Turquoise Coast | Elaine-iaK's Travels: A Traveler's Tales of People, Places, Photos, Pools… and CHOCOLATE!

Another beautiful day in paradise—at least while we were on a hike and during our swim.

Today’s hike was quite a workout, but well worth it once again! This time, only four of us joined Nuri, while the remainder of our group stayed on board the boat and relaxed.

Following a steep climb up and over the mountain, we descended into a valley and explored the ruins of Lydia, a 4^th century BC city. Due to its remote location, we never saw any other tourists during our hike, and it was wonderful! (That would change at Ephesus!)

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

We did, however, see some (surprising!) wildlife. There were bats:

And a few tortoises. Nuri, a softie, shared his bottle of water with one of them:

In the valley, we saw our first house, the home of a couple. They earned a living by farming as well as selling handmade walnut woodcraft to hikers passing by. Mutlu, invited us into his yard for hot tea and to see his handicrafts. The bonus was also getting to meet their two very sweet dogs! And I was pleased to purchase a small bowl Mutlu had made—a nice way to remember the trip.

I was ready for a refreshing swim following our return to the boat, and refreshing it was! Brrr!

The afternoon ride to our next destination along the Turquoise Coast was a wet one. A storm had blown in, the seas were rough, and the rain came down in sheets! Along with two others from our group, we rode out the storm in the plastic-enclosed dining area on deck, keeping our eyes on the horizon to help prevent seasickness.

Once the storm cleared and we arrived at a cove for the night, it was gorgeous! Thankfully, it was nice and calm, so we could enjoy our dinner on deck.

For my post-dessert dessert, I pulled out some of my chocolate haul from around Turkiye. Ulker (on left) is the company that bought Godiva and produces it for the U.S.A. in a town outside of Istanbul.

Coming up next: TURKIYE #14: A RIDE UP THE DALYAN RIVER TO KAUNOS

Our boat was anchored in a quiet cove overnight, and we were fortunate to wake up to such a beautiful day for our hike in the Greek “ghost town” of Kayakoy, located south of Fethiye. Following breakfast on board, the crew took us to shore, and we were transported to Kayakoy by minibus.

(For all photos, click on the image for a full screen view.)

Kayakoy has such an interesting—but sad—history. The people of this town were Greek Orthodox Christians and lived in relative harmony with their Turkish-speaking Muslim Ottoman rulers from the 14^th century until the 20^th century. In 1914, a campaign was started by the Muslims who wanted the Greek Christians out of Turkiye. In 1919, 6,500 villagers from Kayakoy (as well as other Greek Christians in Turkiye) were forced to leave by the government, and many died walking the 110 miles to cross Turkiye’s border. Others were forced into Ottoman labor.

From 1919-1923, the city depopulated, and then in 1923, the Greek and Turkish governments agreed on a population exchange. The Greeks living in Turkiye were relocated to Greece, and the Muslims in Greece were sent to Turkiye. All these people were forced out of their homes, soon to be occupied by newly exchanged residents. The Muslims who were sent to Turkiye refused to live in the homes of the previous Greek occupants, however, because many Greeks had died in their homes. They said there were “ghosts” in those houses, so that is how it became an abandoned “ghost town.”

In 1954, some of the regulations of the treaty were lifted, so some of the victims returned to what they had viewed as their country—the place they had lived their entire lives until they were forced into exile.

Currently, 925 people live in the village, but most of the previously abandoned structures sadly remain that way.

The hike, very steep at times, was beautiful and well worth the effort. The views were spectacular at the top, and the abandoned homes were quite photogenic.

The building with the flag at the top of the hill was our destination. It was a steep climb!

Another hiker offered to take our group photo.

Views from the inside looking out:

Back in the little village of Kayakoy, we had some free time to wander around:

I fell in love with these hand-painted wood and stone magnets and purchased a couple of them.

The view from the bus on our ride back to the boat,

Next up: TURKIYE #13: HIKING & SWIMMING THE TURQUOISE COAST

Elaine-iaK's Travels: A Traveler's Tales of People, Places, Photos, Pools… and CHOCOLATE!

Tag Archives: Turquoise Coast

TURKIYE #13: HIKING & SWIMMING THE TURQUOISE COAST

TURKIYE #12: HIKING KAYAKOY, A GREEK “GHOST TOWN”