Jane treks Lycian Way 2022

Selma, the lady of the house and the best driver in Turkey dropped us off half way to Myra. At first there was a misunderstanding and she nearly dropped us of at the base of a mountain with a very steep zigzag up but then took us to a road crossing offering us a flat downward road into town. I think Selma actually understood more English than we were expecting and maybe even was having a joke with us. She actually dropped us right next to a tomb advertising the local stone masons. It was about an hours walk to the Myra ruins through a lot of new developments. Mainly apartment blocks being built on hillsides and then any flat land below was just jammed packed with hot houses. A lot that we could see into were planting tomatoes. This being the end of summer it seems possible that they now grow the tomatoes all year round, and that’s probably the reason why the tomatoes are about as flavourless as those we by in Australian supermarkets.

The Myra ruins were quite amazing and are actually a detour from the main trail so we could have easily missed them. It’s a series of tombs built into the side of a hill. We tried to work out if the higher you went up the more important you were or if it was simply to do with the amount of carving on the front. Most of the carving had fallen off, but some were just laying in blocks on the ground. Of course all the tombs had been raided at some stage. The amphitheater was also good and was more intact than most.

After a glass of pomegranate juice we walked the couple of kms into town mainly through wall to wall hothouses. Some were glass but most plastic and once again as soon as they need to replace plastic, poly pipes or string it’s just dumped on the side of the road. Rubbish is a real problem

We tried a couple of ATMs but our card wouldn’t work or the machines were out of money and then had lunch in a restaurant mostly full of workers and labourers. Then it was around the corner to a very elaborate but empty square. Most of the shops down both sides were closed. At the head of the square was St Nicholas’ church. Tsar Nicholas 1 of Russia put in a lot of money to restore the church and it’s now currently trying to restore it again some 150 years later. There were quite a lot of Russian tourist visiting the church.

It seems the Turkish are a bit confused over St Nicholas. They believe he was the first Father Christmas, and there are lots of Father Christmas statues and signs around, either in English or saying Noel Baba. I thought the trinkets shop opposite the church would be a shoe in for a Christmas Tree ornament especially as there was a big Father Christmas out front but inquiries inside came up blank. They only sold Muslim paraphernalia or religious icons of St Nicholas..

We walked through the rest of town, found an ATM that worked and found the bakery where our luggage had been delivered, then after a bit of confusion managed to contact Ramazan who was to pick us up.

Ramazan understood that we had changed our walking program, but he wanted to show us where we should have walked tomorrow. He found the drop off point and then we looked up at a very steep zigzagging path along a cliff face. Nah, not doing it. A day in Finike along a flat beach and maybe the local ruins 5-6 kms out of town will do us.

There were a few other guests at the guesthouse with us tonight and one has walked the Lycian Way at least twice. He gave us a few pointers for the days ahead. Dinner tonight was rice and chicken soup, okra and beans, salad and rice, and lots of bread. We were grateful we had a chocolate bar in our packs.

We have made the conscious decision not to trek the huge mountain that is in our way heading east. The itinerary was to climb half way up on day one and then get picked up and returned to our new base on the other side of the mountain. Day 2 get dropped off where we finished the previous day and go up and over to half way down and get picked up and on day 3 finish off the downhill. All that we have read is that there are no villages, there is nowhere to buy water, there are no fountains or wells and it’s poorly marked and overgrown. Possibly the maintenance of the track is poor because on advice most people skip it. With the decision not to climb it gave us another rest day in Ucagiz so we joined one of the hundreds of day tours on a boat.

We had the whole day on a boat and we were lucky to have only about 20 on board. The boat probably takes about 50 and interestingly I could only see about 8-10 life jackets. We stopped about 5 times for swims in little bays always along with 4-6 other boats. Most of the time it was just off the back of the boat but at two places you could actually swim ashore and walk to ruins or have a mud bath. The sea was so clear, and very salty. It was almost impossible to sink and we just bobbed along like corks. The water was warm, about 23C. The boat cruised along and over the sunken city. It fell into the water as a result of an earthquake about 2000 years ago. You can no longer swim or snorkel over the ruins but we got a reasonable view from the boat.

Our last stop was at the harbour of Kalekoy where one again there was a castle ruin on top of the hill along with small amphitheater and ruins and tombs on land and in the water. Kalekoys other claim to fame is ice cream made from goats milk. I had the plain which tasted a bit like a frozen mild goats cheese and a scoop of pomegranate ice cream. Yummy.

Back home and after a shower and pre- dinner drinks at our third harbour side restaurant it was home for dinner, this time meatballs. Just as we were finishing up two Americans turned up and said they were hoping to walk some of the Lycian way tomorrow. Halil our host tried to help them and suggested the stretch we had done yesterday but 6 hours of walking was going to be too much for them. We suggested walking the 3 hours to Aperlei and catching the boat back in, which they thought would be good, but it was a bit concerning that they didn’t have a map, didn’t have a guide or GPS app and didn’t know about the markers. I somehow wouldn’t advise doing this trek as your first trek.

It’s back up to 27C tomorrow and we are only going to trek about 2-3 hours then have a look around the ruins and towns of Myra and Demre and then we meet our new host in a bakers shop on the highway. Maybe a kanafi pie on the menu tomorrow!

We were able to organise a relatively early breakfast and then we were off with packed lunch and plenty of iced tea in out water bottles. Really it’s not much more than sugary cordial but we have found it makes a nice change from just water. Here you can get a range of flavours including watermelon and pineapple which are both nice.

Walking out of town and we had a long stretch on paved roads which are pretty common around the various villages. I keep imagining men on hands and knees laying the pavers. The views were spectacular looking back to our village and further down the coast. The water is either a bright blue or a clear green. It is so crystal clear. There were several hills either on the mainland or the islands with castle ruins on top and/or several tombs. One thing we did notice is that even though the water is so clear lots of the shoreline is littered with rubbish. Plastic drinking bottles are the major culprit but also all sorts of refuge from the hundreds of boats. You see good waste as well as clothing, broken bottles cardboard etc. there are hundreds of boats most taking day trippers but many taking 3-10 day trips and then all the privately owned cruising up and down the coast.

The path today was the best to date. The paved road gave way to a dirt one, then to a gravel one and then to a fairly wide, flat dirt track with not so many rocks. I commented to Danny that it was the first time I was actually thinking of other things rather than wondering where to place the next step- over a rock, around a rock, on a rock and if on a rock will it hold or will it be wobbly or slide down hill. When you mind is not on the next step, it’s looking for a marker and wondering how many metres ago you saw the last marker. It certainly was more restful walking for about 3-4 kms and then we got closer to the sea and were back onto picking our way through the rocks and bushes, but at least it was relatively flat with few steep inclines or declines.

Once again there were quite a few ruins. It’s now not uncommon to come across old settlements, tombs, forts and especially water sources such as wells, cisterns and storage tanks.

By lunch time we came across a pebbly beach, and had caught up with a few people we had seen over the last few days. One a single man who lives in Turkey but spent many years in NZ and is American. The other couple not so friendly and possibly Dutch. We all gathered in the one small patch of shade, took it in turn to turn our backs on each other to change into our bathers and laid out our sodden sweaty clothes on the pebbles while we had a swim. We were lucky that we had packed our reef shoes as walking on the pebbles and getting out of the water is agony without them. We munched on our packed lunch, took turns again in the back turning dressing room and trekked on, through more meandering coastal rocky trails.

About a km from our finish point we came across a fresh water stream and had to cross a very makeshift wobble bridge. The stream entered into the ocean and about 1 km further there was another stream. Between the two streams was a sandy beach – our first to date. At last some our sand walking practice was about to pay off. Danny took his boots off and walked in the water, I took the shore, but it was pretty hard brown sand and just like walking on a dirt road. We arrived at our meeting place (a bar in a car park) with about 45 mins to spare and the owner of the bar served us our beer once he had finished his game of backgammon. Selma arrived to pick us up and we had another couple of firsts. 1 she wore a seatbelt and also had working ones in the passenger seat 2. She didn’t talk on the mobile phone while driving and 3. She wasn’t a frustrated rally car driver and took the windy mountain roads are hairpin bends at a reasonable speed.

Once again internet too poor to load photos.

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

We took the easy way out of Kas on a boat to Limanagzi. It only saved a few kms of walking but we were grateful when we saw the trail from the boat. It follows the cliff and in some parts at almost water level there is just a narrow ledge and a rope to hang on to. It was recommended not to do it alone or with a heavy pack. That read neigh on impossible for us. Our boat skipper through over a hand line to try his luck on the way but it was no luck. We met a couple of Turkish blokes at Limanagzi who were doing about 5 days of walking. They were about the friendliest we have come across. It’s quite noticeable that not many people (hikers) want to talk. On Most walks we have done there is a natural curiosity amongst walkers. Where are you from, where did you start, how far are you going today, where are you finishing, how have you found the track. Not on this track. Most just say hello and march on. There are also a handful of single males doing the walk with big packs. They are camping out, but we have noticed even the campers seem to duck into a guest house every few nights.

The walk out of Limanagzi was not too bad for the start. Meandering through a valley just having to pick our way through the usual rocks and looking for markers through the usual prickle bushes. Then the fun began. It was a long rock scramble around the waters edge. It was drop downs and step ups onto narrow ledges and trying to keep our nerve, with drop offs into the ocean. I sensed Danny was struggling in parts but I really couldn’t help him as I was so focussed on keeping my own nerve and concentration. All I could tell him was to take his time and go slowly. At one stage I also nearly lost it, taking about 3 attempts at trying to get a foot hold and lift myself up about 4 feet. There was only room for one foot and no obvious next step but eventually I found a hand hold and just had to go for it. About 15 mins after that and basically a rock scramble/rock jump we came across a tiny beach. We both needed to just stop, and take stock and get the legs and breathing back to normal. The beach was where the day tour boats anchor for a swimming break, so I changed into my bathers behind some bushed and had a swim. It was hard actually getting into the water as the rocks were both sharp and slippery. It was pick your way till about knee deep and then just try and float out through the rocks. It was harder getting out. We stopped a little further on at another beach to eat our packed lunch, at a restaurant shelter where we bought an expensive can of iced tea. Once again a few day tripper boats having a swimming break.

Covered ancient cistern

The trail out of Saribelen was described as long and difficult with a long scramble or slide down a cliff face to Kas. Oliver our host actually warned us not to walk it and instead go in the car with the luggage. After he had driven down to Kalkan to pick up luggage from a family walking with a 10 month old, his wife loaded us into the car with luggage and her friend to also pick up her mother along the way. Five of us and luggage loaded into a small Renault but at least the tyres were reasonable and the car relatively new. They had told us that many Turkish people keep their cars for 20-30+ years.

We have a nice hotel in Kas which is another tourist town but a little more laid back than Kalkan. Where as Kalkan was wall to wall English this town is known for its German tourists. Apparently Antalya is known for its Russian tourists.

We had lunch at a beachside restaurant.. it’s one of those places where you have to hire a lounge chair to swim but we managed just to have lunch there and then we worked out where the public beach ( about the size of a thimble) was and went back and got our bathers for a swim. The water seemed to be layered in warm and cooled sections.

We then walked around the harbour, which has a large police presence.. water police, the ordinary police station manned with people with automatic guns and a courthouse.. Danny managed to stop right next to a sign which said photographers forbidden to take photos. It was right next to the immigration point where the ferries come in from the island about a km away which is actually owned by Greece. We had dinner in a terrace restaurant- they are all terrace restaurants and then headed to the town square where they were announcing the winners of the world free diving competition.. we managed to have our photos with the Ukrainian team so we could send a photo home to Olya our next door neighbour. During the afternoon we did manage to walk to some of the ruins including the amphitheater but the most amazing thing is that they have ruins throughout the town – at a roundabout, up a shopping street, by the harbour, in the market etc

This morning we were all set for a boat ride out to some islands and swimming stops but with a storm brewing no skippers we’re taking their boats out. Instead we did some walking, Danny had a swim at little pebble beach, we went to the Friday markets, had lunch, a siesta and then went to one of the swimming beaches where you hire a chair or rather if you spend $20 a person on drinks, the chair comes free and you have access via a ladder into the water which is about 20 feet deep, crystal clear and with salty buoyancy.

Typical of the beaches. Poor access

We looked at that mountain behind Kalkan and after inspecting the guide realised that we had to walk up over the mountain after an unpleasant stretch along a busy highway. We knew we didn’t have it in us and asked our host about buses. There was a bus going to Bezirgan which would get us up over the mountain and with about a 2-3 hour walk to Saribelen, our destination. That sounded fine by us. The first trick was finding the bus stop which was a 500mtr walk uphill and asking about 5 people on the way if we were going in the right direction. Eventually we got there with about 10 mins to spare and loaded on the mini bus with the locals. It’s a very tight squeeze in the mini buses especially if people lay their seats back which most seem to do. Luckily we got seats at the back and 3 between us so room for our packs. Then 20 minutes of heart in mouth while we winded up the mountain at breakneck speed, with sheer drop offs watching the bus driver chat on the phone for most of the journey. We stopped at Saribelen bus stop (no one told us we could actually stop there) and loaded on an old lady with 6 bags of produce. It was only 10 in the morning so not much point in us getting of and we drove on to Bezirgan up over another mountain. Off we got at it was a little village with a pretty ‘village green’ – a built up seating area around a shady tree. We took stock and then stocked up at the store with muesli bars, nuts and the last ice creams of the season that had seen better days. We found the trail and then a pathway which was blocked by a lady with 2 goats and had to wait for her to come our way before we could have our turn down the lane. She wasn’t a happy soul but I did manage to find a couple of figs on a tree nearby. Then it was up and up and over the road and up again watching the goats on the mountainside near us and a run away dog being chased along the road by his owner on a motor bike. I might say no one much wears helmets on motorbike and never on a push bike. We did see an accident from the bus – a motorbike V car. Most people free wheel it down hill on motorbikes and even cars to save on fuel.

Anyway we got up and over the hill and found ourselves on the road to Saribelen, the one we had come up on the bus. We decided to walk the road rather than scrambling up the remaining hill, and in retrospect it was a good choice as the path came down through a section that had been burnt 2days before. We had seen the water bombers 2 days before at Uzumlu and smelt the smoke. Our hosts in Saribelen had packed their belongings expecting to evacuate as the fire reach a point about 500 mts away. We can see the burnt mountain side from our room. About 200mtrs from our guest house we found a very hippy camping ground/restaurant and had lunch. It was adorned with scarecrows, a huge mask, tinkling bells, bunting etc. also the very familiar raised pergolas with curtains where families dine on cushions around a low table. There were a couple of men playing backgammon and drinking endless cups of tea. We had a plate of meatballs and a local pizza which is a dough a bit like a damper filled with tomato paste, cheese and herbs and cooked in a pan on an open fire. The owner took our photo for his Facebook page. Then it was up the road to our guest house the Mozaik where someone has decorated lots of walls and items with mosaic tiles. It’s run by a young couple. He’s French and she’s Turkish but they both lived in France for several years, so both speak fluent French, English and Turkish. He was a scientific chemist and she a cinematographer. He loves to cook and when she drove to Kalkan to pick up our luggage bought some fish for our dinner. He also made his own bread which is delicious.. We all ate together on the roof terrace with a couple from Germany but he was actually Russian and a Turkish friend of the owners. In the lounge corner was another Turkish couple who we’ve met along the way. They might have had a tin of tuna in their room. I think we have worked out they have also caught many buses. Their boots are just too clean. We had an evening stroll to the local store to pick up a couple of beers and a couple of large bottle of iced tea. It was a peaceful night in the country with no doof doof music but the mosque is just across the paddock and of course the 6 am call to prayer is on loud volume.

Breakfast was on the roof terrace again, complete with the yummy homemade bread and a fried egg. Then our host Oliver dropped us at Gokceoren, which was meant to be our end point but it made more sense to walk backwards and home to Saribelen rather than get to Gokceoren and have to phone Oliver to pick us up. The farmers where we started came out into the garden to make sure we had walking poles and to hand us grapes and apples, but before we started Danny realised he had left his hat behind at the house so we fashioned a bandanna for him from a triangular bandage we had in the medical kit that was in his bag. The Boy Scouts would have been proud.

After and initial up over rocky terrain we hit a very long flat stretch with wide open paths and through various paddocks and terraces. The most surprising thing today was the number of wells. Flat land with a ring of rocks and then just a well. Most we looked down had water and I’m not sure how the livestock doesn’t fall down them. Some had a bucket and string jammed in between the rocks and some had square cement trough along side where they obviously bucket the water for the livestock to drink.

At about our half way mark we came across a shepherds house. This man is famous for being friendly and welcoming to trekkers but he wasn’t home and about 200 mts on we saw him walking across the flat in front of his house yelling. I think he was calling to us but his voice was drowned out by a rock breaker at work down in front of his house. Either way we’re not turning back as I wasn’t in the mood for tea or salty yoghurt, but around the corner was a shelter with shady table and chairs so we sat and had a snack and the last of our iced tea. We both felt the sugary iced tea was a good change from the water. Soon the Russians came along and they were expecting the shelter to be a cafe so walked on disappointed. Then as we got up and left a few coins on the table along with some other contributions a walking party of English people came around the corner. Their Turkish guide explained that the rock crushing and new road was going straight through the Shepherd land and his lifestyle and land and 2000 goats were being told to move on. The shelter was in fact built there for the road workers who were crushing rocks and building the road. I told the tour leader to pick up the money and give it to the shepherd. I did see him pick it up. I only hope it got to the shepherd.

Oliver had pointed out a short cut home but for once we were ahead of time so we decided to take the main trail route which looped back around the town. We found a shady rock and ate our lunch provided by Oliver and I jokingly said it’s 1pm we only have 2km to go we will be home and in the shower by 2pm. Wrong. It was uphill, through prickly bush, constantly looking for markers, constantly checking GPS, occasionally having to double back, walking on pebbles they had filled the path with to stop the erosion and then to top it off a bum slide down passed the cemetery onto the main road. It was 2.15 by the time we got in the door.

We are not walking tomorrow. The planned stretch is described as long over grown, poorly marked and difficult along with wild boars and wolves. We are going in the car with our luggage to Kas we’re we also have a rest day planned and hopefully a boat ride. That’s if the weather holds. It was 26C today. Great trekking weather but it’s expected to rain for the next few days.

Once again the internet is too weak to load photos. I will have to try in Kas.

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.