Were staying with a fantastic and welcoming Turkish woman, Fevy, who lives alone in an upscale neighborhood about 8 km from the harbor. She's from Antakya, though not traditional at all (doesn't cover, isn't married) and loves to travel.
Fevy works during the day so Chris and I vacated her house, taking our bikes on a long ride out of town to the otogar. We locked up there and paid for a dolmuş (furgon) to Termessos, a large set of ancient Lycian ruins up in the mountains. Our first paid transport! Weird. Dropped off at the ruins turnoff, still 9 km away from the entrance, we hitched up the long steep mountain, picked up by a Dutch couple on holiday.
Exploring the forest trail
Termessos is a fairly large site, dating back to pre-Lycian times and absolutely covered in huge broken tombs a la Lycia. The people who inhabited this city were known to be fiercely warlike and difficult to conquer, even by Alexander the Great.
Would be hard to conquer these folks
Chris and I scaled the hiking trail up about 30 minutes through dense pine forest and chunks of crumbled stones until we reached the enormous amphitheater. I know I put a lot of amphitheater pics on the blog (mostly because they're usually the most photogenic aspect of a ruined city) but this must be added because the giant elevated arena surrounded by enormous cliffs is amazing! Can you imagine watching a sports game up here??
Amphitheater with a view! By far the best!
Then we got a little lost, and lost from each other. I ended up scaling the backside of the mountain to the watchtower, and losing my sunglasses on my way down. Then back up to find them, with no luck. Shucks! How am I gonna bike blinded by the blazing sun?
Rock cut tombs at Termosses
By the time I got down, quickly passing the iconic rock cut tombs Termessos is known for, Chris was the last man standing in the parking lot. 9 km away from the highway. Oops.
Inscripton on some Lycian tombs
The guard, who was leaving on his motorcycle, offered to give one of us a ride. Chris, being the patient gentleman that he is, insisted I go and he would hitch with the group in the tiny red car, the final vehicle in the lot. So I went down and waited about an hour until Chris arrived; we walked to the highway and hitched back to the otogar. Disoriented in the dark, we took the wrong turn and ended up on a highway heading to Phaselus, needing to backtrack several km and then restart the 16km trek to Fevy's apartment.
Kind of a disaster excursion. But the ruins were excellent! Truly stunning and I wholeheartedly recommend them, as long as you have your own car. :)
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