The Acropolis

The Parthenon has been under restoration since 1975. There has been a lot of controversy about how far they should go in recreating it. It is incredibly huge and no photo can really portray this. The other temples on the site--to Nike and Erectheio-- are dwarfed by it. We went with a tour group to see it. It was very crowded but well worth the visit. We are not fond of Athens as a city. The traffic is awful, the people are stressed and not friendly, there is graffiti everywhere, and we saw demonstrations in the street and armed police everywhere. We felt much safer in Istanbul! Oh, for the Golden Age before motorcycles and tour buses...

Goodbye to Turkey
We have said our sad farewells to the "Likyan Sisterhood" with promises to keep in touch, and are on our separate paths. Marlene and I are now in a fancy hotel in Athens. Suddenly everything is in Euros and expensive! Tomorrow we do the touristy tour of the Parthenon, etc. Will send photos then.

Patara
There was rebellion in the ranks today with many of the ladies voting for time at the beach in Patara instead of another grueling walk to see Roman aqueducts.

We did do a tour of the ancient town of Patara in the morning. This photo is of the Agora or market square. But then we were ready to "beach it"!

Tomorrow Marlene and I say goodbye to Turkey and our newly-made friends: Amy, Ruth, Margie, Angela, Nancy, Brigitta, Barb, Cheryl, Larene, and Shirley. And to our best ever guide, Cenk, who was an angel to put up with this feisty group for seven days on the Lycian Way. Onward to Istanbul and Athens!

This morning we left our hotel in Akbel and the van let us off to walk an old Roman road down to Patara we passed through a little village and down a country road passing orchards of apples and quinces. An old man at one of the houses stopped us and began pulling apples off a tree in his yard to give us. "Ei bayrumlar!" we called to him. "Happy holiday!" We are in the fourth day of the Feast of Eid commemorating the substituting of the ram for the sacrifice of Isaac. It is a five day national holiday here. Lots of eating is going on with families gathering to share food among themselves and with the poor.

Here is the Roman road we walked.

Kekova
Today was a rest day from our trekking. We took an all day boat ride around the Aegean, eating a traditional Turkish meal onboard while sunning and diving into the turquoise sea.

Here is an inlet where we stopped with boats similar to ours. We saw a sunken Lycian city, destroyed by earthquakes and a Roman necropolis in the hills.

Alinca to Akbel

Here we are standing among the ancient temples and tombs of Lycia in a small town named Sydima. Here we had a meal with a local family on their very special holiday known as the Feast of Eid in other countries and Kurban Bayrami in Turkey.

Climb to Alinca.

I knew this would be a hard day: 17km all up. We climbed the side of a mountain today on terrain much like yesterday's. The reward was a fantastic view of the Mediterranean. Many para gliders sailed below us as the Baba Dag region is a world famous spot for this.

Our reward that evening was our van driver Bayrum playing the "saz" and an impromptu Turkish dance with the hotel owner's mother leading the way (after a little persuasion!)

Faralya

This is the official beginning of the Lycian Way. It was actually a 12 km hike up a very rocky path and down a very rocky path!

Here is an example of the path up with one of our group, Margie, taking a break.

Lycian Way

We arrived in the little village of Karakoy and stayed at this hotel. A short trek took us up to a ghost town from the 1920's when after the Turkish War of Independence, Greek villages in Turkey and Turkish villages in Greece exchanged lands. This Greek village was never occupied, however, due to rumors of haunting and it was never reoccupied.

Today will be our first day of walking the Lycian (Lykyan in Turkish) 17 km. I will find out how well I can keep up with these experienced hikers!

Haram, Efes, Herefe

Sorry, but this is all I can show of the Haram or Turkish Bath that six of us went to in the morning. It has been in operation for over a thousand years.

This is a workroom within one of the villa excavations at Ephesus--a giant jigsaw puzzle!
My phone died before we got to the carpet shop so I have photos of the Turkish rugs only on my camera. Several of our group bought small but very "pahali" (expensive) ones. I now have a greater appreciation for this dying craft of hand knotted carpets. Herefe is the name of a family that produces some of the finest of these.

The Turkish Aegean

This is the view from our hotel room in Kusadasi, a tourist town close by Ephesus. Today is a very full one starting off with a Turkish bath. Then we tour Efes, as the Turks call Ephesus, then we have lunch with a Turkish friend of Shirley's who owns a carpet shop. We will learn how the carpets are made and have an opportunity to buy one (of course!)

Love Valley and Underground cities

Can you guess why it is called Love Valley?

Villages built underground refuges to keep safe from marauding Hittites, Seljuks, and miscellaneous invaders over the centuries.

Red Valley Hike

Here we are in the dramatic landscape of sandstone.

Cartoonish shapes. (Not us!)

Cappodocia

How is this for a view out our hotel window? We saw many balloons last night but alas, my balloon ride this morning was cancelled due to high winds.

Our hotel is like a little village built into the hillside.

Here is another view out our window. We are going hiking in these hills today.

Istanbul

Hard to choose a photo for today. This is Roman Cisterns under the city.

Here I am at the Spice Market.

And touring the Bosphorus Straits. Many adventures in just two days.

It's Istanbul, not Constantinople!

On our way! Atlanta, Rome, Istanbul.

My Turkish Adventure

Tomorrow I leave for Istanbul with my friend, Marlene. We will be joining 10 other ladies of a "certain age" including our indefatigable tour leader. Age will not deter us from scrambling up Baba Dag  and exploring the underground reaches of Cappodocia, nor from bargaining in the Grand     Bazaar or swimming in the Turquoise Mediterranean Sea. I intend to write a brief blog with a photo every day that I have a connection and perhaps fill it in with journal entries from my old fashioned written journal when I return home on October 11th. Merhaba!