Olympos and the Art of Relaxation

Dan and I reached Olympos Friday morning after taking an overnight bus to Antalya, a minibus to the Olympos "bus station" (a restaurant at the side of the road) and a dolmus (shared taxi) down the mountain to our hostel. We hadn't originally planned to come here but changed our minds on the advice of other backpackers. Olympos is definitely my favourite place so far.

We picked Saban Pansion after quickly glancing through the guidebook and agreed that it was the clear favourite. Not only is it inexpensive (and a popular stop for backpackers), it is absolutely gorgeous. Our treehouse sat in an orange orchard, surrounded by mountains, and just a short walk away from the Lycian ruins of Olympos and a pebble beach on the Med.

Olympos is the perfect place to relax and recharge and this is precisely what we did for the next three days. The mornings were bright and sunny, the afternoons sometimes rainy, and the evenings brisk (we spent them around the campfire or the wood stove). We spent a lot of time getting to know our fellow guests, the pansion owners (we concur with the Lonely Planet - Meral is the ultimate hostess), learning new card games, picking oranges and pomegranates from the orchards and eating.

One evening we set out in a minibus to view the Chimera flames - the eternal flames that have been burning for centuries on the slopes of Mount Olympos. The flames are the result of gas seeping from the earth and combusting once it reaches the surface. The legend states that Bellorophon was tasked with killing the Chimera (a fire-breathing beast with a lion's head, goat's torso and serpent's tail), which he did by flying Pegasus and lancing the monster with a spear. The spear turned to molten lead and suffocated the Chimera to death. The flames continue to burn today and are best viewed at night.



The rest of time we relaxed on the beach with Lotus (Australia), Pascal (Switzerland) and Gotz (Germany) playing cards (they taught us "the Zagreb Train Game" and Dan taught them Euchre) and building tiny Inukshuks with pebbles during the day and at night we all gorged on Meral's delicious home cooking together. Her food is so amazing that we wasted no time packing on the extra pounds.



By the end of our stay we were sad to leave but excited to explore some of the other noteworthy coastal towns on the Mediterranean. We promised Meral that we would return and, on Monday morning, we boarded a bus with Lotus and Pascal bound for Fethiye.

Happy Republic Day!

Today, the glorious Republic of Turkey celebrates 86 years. The festivities are relatively low-key but we were treated to a parade this morning which was a nice start to the day.

We've been busy exploring Cappadocia for the last 4 days and now that the cold front is moving in, Dan and I packed up the tent and will be boarding another bus tonight headed South for the warmer Mediterranean climes of Olympos (home of the gods!).

On Tuesday we visited Goreme's Open Air Museum - a well-preserved cave village that gave us a good idea of the size of the early Christian community and some insight into how they lived. That afternoon we biked over to the next town to explore Zelve, a cave community nestled into 3 adjacent valleys, which we were free to explore at our leisure by hiking along the trails and climbing up the tunnels into the interconnected multi-story chambers. Zelve had been inhabited up until 1952 when the rock began to collapse and the citizens left for Cavusin.

On Wednesday, we rented a scooter and travelled South to Kaymakli and Derinkuyu to visit the underground cities. Our first stop was in Kaymakli, where the smaller city is located, and after lunch, we went to the larger, spectacular site at Derinkuyu. The cities were quite elaborate, 45-55 m underground and 8 levels deep with hundreds of interconnected tunnels and chambers. The troglodytes lived and farmed above the ground but when they were threatened by invaders, they would retreat into their underground city which could house up to 60,000 people for up to 6 months. We had a ball exploring all the passages and tunnels, though it was definitely tougher for Dan who had to crouch to get through most of the city.

This morning, after purchasing our bus tickets and doing our laundry, we went for a hike through Rose Valley. The trail was well marked and well-worn, making for a nice leisurely hike compared to Zemi Valley. The views were absolutely breathtaking and the weather was thankfully cooperative - it was a spectacular way to spend our last morning here. We will miss the natural beauty proliferating in this region and the fantastic Cappadocian cuisine (savoury stews, pottery kebabs, meatballs, Turkish pizzas and apple tea). I cannot wait to come back!

Living the life in Cappadocia

For some strange reason, I thought we'd never make it here but when Dan and I made it to Cappadocia after a tiring 11-hour journey on an overnight bus, we immediately fell in love with the town of Goreme which is our base while we're in the region.

The town is absolutely stunning: We are surrounded on all sides by valleys of fairy chimneys and honeycomb cliffs made of volcanic tuff, which form a truly magical landscape.










Goreme is not the frigid country town we expected it to be. Though it gets chilly at night, the mercury rises all afternoon, with pleasant temperatures in the morning and early evening. We were keen to start exploring however once we found a place to stay - a comfortable, beautiful cave room (we opted for one night of luxury and comfort before setting up camp) - we ended up taking a long nap before exploring Goreme's nightlife (complete with Turkish wine and live music!).

This morning we said goodbye to our gracious host at the Elif Star Caves and returned to more modest digs at the Berlin Campsite, setting up our excellent tent in record time before a full day of hiking and exploration in the Zemi Valley.

We started off visiting a rock-carved frescoed church off the main road. But much of the fun began when we entered the valley tackling a challenging, barely discernible trail that saw us jumping over streams and chasms, walking through orchards, putting our climbing skills to use to bypass rock cliffs, and even walking across a fallen log as if it were a balance beam.


I must give props to my Ecco warm-weather hiking shoes for keeping me sure-footed on the trail. I hadn't used them much since hiking in Panama in 2008 and was worried that maybe they were an indulgent purchase but they've been mighty useful on this trip.

The highlight of our day was when Dan, in his infinite curiosity, scrambled down a cliff face toward a fairy chimney perched at the edge and noticed a painting through a small opening. I was only too thrilled to be bouldering outdoors (though it would have been easier with my climbing shoes) so we climbed up the side and discovered that it had once been a church and it was covered in brightly-coloured frescoes! We found a few more rock-hewn churches and cave dwellings - and we could barely contain our excitement. These churches date back to the 9th & 10th centuries (A.D.) before the Iconoclastic Period. We stumbled upon two of them by chance as we wandered the great outdoors together.


On the way back to our campsite, we took a small detour to "Love Valley" (a small, well-marked trail that weaves along tall, slender fairy chimneys shaped like oversized mushrooms).

Afterward we braved icy-cold camp showers before trying Cappadocia's culinary special - pottery kebabs. Meat is cooked with vegetables in a clay pot and, once cooked, the pot is broken in half and the dish is served. It was a delicious, savoury end to a wonderful day.