtains which were easy to get tangled up in. It also had the best pool to date, however when we turned up they were not expecting us and our luggage was not there. Poppa phoned our tour company who contacted us to say he was getting our luggage from Kas. We had our bathers in our backpacks so had a swim and Poppa decided to have a siesta on one of the pool lounges. By 4:30 I was getting worried as he was still sound a sleep and a few text messages back and forth and our luge was to arrive by the son at 5 pm. Mine did turn up at 5 but not Danny’s. A few more text messages and phone calls and it was delivered around 6 pm
We had dinner that night in the pool side cabana along with another young couple who were trying to find a room. They were told both our place and the next were fully book so ended up taking one of the pool side day beds complete with curtains and light, for $10. At about 9pm in rolled a tour group who then had dinner but we were well finished and in bed by then.
In the morning the son drove us to our starting point. If we had walked it we would have been about 5 kms but by road it was about 15kms, and yes about 30 mins of terrifying driving. No seatbelts except for the section on the motor way. Mountainous roads and hairpin bends all at a great speed and often the driver showing Danny on the mobile phone where we were going. I was watching the GPS from the back seats and could see the hairpins coming up thinking ‘will we make this one’.
Once we got dropped off the walking was not too bad. There were a lot of flatter bits and muddy paths. It had rained overnight or the day before and it was amazing how wet the track was and how the silt turned into sticky mud. It was at least soft to walk on but the problem was that it built up on the shoes and then when you went to step on a rock you could feel yourself slipping. We just can’t seem to win on this trek. Every surface has a new set of challenges. We found a flat rock to sit on for a break just as a lone traveller came by and offered to take our photo – one of the few we have together.
We were looking forward to having a swim at a beach marked on the map. It was a chance to swim over some sunken ruins but when we arrived it was just murky shallow water and not worth getting wet for..we enquired at the renown purple house for lunch but they sent us on to the next restaurant. We asked about a boat ride and the purple house phoned ahead to her husband to work it out for us. We were told to walk ahead and the husband was out on a motorbike and he would show us the way. He did find us and he did show us the way but I’m not sure you could call it a motorbike. More like a cross between a lawn mower and a mini tractor.
We found the restaurant which was the boat house and arranged the boat trip and had lunch while the boat skipper cooked and served lunch to about 5 tables. He would be ready to take us when lunch was served. We noticed both an Aussie and a New Zealand flags on the wall just when our two Turkish mates came by. They had overtaken us several kms back. They always ask how Danny is travelling as they also had found the previous days rock scramble terrifying. They talked about the ANZACs and the area and how the service each year is very sad.
Our boat ride into Ucagiz was lovely. Just the two of us in a fast dinghy, but in places bumpy and I got a couple of facefulls of sea spray. Our guest house is only 20 mts from the harbour but pretty run down. This little village has put a stop to progress in an attempt to keep its fisherman village charm. Everything is pretty well in need of some maintenance but at the same time between 10am -4pm each day there are hundreds of tourists and the locals trying to make a few dollars. This is the major boat tour place for the sunken city and many of the special ruins and castles. There is probably more boats in the harbour than there are people living in the town.
Photos failing to upload again. Will try and post photos in a couple of days
Jane treks Lycian Way 2022 