It looks like the photos are chronological for once - but in reverse order!
I said my farewells to "Sarah" of the Kaptan Ali bungalow hostel and made my way along Adrasan's curving bay, taking in the low profile but welcoming restaurants and hotels along the way.
As the road turns inland it runs alongside a creek with an abundance of ducks, and the scent of honeysuckle and orange blossom heavy on the air. I became aware that I had a couple of companions; without any encouragement I was being shadowed by two friendly dogs ( a mother and daughter I guessed by their similarity and interactions). I decided to call them Rinty and Blinty - Aslan (lion) is a popular name for large guard-dogs here but didn't seem appropriate for these amiable creatures.
I crossed the stream at a ford and found the tractor track heading towards Olympos. It climbed fairly steadily along a hillside, gradually gaining altitude and enhancing the view back to the hills of Gelidonia and a valley under open and greenhouse cultivation. After some time I was becoming unsure if this was the Lycian Way. Lack of consistent way-marking has plagued me on this and on parts of my previous walk here. At one point where a 'rival' track branched off to the right heading steeply uphill I decided to stay on the more level track. I continued for a couple of kilometres then, not recognising any features described in the guide book I doubled back and took the uphill track. I stopped a little way up in the shade of some pines and had my lunch - nuts, dried fruit, an orange and some "healthy life" biscuits. Just as I was returning to the track a bulldozer came rumbling up. I asked the usual "Likya yolu? Olympos?" The driver shook his head and pointed back the way I had come. A detour like this is costly in time and energy and reduces my confidence in being able to travel safely.
I was feeling revived and energetic after my snack however and carried on, still with my two four-legged friends in tow. Looking down into the valley to my left I could see the broad white sweep of a dry river bed and soon the path began to descend. While still at high levels I enjoyed the interesting mix of plants, many flowering, and small trees, including the Strawberry Tree, arbutus unedo, and carob. (Rinty and Blinty got excited whenever there was a carob near the road - they seemed to find the smell of decaying pods intoxicating. The dead and flattened body of a snake had a similar attraction..)
The track wound down until I was at the level of the river. The water level was so low that I was able to paddle across without getting water in my boots. Olympos was not far away now. I began to pass hostels and pensions but I was stopped in my tracks when I saw two ladies preparing and making borek, filled pancakes made from thin thinly-rolled bread dough known as yufka. Feeling a little peckish and due for a pause I asked for one with spinach and cheese filling and watched while they were made. I sat and ate it in the cafe-garden where wisteria blossom hung from arbours and the owners children played. (While I did so the Rinty and Blinty made some new friends and began following them - possibly in the direction of Adrasan)
Later in the season this garden would no doubt be full with a variety of people, many lounging on the raised Ottoman-style benches in the shade of vines whose foliage has yet to fully open. Some will come to explore the vast site of ancient Olympos, one of the six higher-status cities in the Lycian League. For some, like me it will be a staging post on the Lycian Way. For a huge number of younger people it will be a place to gather, meet and party, staying in complexes like Bayram's "tree-houses" next door. Even at this early end of the season with only a fraction of the bungalow rooms and dormitories full the sound of chatter and music was audible late into the night.
I checked into Varuna pension and was allocated bungalow 21. With hot water on tap I had the chance to shower and wash today's small clothes (I try and do this daily as I have only a couple of changes with me). I hope to spend time tomorrow exploring Olympic and by evening perhaps catching glimpse of the Chimeara!
No comments:
Post a Comment