Unmet expectations!
Trip Start
Apr 05, 2012
1
14
29
Trip End
May 05, 2012
Where I stayed
What I did
Saklikent Day Tour
Fethiye, Muğla, Turkey
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Instead of sitting in the hotel and sulking we decided to take a brisk walk into town and visit the information office and pick up brochures on the area. These proved very useful as we were able to see what we were missing out on with this tour guide. He picked us up at 10:30 and we had a long drive at breakneck speed to Saklikent. This is about 45 mins from Fethiye and is a canyon which is very impressive. What we didn't realise is that at this time of year it is considered too cold (and I'm sure they are right) to do much in the water. We walked single file over the scaffolding attached to the canyon wall until we came to the spot where the stream comes to the surface. Some of the water that is rushing through the canyon is called "black tea" as it is a very murky grey colour as the water carries soil/grit in the raging torrent. It was impressive. Much to our dismay though we then headed back towards Fetihye. We hadn't realised until we'd gone too far past that he wasn't taking us to other attractions in the Saklikent area - Tlos and Yaka Park. We were not very pleased but he did take us to the Ghost Village of Kayakoy. Unfortunately he only gave us about half an hour of self exploration but didn't take us to the other important areas in this location. This is an old Greek settlement with 3500 houses clinging to the ridges. After the War of Liberation (1923) there was an agreement to exchange the population with Greece. The Greek villagers left the area, and it has remained a ghost town pretty much ever since. I am not sure if there was some misunderstanding - as the Saklikent is sometimes referred to as the Hidden City. The tour guide was not particularly informative or interested in what and where we were going, despite our obvious interest and enjoyment. He then dropped us off for the lunch that is included in day trips and said he hoped we'd enjoyed the day and that the tour was over. Our day trip was supposed to be 8 hours -not the 4 hours and although it was interesting - he definitely took some short cuts. Not good!
After lunch Pete and I decided to do some serious mountaineering - climbing some steep hills in the city itself. Fethiye has the atmosphere of an open air museum created by the tombs cut in the steep rock face very high up in the central hills, with tall sarcophagi with intricately carved reliefs standing above ground. The grave of Amyntas, which is accepted as the symbol of the city is immediately noticeable on the rock face back drop of the city centre. The grave is believed to have been constructed in memory of King Amyntas. There is another peak with the ruins of a fortress which was built by the Knights of St John over the foundations of the acropolis of Telmessos - renovated (yes - renovated) by the Knights of Rhodes in the 15th century. We scrambled up the steep slopes with Pete assuring me he knew there was a way up - and down, and we could make it.
We certainly walked many kilometres today. As the afternoon wore on the weather got worse and as we were scrambling around with the goats on the steep hill slopes there was some fairly impressive thunder and lightening around and tonight the temperature has plummeted and the rain is quite heavy and constant.
