Pekmez, traditional grape molasses sweetener.

If you live in Turkey permanently or semi-permanently, sooner or later you’ll come across ‘pekmez’, the black, treacle-like syrup made from boiled grape juice. Grape molasses, in short.

For short term holiday makers, the chances are it will go unnoticed – which may or may not be a good thing, as can be said for marmite for anyone visiting the UK. Pekmez is sweet of course, nonetheless people tend to love it or loathe it.

As with marmite, it looks forbidding, particularly as it’s sold in the sort of plastic containers that are used for motor oil, so might easily be mistaken for such. Actually, that’s being unfair to motor oil. After all, motor oil when new is clear and almost golden. This stuff looks more like motor oil that has been drained from the car engine, i.e. viscous and black.

So much for appearances. I actually like pekmez, particularly on porridge. It also goes well with yoghurt, which is more in line with the Turkish palate. In a later post, I’ll put together some Turkish pekmez recipes. This post is supposed to be about how to make it.

Here are the things you’ll need:

Equipment and Utensils:

Three extremely large pots with very large handles
Large plastic sheet
Gumboots
Fine mesh sack
Ladles
Pick axe
Shovel
Bucket
Branch of a tree (for carrying the pot)
Firewood

Ingredients:
Lots of grapes (several crates at least, so you’ll need your own grape vines)
Bucketful of white top soil from local hillside (hence the need for pickaxe and shovel)

I intend to post various Turkish recipes in the form of written instructions on this blog, but in this case I hope the following series of photographs will suffice. For anyone wanting to make pekmez, this is the definitive guide on how to do it. Well, almost. Unfortunately, I wasn’t around when Cehat dug the soil that is added to the grape juice, though he told me he got it from a hillside nearby. So a word of warning: don’t use any old lump of earth. I hope to make my own pekmez next year, so information about this secret ingredient will have to wait.

How to make pekmez: (Courtesy of Cehat – who lives up the hill from Villa Lukka – and to his family and neighbours.) To see the picture captions, hover your mouse over ‘Notes’ on the right below the photo.

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Indian crested porcupine

A neighbour told me the other day that he saw a porcupine at the bottom of the steep section of the drive. It was at night and he was on his motorbike at the time.

Now Harry is a very knowledgeable bloke, someone who seems to know absolutely everything. But he obviously doesn’t know about porcupines. At any rate, he didn’t know they existed in Turkey and it gave him quite a surprise.

Apparently it fanned its quills, then scuttled away making a sort of rattling sound. Interestingly, I saw one in exactly the same place about a year ago, caught in the headlights of the car. However, I wasn’t that surprised, as on pretty well every walk I take in the hills around here I find porcupine quills – familiar to me from my schooldays in the Nilgiri Hills in India.

The fact that the quills look like the ones I collected as a boy is explained by the fact that the porcupine found in Turkey is the Indian variety known as the ‘Indian crested porcupine’ (Hystrix indica).

It is sometimes said that porcupines can shoot their quills. This is not true. What they do when threatened is fan their quills out and rattle their hollow tail quills. And if push comes to shove, they’ll charge backwards into their attacker driving their sharp ended spines into the would be predator – generally a lynx or leopard.

Given that a porcupine has now been seen twice in the same place at the bottom of the hill, it seems likely that a family of them has a burrow nearby. I’m not an expert on porcupines, but a bit of research reveals that they take shelter in caves or in burrows. The burrows have a long entrance, a central chamber and several exits.

Now if you think this is some cute little hedgehog like creature, you’re quite mistaken. The Indian porcupine can have a head and body length of 90 cm. In addition its longest quills can measure up to 30 cm, plus its tail quills measure 8 – 10 cm. So you can imagine with its quills bristling and tail rattling it presents quite a formidable sight.

Porcupines are nocturnal animals and eat vegetable matter including fruit, roots and tubers. Don’t be alarmed if you see one at night. They don’t bite, but if you’re about to turn up into the steep section of the Villa Lukka drive, watch out in case one happens to be reversing into you.

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Or should you want to show off a bit and mention that you had ‘ogle yemegi’ with your Turkish girlfriend/boyfriend, you might feel the need to qualify the remark by explaining that the term for ‘lunch’ is pronounced something like ‘early yemayi’. Much better in that case simply to write, ‘öğle yemeği’.

In case you’re wondering how that is done (and not just thinking to yourself, “I’d go to the nearest Internet Café and make use of the Turkish keyboard.”), this is the way to do it (Windows users only, I don’t know about Macs).

1. Open Control Panel
2. Select Regional and Language Options
3. Click Languages Tab
4. Click Details button
5. Click Add button
6. Select ‘Turkish Q’ from the Input Language drop down list. (’Turkish F’ is an earlier keyboard layout no longer used)
7. Click OK

You will now find a keyboard icon alongside the other icons at the bottom right of your screen with which you can toggle between English and Turkish.

With the Turkish keyboard selected, use these keys for the following Turkish letters:

ğ = left square bracket
ü = right square bracket
ı = the normal ‘i’ key
ş = semi-colon
i = apostrophe (or toggle back to the English keyboard)
ö = comma
ç = full stop

Having only recently discovered this myself, I must now go back and correct some of my previous posts – Ucagiz, the name of the village at Kekova, being a case in point. It should, of course, be Üçağız, which is pronounced something like ‘ooywch-aah-uz’ and means ‘Three Mouths’.

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Kibris Canyon

Kibris Canyon:  Beginning at the beginning!

Two large spurs of the western Taurus Mountains, Akdaglar and Beydaglar, which form a sort of slanting letter ‘V’ across the Tekke Peninsular, converge in a magnificent mountainous area near Sutlegen on the road to Elmali some eighty kilometers north of Kas.  Pine forests cover the precipitous mountain sides, while apple orchards, almond, walnut and fruit trees of all varieties grow in abundance on the gentler slopes.

Geologists tell us that some 200 million years ago this mountainous region was nothing more than sediment at the bottom of a primeval sea known as Tethys. Then, for 150 million years or so, as these layers of marine sediment built up, they shifted northwards from continent of Africa eventually coming up against the Anatolian landmass. From this point on, and for another 50 million years, the movement was upwards, creating in the process the Taurus Mountain range of southern Turkey.

All of which is to say that this is limestone country – mixed in with bits of the earth’s crust from the ocean bed, known as ophiolites. And limestone, as we all know, is subject to the erosion of ice and rain which, over time, creates great fissures, canyons, gorges, ravines, along with potholes and underground streams.

And so here we are, just off the Kas – Elmali road  (36”28’14.80” N; 29”38’21.10” E) at the start of a magnificent example of natural sculpture, 200 million years in the making, known as Kibris Canyon.

For visitors from outside Turkey thinking of joining a professionally guided group:

There are some very experienced adventure sport specialists operating from Kas. All that is required of you is a reasonable level of fitness, moderate swimming abilities and a certain spirit of adventure. The tours are well organised; preliminary instruction is given, wet suits, helmets and climbing gear are provided. At each abseil point a guide will ensure that you are roped in correctly, and in places where there is the option to jump you can always choose not to and instead slide down a rope suspended from a pulley system.

Best time of year for canyoning:

June, July and August are the prime canyoning months as rainfall is virtually non-existent during this period so flash floods or heightened water levels are not a problem.  Additionally, on days when it is excessively hot down on the coast there’s nothing better than spending time jumping into pools of icy cold water, abseiling down waterfalls and generally splashing and swimming one’s way down a mountain stream.

Most years, adventure companies in Kas take parties through the canyon starting in late May when water levels are higher than in mid-summer and when temperatures are distinctly colder as a result of the recent snow melt in the mountains. However, this varies from year to year. Some years, after a very wet winter, the canyon isn’t negotiable till mid-summer, as the water levels are too high. September is also an option, though by now the weather patterns are beginning to change and early rains are a possibility. Provided one monitors the weather carefully and takes a cautious approach, the route can be done at this time and, in fact, adventure companies do offer trips, given the right conditions, at this time.

Time required for the first section of the canyon:

The upper part of the canyon, from the road to the wooden bridge exit, takes approximately three and a half hours.

Skills required:

Unless you are going in a party led by experienced and qualified guides, you will need to be an experienced rock climber or at any rate have experienced climbers in your group. It’s a good fun route with slides and jumps, but there are quite a few abseil descents so you certainly have to know what you are doing. However, technically it is not that difficult and beginners can do it, but obviously the party will need to include experienced climbers to handle rope management and guidance on abseiling technique. Once again, I should add that conditions vary and the greater the flow of water the greater the level of difficulty. Without being alarmist, never forget that while being great fun, canyoning is always a ’serious’ business requiring both skill and good judgement.

Equipment and kit:

The water in the canyon is cold, even at the height of summer when the temperature down in Kas is over 40 C, so you’ll need a wet suit. However, you’re never in the water or shade for too long, so a light-weight one is best. Then you’ll need a pair of trainers for footwear and ideally a small rucksack with a dry bag inside to carry snacks and a change of dry clothing.

Climbers planning on doing the route independently will do well to consult one of the adventure companies in Kas for advice on what equipment to take. From my recollection, the longest abseil was around 40 metres. However, it’s advisable to talk to an experienced guide to get a precise figure. As regards abseil anchor points, the route is very well bolted as this is a popular route with adventure tour companies who maintain it throughout the season. That said, you will need to check on this first as heavy rains in winter can alter the shape of the canyon in places with bolts being sheared off in the process.

In any case, as experienced climbers you will no doubt know best what to take in terms of climbing equipment. Suffice it to say, that when I did the route in September, with four of us in the group, we carried two 60m lengths of static rope and another 30m climbing rope, plus jumars and slings. As already mentioned, the bolts were in excellent condition so there was never a need to set up one’s own anchors or use the slings.

All in all it’s a great trip with lots of variety along the way, from dappled shade in leafy glades in the open sections to tortuous narrow ravines with towering walls, and at one point a long abseil that down what looks like a tunnel. This particular drop is actually made up of two separate abseils, though tour companies give the option of being lowered down the whole length of the tunnel on a pulley system.

The bridge exit, some three and a half hours from the start, is a scramble up a steep slope on the left just before the bridge which leads to a short traverse along an exposed bit of path.

Kibris Canyon: First choice for canyoning in the Kalkan / Kas region.

Beginning at the beginning!

Waterfall abseil, Kibris Canyon

Two large spurs of the western Taurus Mountains, Akdaglar and Beydaglar, which form a sort of slanting letter ‘V’ across the Tekke Peninsular, converge in a magnificent mountainous area near Sutlegen on the road to Elmali some eighty kilometers north of Kas.  Pine forests cover the precipitous mountain sides, while apple orchards, almond, walnut and fruit trees of all varieties grow in abundance on the gentler slopes.

Geologists tell us that some 200 million years ago this mountainous region was nothing more than sediment at the bottom of a primeval sea known as Tethys. Then, for 150 million years or so, as these layers of marine sediment built up, they shifted northwards from continent of Africa eventually coming up against the Anatolian landmass. From this point on, and for another 50 million years, the movement was upwards, creating in the process the Taurus Mountain range of southern Turkey.

All of which is to say that this is limestone country – mixed in with bits of the earth’s crust from the ocean bed, known as ophiolites. And limestone, as we all know, is subject to the erosion of ice and rain which, over time, creates great fissures, canyons, gorges, ravines, along with potholes and underground streams.

And so here we are, just off the Kas – Elmali road  (36”28’14.80” N; 29”38’21.10” E) at the start of a magnificent example of natural sculpture, 200 million years in the making, known as Kibris Canyon.

Professionally guided excursions:

Guided canyoning adventure

There are some very experienced adventure sport specialists operating from Kas. All that is required of you is a reasonable level of fitness, moderate swimming abilities and a certain spirit of adventure. The tours are well organised; preliminary instruction is given, wet suits, helmets and climbing gear are provided. At each abseil point a guide will ensure that you are roped in correctly, and in places where there is the option to jump you can always choose not to and instead slide down a rope suspended from a pulley system.

Best time of year for canyoning:

June, July and August are the prime canyoning months as rainfall is virtually non-existent during this period, so flash floods or heightened water levels are not a problem.  Additionally, on days when it is excessively hot down on the coast there’s nothing better than spending time jumping into pools of icy cold water, abseiling down waterfalls and generally splashing and swimming one’s way down a mountain stream.

Most years, adventure companies in Kas take parties through the canyon starting in late May when water levels are higher than in mid-summer and when temperatures are distinctly colder as a result of the recent snow melt in the mountains. However, this varies from year to year. Some years, after a very wet winter, the canyon isn’t negotiable till mid-summer, as the water levels are too high. September is also an option, though by now the weather patterns are beginning to change and early rains are a possibility. Provided one monitors the weather carefully and takes a cautious approach, the route can be done at this time and, in fact, adventure companies do offer trips, given the right conditions, at this time.

Time required for the first section of the canyon:

The upper part of the canyon, from the road to the wooden bridge exit, takes approximately three and a half hours.

Skills required:

Unless you are going in a party led by experienced and qualified guides, you will need to be an experienced rock climber or at any rate have experienced climbers in your group. It’s a good fun route with slides and jumps, but there are quite a few abseil descents so you certainly have to know what you are doing. However, technically it is not that difficult and beginners can do it, but obviously the party will need to include experienced climbers to handle rope management and guidance on abseiling technique. Once again, I should add that conditions vary and the greater the flow of water the greater the level of difficulty. Never forget that while being great fun, canyoning is always a ’serious’ business requiring experience, skill and good judgement.

Equipment and kit:

The water in the canyon is cold, even at the height of summer when the temperature down in Kas is over 40 C, so you’ll need a wet suit. However, you’re never in the water or shade for too long, so a light-weight one is best. Then you’ll need a pair of trainers for footwear and ideally a small rucksack with a dry bag inside to carry snacks and a change of dry clothing.

Cold water flows through the canyon throughout the year.

Climbers planning on doing the route independently will do well to consult one of the adventure companies in Kas for advice on what equipment to take. From my recollection, the longest abseil was around 40 metres. However, it’s advisable to talk to an experienced guide to get a precise figure. As regards abseil anchor points, the route is very well bolted as this is a popular route with adventure tour companies who maintain it throughout the season. That said, you will need to check on this first as heavy rains in winter can alter the shape of the canyon in places with bolts being sheared off in the process.

In any case, as experienced climbers you will no doubt know best what to take in terms of climbing equipment. Suffice it to say, that when I did the route in September, with four of us in the group, we carried two 60m lengths of static rope and another 30m climbing rope, plus jumars and slings. As already mentioned, the bolts were in excellent condition so there was never a need to set up one’s own anchors or use the slings.

All in all it’s a great trip with lots of variety along the way, from dappled shade in leafy glades in the open sections to tortuous narrow ravines with towering walls, and at one point a long abseil down what looks like a tunnel. This particular drop is actually made up of two separate abseils, though tour companies give the option of being lowered down the whole length of the tunnel on a pulley system.

The bridge exit, some three and a half hours from the start, is a scramble up a steep slope on the left just before the bridge which leads to a short traverse along an exposed bit of path.

Gallery

Canyoning Gallery

A collection of photos taken in Kibris Canyon, near Sutlegen, half way between Kas and Elmale, southern Turkey:

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

Map

Here’s the route from Kas to the start of Kibris Canyon.

You can use your mouse to explore the website map or click on the link below it to see the full Google Maps version.

View Kas to Kibris Canyon in a larger map

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Kastellorizo harbour, Greece

The tiny Greek island of Megisti also known as Kastellorizo, and known in Turkish as Meis, lies just a couple of kilometres off the Turkish coast opposite Kas. Only 9 square kilometres in area, it has just one village and a population of 430. So there’s not a lot going on there, but that no doubt accounts for its unspoiled charm.

Megisti village extends around a U-shaped natural harbour. The walls of the two storey red-roofed houses are all pastel shades of blues, yellows and greens; either that or muted shades of peeling plaster. Add to this shuttered windows, brightly painted doors and wooden balconies, all in neo-classical lines, and you have a very pretty, yet almost unreal, scene: a place where time has stood still.

And yet, believe it or not, this sleepy little place has had a turbulent history – one which, paradoxically, partly explains its present stillness.

But more about its history in a minute.

Boat trip from Kas:

A boat for Meis leaves Kas harbour every day at 10 a.m. and returns around 1.30 p.m. The one way trip takes approximately half an hour. It’s worth booking by phone beforehand, though recently Selo, the proprietor of the ‘Altug Meis Shipping Line,’ has acquired a very large boat with a seating capacity of 140 to replace his two small wooden gulets. The name of his company suitably reflects its expanded capacity. So perhaps no need really to book ahead of time.

Boat at the quayside, Meis harbour

The Altug office is on the road that runs parallel to the harbour front in Kas, and you should aim to get there half an hour before departure time. Here you will be asked for your passport, which will be returned to you on your return from the island. As many of the passengers will be foreign residents going on a routine run to Meis to renew their Turkish visas, you will be asked if that is the purpose of your visit, in which case you would have to pay an additional 15 Euros visa fee. However, as a tourist visa allows for multiple exits and entries within a three month period, this will not apply to you. The current boat fare is 40 lira.

Things to do in Meis:

The Altug boat trip gives you three hours on the island, which you may wish to spend simply wandering along the water front, having a beer or meal at one of the harbour bars or restaurants, buying a bottle at the Duty Free, i.e. having an idle time in a pleasantly idle environment. There are however a few alternatives that could be fitted in.

Museum: The two-storey museum is located next to the castle ruins overlooking the entry to the harbour. The ground floor, which dates back to the time of the Knights of St. John who built the castle, houses various items associated with the sea – stone anchor, amphorae from the sea bed, an old style diving suit, and in another room some early Christian sculptures.

The second floor houses the main collection including Lycian sculptures and inscriptions, storage jars, potsherds, and a marble torso of Hygieia the goddess of health. Other sections contain items from the Byzantine period and more recent folk history material such as traditional costumes and craft items.

All in all, it is well worth a visit.

Lycian tomb, Meis / Megisti

Lycian Tomb: There’s a beautifully preserved Lycian tomb carved out of the rock not far from the museum. To find it, take the walkway by the museum that immediately overlooks the sea. The stepped path leading up to the tomb is signposted, with the information that it dates back to the 4th century BC.

Stepped path up the mountain: For a spectacular view of the harbour and a bit of exercise, a quick climb up the cliffs overlooking the town is recommended. Don’t worry, there are steps, plenty of them – 400 or so to be more precise. The start is easy to find as you can see the steps zig-zagging up the mountain from the harbour.

Stepped path overlooking Kastellorizo harbour

It’s pretty rocky and barren at the top. If you follow the path for a bit you’ll come to a ruined monastery. If you continue on from there, you’ll eventually end up at the island’s tiny airport. But that’s rather a long walk if you’re only on the island for a few hours.

Castle of the Knights of St John:

Though the castle is associated primarily with the Crusader Order of the Hospitallers, the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, who took control of the island in 1306, the castle they built was certainly not the first on the site, nor was it the last. The history of the castle, and indeed of the island, is one of repeated change and always of a violent kind.

A rough outline of the complex history of Kastellorizo:

To begin at the beginning (excluding Minoan and neolithic times): There are defensive walls in the west of the island which date back to Mycenaean times, the Bronze Age civilization that lasted from around 1900 B.C. to 1100 B.C. The Lycians were also here, as a 4th century tomb below the castle testifies.

Then there were the Dorians, one of the three main Hellenic groups (the others being the Ionians and the Aeoleans) who took over from the Myceneans and who settled the Dodacanese islands, including Megisiti. It was the Dorians in fact who gave the island its ancient name, Megisti.

Next come the Romans, who took control of the island along with much of Asia Minor sometime during the century preceding the Christian era.Then, with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine to Christianity in 360 A.D., and the later split in the Roman empire between Rome and Constantinople, we enter the Byzantine era – during which time the island took on the Latinate name of Kastellorizo.

All these peoples and powers had a presence on this tiny island well before the Knights Hospitaller came along. And no doubt all had defences overlooking the harbour, as it was the harbour – said to be the finest natural harbour in the Mediterranean – that gave the island strategic military and trade importance.

The Crusading Order of the Knights of St John, known as the Hospitallers, gained control of Rhodes in 1309 on their expulsion from Jerusalem. It was around that time that they also took over Megisti and built their castle. With Rhodes as their capital, the Hospitallers set up their own mini state and used Megisti Island as a place of exile and punishment for misbehaving monks. (For more on the Hospitallers, see the page on Kekova.)

From then on, the history of the island gets even more confusing. In 1440 Jelal-el-Din with a fleet of Egyptian galleys captured the island, destroying the castle in the process, and shipped off its inhabitants as slaves. During the latter part of the same century it changed hands between the King of Naples (who rebuilt the castle) and the Turks a couple of times. Then in 1512, the Spaniards took it over only to be replaced some 50 years later by the Venetians who in turn lost it to the Turks in 1635. But then the Venetians got it back again in 1659, hammering the castle yet another time.

And so it goes on.

(To be continued)

Photo Gallery:

Here’s a collection of photos of Meis / Kastellorizo. Most of these photos were taken outside the summer season. In summer, the harbour front is a lot more lively than seen here. To see the descriptions of the photos, hover your mouse over ‘Notes’, bottom right.

Related posts:

1. Day trip from Kalkan to Kekova Island

Ucagiz (Three mouths), the village where you hire a boat for Kekova Island

Find time if you possibly can for a day trip to Kekova, an enchanting stretch of coast the other side of Kas. Kekova, means ‘field of thyme’ in Turkish, and refers to an area comprising an island lying adjacent to the coast where a sunken city lies, a beautiful enclosed sort of lagoon at the far end of which yachts and gulets anchor, and a couple of picturesque villages for wandering around, one of which is approachable by boat and is crowned by a castle. Kekova is also the site of ancient Lycian towns, whose funerary monuments and ruins are there for exploring should you so wish. As an alternative to driving the whole way, you can hire a boat for the day in Kas. This means, however, that more time is spent getting there, though you will be able to take in more stops on the way.

Ucagiz: (ooch-ah-ez) The starting point for a boat tour of the Kekova region is the small hamlet of Ucagiz, which means ‘three mouths’ in Turkish and refers to the three gaps leading to the open sea.

Village shop, Ucagiz

Ucagiz is a pleasantly ramshackle, sleepy place with wooden balconies draped in bougainvillea, a few carpet and trinket shops and a number of waterside cafes and seafood restaurants. It is also the site of the Lycian town of Teimiussa, whose necropolis lies immediately to the east of the village. The tombs here date mostly from the early Roman era, though there are a few with Lycian inscriptions which indicate settlement at least as early as the 4th century BC. Further on there is evidence of a long dock carved out of the rock.

Boat trip:The boats for hire at the quayside vary in size from an open fishing boat with an outboard motor to a medium sized gulet. A two hour trip will allow time for a cruise alongside Kekova Island where the submerged ruins lie, plus a couple of swimming stops along the way and a brief visit to Kalekoy, the village with the castle on top. Allow more time than this if you want to look around the castle. Though the island remained inhabited into the Byzantine era, Dolichiste suffered from the devastating earthquakes of the first and second centuries (141 A.D. – 240 A.D.), as a result of which much of it is now submerged.

Submerged ruins, Kekova Island

Simena – Kalekoy (castle village): After having cruised along the ruins of Dolichisiti, you will most likely head back across the water towards the picturesque hillside village of Kalekoy, the ancientSimena. The castle was built by the Knights of Rhodes earlier known as the Hospitallers of St.John, an organisation that apparently exists to this day.

The Hospitallers of St John

The history of the Hospitallers is so extraordinary, it’s worth a short aside. Their origins go back to 11th century Jerusalem where they provided hospital care for Crusading soldiers and pilgrims. As monks in armour, they practised a uniquely militant form of medical philanthropy and soon became the most formidable military order in the ‘Holy Land’.

On being ousted from the said Holy Land at the fall of Acre in 1291, they moved first to Cypress and then, in 1309, to Rhodes, which they ruled as an independent state even issuing their own coinage. They remained in power in Rhodes for a couple of hundred years, during which time they built castles along the coast of Asia Minor (including, presumably, the one here in Kalekoy) and generally behaved in a belligerent, not to say piratical fashion, against their Muslim rivals, all the while maintaining their alter-ego role as a medical charity.

Some few hundred years later they were pushed out of Rhodes by Suleiman the Magnificent, and so moved on to Malta, which they proceeded to rule instead, and where, as was their wont, they built massive defences as well as a famous hospital.

By now they were known as the Knights of Malta, and over the years grew less belligerent and devoted their time to medical care and administration. Having ruled Malta as a territorial sovereign state since 1530, they finally lost power in 1798 to the superior forces of Napoleon.

Kalekoy (Castle Village) the ancient Simena:

Kalekoy, Lycian Simena

Worth a climb to the top, if only for the view. The last time I was there, entrance to the castle cost 7 lira. The castle walls were built on a much older Lycian site that includes a small, seven tiered theatre. As with all Lycian settlements, Simena has a substantial necropolis with tombs lying to the west and north of the castle.

Directions to Ucagiz – Kekova from Kalkan: Head out on the road to Kas (pronounced ‘Cash’). The Kalkan-Kas route is spectacular. Cut out of the mountain side, the road overlooks the sea the whole way and across to the Greek island of Rho, the small neighbour of Kastellorizo or Meis. For a guaranteed picture postcard photograph, take a quick look down on Kaputas Beach just outside Kalkan. (This is not called the Turquoise Coast for nothing, as you will see.) No need to enter Kas. Just bear left on the highway to Finike (D 400) when you approach the town. Some 15 km along this road you will see a road to the right that is signposted for Ucagiz / Kekova. It is 19 kilometres from this point to Ucagiz and the sea. As indicated on the map, the road passes through the village of Kilichli.

To get to the Kekova area, head for the village of Ucagiz as shown on the map below:

How to get to Kekova from Kalkan

View Villa Lukka to Kekova in a larger map

Related posts:

1. Meis, Megisti or Kastellorizo

Oenoanda

Oenoanda, also spelt Oinoanda, is the site of the most important philosophical inscription to be found in the classical world: the discourse on Epicurean philosophy by Diogenes of Oenoanda.

Arches, Oenoanda

Some 40 kilometres north east of Fethiye in a forested saddle in the mountains not far off the main road to Antalya, lie the tumbled ruins of the ancient Lycian city of Oenanda. It’s an obscure site, seldom visited by tourists, and its earthquake shattered remains present a forlorn sight.

There are the usual ruins of great walls, of triumphal arches, of an amphitheatre, aqueduct and baths, variations of which can be found in many of the archaeological sites scattered around the Lycian peninsula. But what makes this site so special – unique, in fact – is the wealth of inscriptions to be found here. According to the German Archaeological Institute team, who are currently researching the site, Oinoanda is an ‘epigraphic eldorado’ whose texts ‘are among the most important inscriptions recovered from the ancient Greek world’.

Unfortunately, unless one is a classical scholar and expert in epigraphy, all one can do is stand in mute wonder in front of these writings in stone. I was fortunate enough, however, to visit the site with a friend of mine who happens to have a Classics degree, which he was finally able to put to some use (?) by translating bits and pieces from the Latin and Greek. Suddenly, lumps of rock came alive as mention was made of the ‘Asian Games’, of winners of wrestling matches and of the illustrious sponsors of the competitions and so on.

Diogenes’ Inscription:

But apart from these texts, there is one particular inscription that makes Oenanda unique. The inscription in question is no mere sentence or two, nor even a paragraph. It’s an entire book, 25,000 words long, which originally spanned a wall 80 metres long and took up 260 square metres of wall space. And what’s more it’s a book of philosophy! Its author’s name was Diogenes, a wealthy citizen of the town who is thought to have lived some time during the early part of the second century contemporaneously with the rule of the Emperor Hadrian.

Fragment of Diogenes' philosophic inscription, Oenoanda

Diognenes was an Epicurean, which is to say he subscribed to the arguments of Epicurus (341–270 B.C) whose school of philosophy lasted for over 800 years and which, along with that of the Stoics, was one of the most important philosophic and ethical traditions of the classical world. Not many of the original writings of Epicurus have survived and most of what we know about his philosophy has come down to us second hand from other classical authors who lived long after his death. The major sources are Diogenes Laertius’ (third-century A.D.) “Lives of Eminent Philosophers” and an earlier didactic poem by Lucretius (first century B.C.) De rerum natura (“On the Nature of Things”). Other than these two works, the most comprehensive summary of Epicurus’ ideas is the account presented in these pages in stone written by Diogenes of Oenoanda.

Unfortunately, all that remains to be seen on site are a few blocks scattered here and there, easily distinguished by their page like inscriptions, all of which have been identified and numbered by archaeologists currently working on the site. Though the inscription was first discovered as long ago as the 1880s, it wasn’t until the 1960s and 70s that serious investigations began, notably by the British archaeologist Martin Ferguson Smith who uncovered and translated many more fragments. Since then work has been carried out by the British Institute at Ankara, the Fethiye Museum and, most recently, by the German Archaeological Institute whose team have discovered 50 more fragments since their project started in 2007.

Exactly how many fragments have been found and translated, and where they are all located, I haven’t as yet been able to discover. Sadly, it seems the inscription which was constructed along the ‘stoa,’ or covered public walkway, was soon to be dismantled with much of it ending up in the city’s defensive walls. Many centuries later bits of the engraved stone have been found even further afield, including one block found in a fountain in the nearby village of Incealiler.

Nonetheless, thanks to the work of the archaeologists and scholars, what Diogenes had to say has largely survived and is available for public consumption in book form and on the Internet. I shall attempt a summary of the ideas expressed in the inscription in a later post. Suffice it to say here, in my view its message has relevance to this day. Furthermore, given its location in place and time, I believe it marks a pivotal point in the history of ideas.

Diogenes himself stipulated that his inscription should not be read in a ‘patchy fashion’ but should be read as a whole – all 80 metres of it! The link which follows is provided so anyone reading this article will have the opportunity to meet Diogenes’ request. Meanwhile, here is a key excerpt, courtesy of Martin Ferguson Smith’s translation published at “http://www.epicurus.info/etexts/tei.html”:

“… we contrived this in order that, even while sitting at home, we might be able to exhibit the goods of philosophy, not to all people here indeed, but to those of them who are civil-spoken; and not least we did this for those who are called “foreigners,” though they are not really so.  For, while the various segments of the earth give different people a different country, the whole compass of this world gives all people a single country, the entire earth, and a single home, the world.”

Gallery

Photo Gallery:

Here are a few photos taken at Oenoanda on a grey and overcast day.

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Map

Route from Fethiye to Oenoanda.

You can use your mouse to explore the website map or click on the link below it to see the full Google Map version.
View Fethiye to Oenoanda in a larger map

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Saklikent

Take your pick at Saklikent: Escape the heat by splashing up a narrow mountain ravine. Relax on a ‘kosk’ for lunch. Bounce your way downstream on a rubber ring. Cake yourself in mud. Alternatively, call in on a carpet weavers’ workshop.

Walkway at entrance to Saklikent Gorge

Saklikent Gorge (meaning ‘Hidden City’) is a great place to beat the summer heat. It’s a narrow ravine, 18 kilometres long that, summer-long, channels ice cold snow melt from the Akdag range into the Esen River and down to the sea. As a geological feature it’s quite spectacular, with perpendicular sides hundreds of metres high whose sculpted rocks are a show piece of nature’s artistry.

It’s also great simply for splashing along. The start (after an entrance fee of 5 lira) is along a board-walk pinned to the cliff above the river. This brings you to a pleasantly leafy spot at the confluence of two streams: one, clear, cold and turbulent, gushing out from within the mountain, the other, warmer and more placid, meandering down the bed of the ravine.

For those not wanting to get their feet wet, this is as far as you’ll get. But with cushioned wooden platforms to lounge on in the dappled shade of ancient plane trees it’s a great place to relax as others venture across the stream.

Tea house inside Saklikent Canyon

There’s sometimes a rope in place to help you across the rapids that issue from the underground stream. But if that’s not in place, small boys less than half your size will offer a helping hand in the hope of a bit of baksheesh.

From then on it’s a pleasant splash, seldom more than knee high, that gets more tortuous and difficult to negotiate the further you get. It actually gets quite tricky in places, and most people turn back well before the waterfall the marks the farthest point you can reach without the aid of climbing equipment. Precisely how far this is, I’m not sure. Some say 4 kilometres. Time-wise, it takes about an hour to reach.

What to wear: There are numerous places where you can hire a pair of plastic shoes before getting your feet wet. However, if you want to scramble up the the rocks you’ll need to wear a pair of trainers. Don’t worry about your clothes: they’ll dry out in no time.

Relaxing on a kosk: After an hour or two exploring the gorge, there’s nowhere better to have lunch and relax than at one of the many waterside restaurants. These all have wooden platforms by the water’s edge, with low tables and bolsters for lounging on. The Turkish word for any shaded platform or pavilion designed for relaxation is ‘kosk.’ (As the ‘o’ has two dots over it and the ’s’ a diacritical mark below it, the word is pronounced ‘kershk’.) But whatever the word and however you say it, they are certainly a great feature of Turkish life in this part of the country.

Start wading upstream, Saklikent.

Go with the flow: Having earlier paddled upstream, you now have the option, should you so wish, to paddle downstream, though in a different fashion. For a small fee, you can equip yourself with a large inflatable rubber ring and a paddle and float downstream. You’ll find the paddle isn’t much use as you can’t sit high enough to manipulate it and – as early coracle designers discovered – a circular shape isn’t optimal for steering. Not to worry, the current will take you safely to your destination several kilometres  downstream. Trip options vary from 45 minutes to 3 hours.

Mud: Somewhere downstream, you can plaster yourself in mud. Good for the complexion?

Canyoning: Now for the serious stuff. For adventure sport enthusiasts who have enjoyed splashing around in the lower reaches of the gorge and want to do some serious canyoning, it is possible to make your way down from the top – the whole 18 kilometres, if you’re up for it. For more information on this and links to relevant Adventure companies, see the canyoning page.

Drifting down the river at Saklikent.

Gallery

Saklikent Gorge Gallery:

Here are some photos taken on trips to Saklikent Gorge.

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Map

View Villa Lukka to Saklikent Gorge in a larger map

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