From the Archives
Hiking the Lycian Trail – Day 25
Belos – Finike – Kumluca – Mavikent – Karaöz
- 8.4KM, mostly rock-covered mountain trail, a few kilometres along asphalt road (We also travelled about 90KM by bus, taxi, and private car to travel between Finike and Karaöz. People ask why we chose to skip this section of the Lycian Trail. It is all asphalt road and does not feature any points of interest.)
- 129m elevation gain ↗, 416m elevation loss ↘
- altitudes between 564 and 929 meters above sea level
Our Day on the Trail
Day 25 of our Lycian Trail adventure took us to the site of ancient Belos, high in the hills overlooking Demre and Finike.
We started our hike at a farm about 2km from Belos. The farmer (Hasan) allowed us to leave our packs in his garage, so the hike to the ruins felt like a literal walk in the park. (Even though we jettisoned many unnecessary supplies during our break in Fethiye, our packs are still TOO HEAVY!!!)
We didn't know what to expect from the ancient city, and were quite impressed. It features several gorgeous tombs, lots of doorways and arches, and massive still-standing stone walls. This was the first site we've been to with obvious evidence of modern-day treasure-seekers, as large sections of ground around the ruins were freshly dug up.
We almost skipped today's hike, and are so glad we didn't. Belos was impressive, and we're thinking about going back for a longer visit some day.
After wandering the site for about an hour, we headed back to the farm to collect our packs and head down the hill to Finike. We walked about 4km along the asphalt, arriving at a corner marked with a memorial sign for a young fellow who'd lost his life on the Lycian Trail. We dithered about which path to take, and eventually chose the asphalt road rather than the stony Trail. Today, it was a good decision.
Shortly after we settled into our walk, the farmer appeared in his car, and offered to drive us the remaining way into town. We took him up on his kind offer, saving ourselves about an hour of steep downhill walking. Our hero!
When we arrived in Finike, we caught a bus to Kumluca. And from there, a smaller bus to Mavikent. And from there, a taxi to our pansyon in Karaöz. We'll be using this as a base for the next few days while we hike the nearby sections of the Lycian Trail.
Photos of Today's Hike
