Up-up-up!

Review of the hike in Turkey “Lycian Way” from September 13 to 24, 2010.
Several days have already passed since the end of the hike in Turkey under the mysterious and promising name “Lycian Trail”. Страсти поулеглись, каша в голове стала рассеиваться по крупинкам и, если в первый день после приезда на 2-ой вопрос друзей (первый был: «Ты жива?» или что-то в этом роде): «Ну как?»,- я протяжно завывала «ВАУУУУУУУ!», то сейчас могу более или менее внятно ответить на данный вопрос.

Background.

For those who doubt whether he should get involved in this adventure or not, whether he has enough experience, a little background.

My entire hiking experience consists of a single week-long hike in Crimea, where we conquered the local Olympus at just over 1000 meters, from where I no longer planned to return alive, since the weight of the backpack and the canned food from the school kept me pinned to the ground more and more. The hike left a lot of positive emotions, but in my memory these first two days of conquering heights with backpacks were like a terrible dream! After this experience, I told myself: “No hiking!”

Several months have passed. Quite by accident, I go to the website www.OutdoorUkraine.com and see a very tempting name “Lycian Trail” - Türkiye. My eyes lit up, my imagination began to play, and an hour later I was already the happy owner of plane tickets Kyiv - Antalya, Antalya - Kyiv. Only later did I take a closer look at the route and the height we had to climb. Honestly, I broke out in a cold sweat. But, as my aunt says: “Everything that is not done is done for the better,” I resigned myself to a vacation with elements of masochism.

After consulting with the instructor, Kirill, I replaced my 3 kg sleeping bag with a 1 kg one and carefully thought through my luggage: I tore off extra shorts, beacons and cosmetics from my heart. As a result, I had a couple of extra T-shirts (i.e., clean ones) left over from the hike, but the cosmetics weren’t of any use: foundation and powder were replaced by a natural tan, mascara is not needed at all, your face is constantly wet, it’s either sweat or Mediterranean water, my skin didn’t dry out, so I didn’t suffer without cream either. I never wore a sweater and wool socks; on cool evenings I got by with a sweatshirt.

Lycian Way - mountains and canyons.

And now about the hike itself. It all started at the Boryspil airport, where part of the group was gathering. Kirill, thanks to him for this, he explained everything in great detail and clearly how to get to the airport, so there were no problems with this.

Arriving at the airport, I expected to see a bald, stern, but with a sense of humor (that everything was in order, it was clear from the correspondence) instructor; Kirill’s appearance was judged by his avatar in contact. As a result, I saw three groups of people with backpacks: African-Americans, tenderly hugging their backpacks, they were serenely sleeping on the floor of the airport, a large number of Jews, or rather Hasidim with their sidelocks, and a small modest group of Europeans who were clearly going on a hike. There was no serious bald man in any group; everyone was singing, smiling or sleeping. The group of Europeans I approached inspired more confidence. Kirill turned out to be a slightly disheveled smiling young man, nothing in common with the stern profile in the contact’s avatar.

Together with Kirill, Sasha (second instructor) and Irina (teacher from Kyiv) arrived at the airport. A little later, Svetlana, Andrey, Maxim and Andrey came up to us. Everyone was in high spirits and immediately made contact. And so, chatting animatedly about this and that, we boarded the plane and flew to Antalya, where we met the second part of the group (Julia, Irina with Artem, Katya with Misha, Tonya with Igor, Timofey) boarded the bus and went to the start of the Lycian Path.

The Lycian Trail begins with the “Grand Canyoning.” We scattered through the bushes in all directions and changed into swimsuits, we went to flounder in the local pond. We walked for 20-30 minutes, turning our heads 180, everything was new and interesting. Taking a helmet, vest, wetsuit and special equipment. Those who wanted slippers and socks, including me, swam to admire the canyoning. I recommend everyone to swim there, it did not leave any of us indifferent!

Having swam until we were exhausted, we grabbed our backpacks at the canyoning checkpoint and went for lunch. After a hearty lunch (and in our case, also after a sleepless night), according to Russian customs, it is customary to sleep, but the instructor was Ukrainian, and we were not in Russia, so having distributed the food into backpacks, by the way, the weight of my backpack with public products pleasantly surprised me, we began climbing the mountains. On the way, we constantly came across Turkish inscriptions, which the instructor kindly translated for us, namely: “Ali welcomes hungry and exhausted tourists in his cafe. He promises to feed, drink and put him to bed in his hotel.” Isn't it very nice? =)

We arrived at the parking lot in the evening with flashlights on our foreheads. The first climb was difficult: I wanted to eat, sleep and not move, just freeze in place and feel peace. While our men and Irina, the female heroine, who still had the strength to go downstairs for an evening bath, went to get water for tea, we prepared dinner and slept. A few hours later the heroes returned with water and stories about the scorpions they met along the way. Our first dinner together came, which was better than any restaurant delicacy; it was buckwheat with dried meat (it was not for nothing that Cervantes said that the best seasoning is hunger). =)))

The second day started with delicious milk porridge. The road was not difficult, and in the clear time of day we came to a picturesque clearing, not far from which there were thickets of blackberries. At dinner, the whole group watched the starry sky, and our astrologer, Andrey, from this until the last day, showed us the Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.

On the third day we crossed a pomegranate farm where ripe red fruits were already hanging. I was very pleased and surprised by the ladders over the fence, they say this is a common thing in Europe, I have never seen anything like this in Russia. On the same day, we visited our first restaurant on the way, where we met another participant in our hike from Poland, Barbara. Having brought considerable benefit to the Turks, we became so relaxed and lazy that, not without effort, we persuaded the instructor to hire a car to transport backpacks. Here and until the last, Artem became our lifesaver. He negotiated and communicated with the Turks, with Irina they put forward interesting proposals for organizing leisure time and brought an impressive “zest” to our camping life.

So, the guys walked lightly, and I and two brave fellows from Ukraine, Andrey and Maxim, went by car along with the cargo. After lengthy negotiations, which took place according to the script of the film “Lost in Translation,” with local elders, they decided to organize an overnight stay right in the village under a walnut tree. There our group split up: some set up a tent camp, and some spent the night with local residents.

The fourth day began with loading backpacks onto the car and sending them under the careful supervision of our Belarusian friends Tonya and Igor to the mountains. Everyone else went lightly to admire the mountain landscapes of Turkey. And there was something to see there! Firstly, for the first time we met a “wild” turtle, so to speak. How much delight and joy could be read in our eyes and horror in hers! Continuing to discuss the turtle, we came across a spring where the cheese was cooling, and looking up, we saw a giant tree! It was so wide that the group photo as a souvenir was taken against the backdrop of the hollow. We, unfortunately, did not measure it with a group hug, we left it to our followers.

Next, a fairytale forest awaited us! As they say, you can’t say it in a fairy tale, you can’t describe it with a pen. Guys, you need to see this with your own eyes, it’s very beautiful! Not far from the shepherd’s house, guys with backpacks were already waiting for us, where we stocked up on water, had lunch and went to climb to our camp site - an intermediate rest point before the assault on Takhtali.

Having hidden our backpacks near the camp, we bravely rushed to conquer the peak, especially since a restaurant and all the ensuing consequences were waiting for us there. The first part of the journey was difficult for me: up, up, up, just one up and not a single down!

We were caught in the mountains by fog, i.e. we entered the cloud. And part of the way, like hedgehogs in the fog, we moved along the ridge, heading towards our cherished goal. There was no vegetation there, except for creepy thorns, out of curiosity, which I decided to step on, for which I paid: all evening I took out small, but very sharp needles from my socks and sneakers.

And here we are at the top. The people who arrived on the funicular from Kemer looked after us with surprise and an ironic smile, but among them there were also those who were ready to exchange their dresses for hiking clothes, exchange their funicular ticket for trekking poles and conquer Olympus 2300 m on foot! At least that's what I want to believe...

After having a snack on the highest observation deck in the south of Turkey, we, satisfied and happy, went down to our camp.

The fifth day I remember for the abundance of grapes and pomegranates that we picked right from the trees. We arrived at the overnight stop already late, and in the dark, while collecting firewood, our instructor was bitten by a scorpion! He reacted quickly and immediately called the doctor. After examination, he was taken to the hospital. After this, it became scary not only to set up a tent, but also to go to places that were not so remote, but vital.

Without an instructor, it was sad and dreary, misfortune united us in a tight circle around the fire, and for a hot dinner, suddenly, out of nowhere, strong drinks appeared. To restore the health of our dear instructor, we, like real shamans, began to call him, Kirill’s health, each time raising mugs with fiery liquid over the fire. The ritual had to be performed several times in a row, and lo and behold! As if by magic, by midnight our instructor, alive and unharmed (though slightly bitten), landed in front of us!

Lycian Way - sun and sea.

On the sixth and seventh days the group stopped at the Cirali campsite, but they could also sleep on the beach, as I and a few other guys did. They don’t kick you out of your sun loungers, they don’t specifically wake you up in the morning, the only thing they ask is to put the sun loungers back in place.

During these days we went to the ruins of Olympus (highly recommend) and took an easy full day walk to Tekirova], along the way we met a local fisherman-philosopher who showed us a huge generator in the local ruins. In Tekirova, the Turks asked our permission to take a photo with us; according to them, they had not yet seen Russians in their resort town, they say they were only Europeans.

On the eighth day we took a kayak tour (we left our folded things at the campsite). Special thanks to Artem and Ira for the kayaks, it was their idea. Of course, the Turks clearly charge a lot for their tours, but kayaking is worth it once. I really liked it!

On the same day, Julia from Greece and two couples of Belarusians left our tourist team: Katya and Misha and Tonya and Igor, but we will meet with the guys in Antalya.

We spent the night at a camel farm. There have been no camels there for a long time, or maybe there weren’t any at all, but the name has been preserved.

On the ninth day neither light nor dawn, Sasha (the second instructor) and Kirill got everyone up, fed them porridge, showed them the direction and said in an orderly tone: “We’re going there!”, which means another emergency awaits us! The devil is not as scary as he is painted. The hike turned out to be not so long and tiring; by lunchtime we arrived at Mayak, where we doused ourselves with rotten water and got 30 minutes. divine afternoon nap!

Next, a parking lot awaited us in a picturesque bay, next to a Turkish fisherman. That evening, at dinner, the group started singing! More precisely, it was mostly Barbara who sang, and everyone else sang along or just listened.

Day 10 was very easy: from one beach we moved to another. After swimming and getting an even tan, a festive dinner awaited us by the fire, at the last fire on our hike, which was joined by the local “child of the mountains.”

Day 11 – this is the local market, where I bought Turkish delight, feta cheese and other food supplies; these are the ruins of the ancient city of Thesalis, with its beaches and shade in the forest; this is arrival in Antalya, accommodation in a small hotel with good rooms. The whole evening was spent exploring local attractions and purchasing additional souvenirs. At night there was a festive, farewell buffet.

The morning of day 12 began with breakfast, farewell to part of the group and departure to Antalya airport. Registration and passport control were quick. Sveta’s desire to rob the duty free was transmitted to everyone like an airborne disease, and we, succumbing to the fever, rushed to empty the duty free! Satisfied, with sealed bags in our hands, we boarded the plane and flew to Kyiv without incident.

Lastly.

I am glad that I was a participant in this hike: I saw the colorful landscapes of Turkey with my own eyes, met interesting and versatile people.

To the question “Is it worth going?” It’s impossible to answer unequivocally, each person will objectively answer this question himself in the past tense =))) But it’s definitely worth trying to go along this route!

P.S.: I would like to say a big thank you to our instructors Kirill and Sasha for the good organization of the hike, and respect and respect to all participants in the hike, as well as a bunch of emoticons!!! ;)

Text - Nina Kaygorodtseva, Moscow.

Photo - Kirill Yasko, Kiev.