Sixteen Chemeketans and friends participated in this year’s international trek, covering about 80 miles on the Lycian Way, located along the southwest coast of Turkey. Widely considered one of the world’s best treks, as selected by the London Sunday Times and featured in Lonely Planet’s Epic Hikes of the World, the Lycian Way offers a unique combination of natural beauty, quaint villages, sandy beaches (with water warm enough to swim!), sweeping views, bright blue lagoons, and fascinating archeological sites including Roman aqueducts and theaters, Lycian rock cut tombs, and Byzantine churches. The tour also included a day long boat tour of the coast and a cable car ride to the top of Mt Olympos (the Greeks who lived in this area thought that the gods should have a home here among them rather than just in the homeland).
We visited a variety of historic sites along the way, including Kayakoy, Xanthos, Patara, Myra, and Limyra, some of which are now UNESCO world heritage sites. However, many ruins were simply strewn about the landscape, with no museum or entry fee attached. This area has been inhabited for thousands of years, leaving layers of Lycian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Genovese, and Ottoman cultural deposits and physical monuments. The weight of the past lies heavy on the land.
For many of us, the main attraction was the rugged headlands and blue water, very different than anything found anywhere in Oregon. Overall this was a wonderful trip, but very hot and sweaty for a group of pale-faced Oregonians!
At the trailhead to the Lycian Way: (from left to right) Jay Gile, Sherry McConnell, Debi Gile, Kelly Donegan, David Anderson, Marian Anderson, Donna Daily, Patty Baskin, Randy Selig, Blanka Truneckova, Sue Helback, Zuce Gutierrez, Ken Frazer, Elly Collier, Mary Frazer, Liz Lamade.
Lycian Rock-cut Tombs
Hiking Near Pirates' Cove
Main Street in Ancient Xanthos
View from the Fort Above Sinema