Distance: 4.0 (207.4km), time spent: 2:03 (83:48).
Altitude (start / end / highest): 497m / 6m / 497m.
Weather: Clear blue sky.
The night did not turn out so bad, but it still was not a festive night for the sleep either. There were sounds of animals roaming past the tent in the night as well, wild pigs grunting. Our tents are completely wet from condensation in the morning, while the plain seems just as dry, all the water there are probably gathered on our canvases.
Gedikefe Ovası, a large and rocky plain.
A cairn and cracked earth at Gedikefe Ovası.
I have decided that I will only walk to Kaş today, which nearly is just a stone's throw away. First and foremost the rest of the huge plain stands before us. Big, rocky, dry, cracked earth. We follow small cairns on the ground, left behind by other hikers, waymarking is scarce. Near the end of the plain, a tree is rising up from the ground in an awkward way, it turns out that it grows out of a large hole. Must have been a well once upon a time.
View down towards Kaş and where the trail continues towards Liman Agızı.
The plain ends in a small belt with vegetation, before cliffs and precipices abruptly lies in front of our feet. The view is magnificent, in extent one of the best on the walk so far, but not the finest. Kaş in its entirety lies below us. The Greek island of Castellorizon lies now in front of us with the blue sea as a backdrop. Both Serkan and I are a little bit downhearted that we did not go here yesterday afternoon; to sit on the edge of the precipice with a fire would have been amazing. Looking down at the lights from Kaş. Unfortunately, we would not have reached here before the sun had descended.
Nothing to complain about when it comes to the view from the cliffs above Kaş, below. Castellorizon (Meis) further out.
From the cliffs, there is a steep walk down, the town is about 500 meters below and most of the descent goes over just one kilometre. Down it goes in wide zigzags. It looks definitely more fun to go down for the paragliders that glides above us in the air, even though the path is good to walk on. On the way down, the path passes by a large cave in the mountain.
Inside a cave on the way down to Kaş.
Precipices and vegetation above Kaş, visible holes in the mountain.
It is only four days since I left Kalkan, but it still is a small transition coming to Kaş. More people, definitely more tourists, and more noise. For Serkan, this is the end of his trip, which started in Kalkan. He has still got some days left of his vacation; from here, he will catch a bus to Ismir. Before he go, we plan to find something to eat. I make a short excursion to a guesthouse, Kuytu Köşe Pansiyon, to check if they have an available room so that I do not have to drag my backpack with me further.
Street in Kaş, details from old buildings still apparent and next to the tree is an old saddle-backed sarcophagus.
Our choice of place to eat turns out to be an unfortunate one. Just after we have finished eating Serkan feels that he has a stomach problem, I am luckily off the hook. To add insult to injury, it turns out that there are not any free places on any of the buses going to Ismir. Instead, he will take a bus Antalya and hope to get a bus from there.
Inside a big tomb standing on a hill in the town.
I meet again Sasha and Alice, who could tell me that they had stayed in a guesthouse in Çukurbağ (so there was one there after wall, as it stood in the guidebook). They do not wish to stop here in Kaş and will continue further. Serkan go for a swim before he takes his bus and we say farewell. And so I am alone again.
The amphitheatre is still in good shape. In the background the cliffs we came down from.
Kaş was once Antiphellos and the port of Phellos. The steep path we came down to the town from is described as the link between the two places and the only direct route out of Antiphellos, to transport goods in that time must have been hard work. On a hill in the town, there is a big square tomb and a short walk across the hill leads you to a white amphitheatre. Nearby my guesthouse, there is a big saddle-backed sarcophagus, which is the most photographed grave in the town.
The sun going down behind the hills in the west, from the roof terrace at my guesthouse in Kaş.
Getting back in a bustling crowd was luckily not so bad. It is a nice small town, which has experienced some changes in the latter years, but you can still see buildings and details from the old houses the city consisted of. As with the guesthouse in Kalkan, the guesthouse I chose here (at random) also has a nice roof terrace I can sit down and relax at. The Lycian Way has come down from the mountains to the coast and tomorrow the trail will follow it further. That means higher temperatures, but at the same time possibilities for a swim in the ocean.
Serkan Aydın, who I walked together with has made this video from his walk, I make some guest appearances in it.
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