Day 72: Kas - Alinca (nearby)

Saturday October 19

Cycled: 72km//5+hr//14km/hr

We awoke to blue skies and little wind, a cycle tourists dream (one of many)! With a gift of two hard boiled eggs (selected through their keen understanding of the weight/effort ratio), a roll of dutch dropjes (black licorice), white anise muisjes, a container of salt (amazing!), and a heartfelt goodbye from Fritz and Anika, we set off down the road. The coastal route from Kas to Kalkan was AMAZING (that world is getting  thrown around a lot lately, I know... along with beautiful). We had set off fairly early, and had the road to ourselves. The ocean views, all the impossible blues, and bright glorious sun (are you getting tired of this yet cold, rainy, snowy(?) Canada). One of Turkey's top ten most beautiful beaches would be our destination today: Butterfly Valley, Faralya. In keeping with our awesome experience last time, we decided to get off the D400, no matter what the additional hills, elevation, and distance would result. 

Fritz and Anika bid us farewell!

Their converted fire truck! They have a bookcase in there!!! They sent us off with:

Dropjes !!!

White anise muisjes

And SALT!!! Yes!

For lunch, we took refuge in the only shade we could find, next to a dilapidated building near Adakoy. Peacefully eating, a man and his son came by to eat their own lunch, and juicy ripe pomegranates. Soon, we too were eating pomegranates, courtesy of these generous folks. The tasty largest most ripe pomegranates ever. The children in Turkey all seem very eager to speak English, usually starting with "Hell---o", spoken with the same influx as "Sa-lem".

We turned off the D400 and headed for the smaller, less traveled roads through Bogazici and Karaagak in the direction of a mountain range, and the coast, knowing full well this would take us up to elevations of 1200m. We went through many smaller villages, each with their own mosque, and tell tale minarets appearing through the trees. Our water collection stop was in a small hamlet that isn't found on the maps. Madalene hopped off her bike to look for the tap, and was quickly swarmed by little kids. One trying to sell a small jar of honey (plentiful here), and the others just wanting to practice their English skills. A set of twin girls, 10 yrs old, explained the holiday that is going on in Turkey right now, using a combination of gestures and sounds, including a throat slit with her thumb then a hand to mouth gesture suggesting eating. Kurban Bayrami, a festival celebrating the Biblical and Kur'anic account of Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son, is in full swing. Each person may sacrifice a sheep or goat on the first day, have a feast, and give the rest to charity. That explains some curious roadside finds of late.

Did I forget to mention this ruin in Kas? How could I? Uhm, because they're everywhere in Turkey!

One feels obliged to at least get a view from the top!

Quintessential mosque.

Oh look, another ridiculously beautiful blue beach in Meditteranean Turkey!

The tomato harvest is on!

And so is Kurban Bayrami. I suspect this goat may no longer be around.

As we road up the valley we found ourselves in, the landscape changed dramatically, was more agricultural, with careful land clearing and highly ordered terraces. As we approached the coastline much quicker and easier than expected, and naively thought the GPS must be incorrect about the elevation gain. Either way  the sun was setting, and it was time to look for a spot to camp. We located a little path leading to a row of bee hive boxes, and stumbled upon the Lycian Way hiking trail. We also found a perfect clearing for a tent. Upon further inspection, Madalene found an incredible ledge that would stand her 500 meters above the sea (looking straight down). While admiring the view, four other hikers came by on the trail. Claudia and Simone from Switzerland decided to pitch alongside us, and this made for a very entertaining evening, complete with our first campfire and our first taste of Raki!

Terracing all around.

I can only imagine the work required to keep entropy at bay here.

Heading down a path on the side of the road to look for a campsite. You never know what you might find.

Like, a massive cliff edge that drops vertically to the ocean.

Clearly, one should stand close to that edge.

Or lie close to that edge.

Or, eat a ripe juicy huge pomegranate a near that edge. 

Simone and Claudia made entertaining camping partners.

Simone and Claudia's tent was mini! In the morning, they confessed they'd never actually slept in it together before. I gather it was a little cramped. It makes Tadpole look HUGE. Here we also observe the Turkish tradition of camping as close as possible to your neighbor, for NO GOOD REASON. In this case, a joke, thankfully.

The view from our campsite, looking at the nearby surrounding cliffs, and distant islands and peninsulas.

The saw view, I couldn't decide which picture was prettier, so I put them both up.