bike repair shop on the way to Kabak
we left Fethiye--minus 1 big pack which we left with the fine folks at Ideal Pension, to lighten our load for the hike--and caught a dolmus to the tiny town of Kabak.
breakfast at Ideal Pension
from Fethiye, Kabak is the farthest you can travel in the mountains by dolmus--the end of the line. our plan was to hike back along the Lycian Way to another tiny town, Faralya, that we passed along the way, where we had hoped to stay for the night.
but we met Leslie, Scott & Tim, who hopped on the dolmus in Faralya.
all Americans, but Tim has been living and teaching in Turkey for the last few years--as soon as the dolmus dropped us off in the middle of nowhere (Kabak), Tim befriended the owner of one of the pensions who gave us some fruit off his tree
...and directed us to the path behind his house that led us down this:
the path down to the beach
to this:
the beautiful beach at Kabak
after a short swim (how could you not swim here?) and a snack with our new friends, we decided to join them on a hike to Alinça...and back.
the 8 km there was incredibly steep--mostly uphill--it was physically challenging and extraordinarily hot out, but a beautfiul hike up the mountain...and even more beautiful on the 8 km back (which incidentally took us half the time)...we took a bit of a different route back, much closer to the cliff edge...scary but truly exhilarating.
Kabak to Alinça
goat on the way to Alinça
when we arrived in Alinça, we weren't even sure if we had arrived...if it wasn't for the herders and their goats we met along the way, or the farmer we met as we approached, (and Tim's ability to speak Turkish), there would have been no way to know if the 5 houses really constituted the town.
Alinça, which used to be a self-sufficient "town", just recently got a road in...the path we had just hiked used to be the only access...Bayram's house has a couple of cabins for weary hikers, and a picnic table that sits on the edge of the world, where we had a beer which Tim got Bayram's little son to sell us (Bayram was not too pleased when he arrived shortly thereafter, but having someone in the group who speaks the right language always helps...we left on a good note).
Bayram's son
view from Bayram's house (Alinça)
Bayram & sons at the house
we also picked up a weird German dude who was trying to stay in Alinça, with no luck, and followed us back to Kabak, emitting angry vibes the whole way...we did our best to avoid him...although he was behind us the whole way, and then still managed to beat us back to the Olive House when we took a wrong turn upon entering Kabak in the evening hours (and worried that we were lost and it was getting dark and we were hungry, we cut across a waist high field of scratchy bushes and bugs, to find someone who could point us the right way)
Alinça to Kabak
Leslie, Scott and Tim were all staying in Faralya (where we had originally planned to hike to) and so had negotiated a taxi rate prior to the hike with the guy who owns the Olive House in Kabak to drive them back to their pension (the dolmus had long stopped running)...
they were staying at an awesome place called George House on Butterfly Valley in Faralya--we liked the sounds of it (and the price!) but they said that the place was full--in fact, Tim was sleeping for a reduced rate in the common room, on a mattress behind the bar.
but they did say there were a couple of places right beside George House.
the couple of places in Kabak were quite pricey and although we liked the guy who ran the Olive House, we decided to pitch in for the ride back to Faralya and take our chances at one of the pensions there.
when we got to George House, it was almost dark, and by some freak miracle, Hasan (George's son) said they had one cabin left.
by the time we had settled in, gotten to the showers, eaten the wonderfully home-cooked meal, made with vegetables from the garden...
dinner at George House
...watched some backgammon matches, and had a couple of beers, we crashed pretty hard, without realizing where, exactly, we were sleeping.
when i woke up and opened our cabin door, i was greeted by this view:
holy. god(dess).
we were on a mountain.
perched atop a cliff, Butterfly Valley at our side.
the view down to Butterfly Valley
the cabins at George House
fresh breakfast at George House
breakfast was a delicious spread of traditional fare (hard boiled eggs, olives, tomatoes, cuke), fresh baked bread, and the freshest goat cheese and unpasteurized yogurt that, i swear, was just shaken out of the goat that morning, with tasty village honey.
we both agreed that we could easily live in the cabin at Butterfly Valley for quite some time...i was almost upset that we were heading back to Fethiye that night...but not until after another day of hiking the Lycian Way.
we decided we'd climb down into Butterfly Valley after breakfast before hiking from Faralya to Ölüdeniz. the trail started right behind the cabins...or finished, as we found out when we saw this at the bottom:
Hasan told us to be sure to follow the red dots on the trail...what he neglected to tell us was that we'd be scaling a rock face to get down into the valley.
there were ropes assembled along the way...for stability? or to hold on for dear life?
i'm still not sure.
the way down to Butterfly Valley
but what an amazing way down a mountain.
halfway down the mountain
it led to a beach and hippie commune/camp only accessible by the way we had come or by water dolmus. and a beautifully serene waterfall in the crevasse.
the beach at Butterfly Valley
by the time we made our way back up it was mid-afternoon and we were sweaty and exhausted and had 10 mins to decide whether we'd try the hike we had planned all the way to the next town, or just hit the beach.
ultimately the prospect of enjoying a beer on the beach and swimming in the mediterranean won our vote, and we frantically scrambled to grab our stuff, pay for our stay at George House and catch the dolmus.
we ended up in Ölüdeniz, a beach resort town popular with British tourists who pretty much take over...so much so that all the Türks here speak English and charge for most things in pounds. it was somewhat surreal and Wasaga-like, so we armed ourselves with some beers and snacks and found the farthest and most desolate piece of sand.
my new favourite fig cookies
i was feeling a bit guilty that we wussed out on the rest of our hike, but that guilt diminished with one (polar) dip--just because it was 30˚ outside, didn't make the water warmer...yikes.
it was a well-deserved break after a day and a half of pretty strenuous hiking...plus, we were on vacation after all. and bob didn't get burnt, which made it all the more relaxing.
after making our way back to the Ideal Pension in Fethiye, we bought our bus tickets to Göreme for the following night.
we wandered around the market for a while, and i bought Cathy a skirt and belt from the bellydancing shop.
we ate dinner at Pasa Kebap again, being so impressed from a couple of nights prior, but they managed to raise their prices in the 2 days we were gone.
still a deliciously cheap dinner.
lentil soup & eggplant salad
the pasa special, a twist on the famous iskender kebap
but the pistachio dondurma for dessert was the definite highlight...Türkish ice cream is rather like a chewier gelato. yum.
the night consisted of relaxing on the cushions at Ideal and enjoying our first nargile with some molasses tobacco...this was a tough decision to try out the nargile as we both quit smoking about 2 years ago...but...when in Türkiye...
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