Our Day on the Trail
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Day 21 on our Lycian Trail was 8.3KM of the most boring stretch of hiking thus far, wrapped up with 200 meters of clawing and scrambling out of a deep valley canyon.
The day started out normally enough. We got a ride to the beginning of the trail and immediately met a friendly goatherd. All you need to do is ask a goatherd a question or two, and you have a friend for life. He walked with us to the entrance of the ancient city of Trysa and provided valuable insight into our plans for the day.
We hiked to the Heroon of Trysa, which was once an important temple and home to an impressive statue which now resides in Vienna. The view from the top was nice, but there was little else to see, so we came down and talked to our goatherd friend again. He convinced us to change our itinerary. So we did.
And we walked. We walked through flat areas that looked like majestic parks. We walked through forests so thick that the branches snagged your clothes and hair. And everywhere we walked was covered in loose, ankle-turning stones. So we walked slowly.
Now, we've been hiking for 20 days at this point, and we're probably overdue for a less than stellar day. Today was the day. The trail was not inspiring, we were tired and a little foot-sore, and we eventually decided to cut the day short.
As we've mentioned before, we aren't quitters. So, rather than stop at a random point on the highway, we decided to walk 3KM further to the village of Gürses to meet up with our driver.
So we walked some more. Down into a valley, the path filled with more loose rocks. We stopped for a snack, and shortly thereafter, came to some large trees that marked the junction of the trail. Head left for the short trek to Gürses, head right to continue down the canyon to Andriake. We turned left.
To be fair, the hiking guidebook mentioned that we'd be "tired" after the short climb to Gürses. OMG! We were clinging to rocks with our finger tips and searching for solid rocks to step on as loose soil and stones fell into the valley. At one point, Oktay considered contacting AKUT (Turkey's search and rescue team) for assistance.
Needless to say, we made it out safely.
We returned to our hotel and spent the afternoon napping. And planning tomorrow's route. Who knows what adventures the new day will bring.
Photos of Today's Hike
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