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The Old Man (and Woman) and the Sea – hiking the Lycian Way

Writer's picture: Hans FaberHans Faber
Aperlae by Hans Faber
Aperlae by Hans Faber

April 2024. One of the bastards of the Frisia Coast Trail hiked part of the Lycian Way, or, in the Turkish language, Likya Yolu. It’s a coastal track of more than 700 kilometers along the southern coast of Turkey. Lycia is the historical name of the peninsula of Teke. This coast is largely free from hotels and resorts that you will find more to the east near the city of Antalya. Instead, it’s peppered with forests, pastures, rural villages with great Turkish hospitality and food, including the inevitable gözleme dish, and many ruins of ancient Greek and Roman civilization. And daily encounters with the many goat herders and their mighty Kangals. This hike provides a great way to experience another coastal culture and history. After almost two days of hiking, the bastard stayed at a little lodge next to the sea managed by an elderly couple. It was their little paradise.


After having beans for lunch, dinner, and breakfast for the last three meals – creating a human jet engine – the bastard's speed that day on the trail was significantly improved! The route was pretty easy, mostly downhill, but with a lot of loose rocks as a downside. It was down to the sea again. Near the pimple-shaped mountain with the ruins of the ancient Lycian city Apollonia on top, the bastard ran into an orchestra of jingling bells carried by sheep around their necks. A woman shepherd led the herd, together with a huge Kangal. The dog, with traditional spike necklace, came to the bastard and followed him for a while, wagging its tail. From the boy Huseyn at Ali's Pansiyon, the bastard had learned yesterday that the slopes of mountains are free for villagers to let their sheep and goats graze. "Mountains belong to nobody," Huseyn explained.


The bastard encountered only one other hiker that day between the small village of Boğazic and the jetty of Aperlae. A young woman, probably Western European. A day hiker, with a small pack and a baseball cap. She stopped to let the bastard pass, without looking up from under her cap, despite the fact that she was walking uphill.


Near the sea, the bastard passed through another antique archaeological site: the ancient settlement of Aperlae dating to the fifth century BC. A lot of tombs are spread around the site. Quite beautiful. As always here in the region, very little is done to preserve these artifacts and ruins, nor to disclose the archaeological site to the public. Much, frankly the most, is overgrown. If not, it's thanks to grazing goats and sheep. At the same time, this is exactly what contributes to the specific and unique experience of the Lycian Way. Suddenly wandering through the remnants of lost cultures.


Once at the seashore, it was a short walk over a flat area toward the east. Some cows were herded here. To Aperlae Restaurant and Pansiyon. An elderly, optimistic couple are the owners. Very open and communicative. Not pushy. Talking so loudly, they could be heard all the way in Antalya. Indeed, the bastard was back at the open sea. And what a beautiful spot it is! A long rickety jetty, a boathouse, and a hut to sleep. Moreover, the bastard was their only guest.


The man named Mustafa explained the business' motto: "you happy, me happy." His raspy voice gave away he had been a heavy smoker. He also explained the shower. To get hot water, you had to heat a barrel with water on the gas burner standing next to the shower. Then put it in a bucket, and with a cup, shower yourself. Mustafa illustrated the whole thing with body gestures and even lit the burner briefly. After this he started laughing loudly. "Mandi mandi", the bastard thought, thinking of the way people bath in Indonesia.


The place is so quiet, so bright with the sun reflecting in the green-blue sea, that you feel maximally relaxed. There’s no access road. Therefore, all supplies must come over water. No cars. Nothing. From the bedroom in the little lodge – if you can call it that – the only sound is the waves that slosh against the rocks. Sometimes little fish jump out of the water because a bigger one is chasing them. Only six sailing yachts are anchored in the bay. None of these boats are on shore. Happy they are not.


And the bastard could take a swim. Walking down the old, rickety wooden jetty and take a dive into the blue lagoon. Delicious! Albeit a bit cold. A whole afternoon and evening doing nothing at this place. Except for eating well prepared fish and drinking Efes beer. Heaven!


It was a sober breakfast the next morning. Never before had the bastard been served plain boiled potatoes for breakfast. Together with some white cheese, black olives, a hard-boiled egg, salad – i.e., slices of tomato and cucumber – and bread. Always bread in Turkey. Always white bread in Turkey. And always tea in Turkey too. Always black tea in Turkey. With a stomach filled with boiled potatoes, the bastard repaid his debts to Mustafa for his food, drinks, and lodging, and gave him some extra. Mustafa chivalrously walked the bastard to the parkuru (‘trail’), shook hands – as all Turkish men love to do – and said: “bye bye,” together with “you happy, me happy,” the few words he knew in English.


tombs, ruins of Aperlae, 5th century BC
tombs, ruins of Aperlae, 5th century BC

The hike to the village of Üçağız was an easy hike. Mostly a level walk. This first part went through (stony) fields. It had an eerie feeling, though. Clearly, this was farmland for grazing livestock, like goats, sheep, and cows. And yes, there were a few cows—maybe ten. But besides that, it was dead quiet. The only sound the bastard heard was that of a dove and a crow crying. No sound of jingling bells of goats, no dogs barking, no little birds, no other hikers, no shepherd whistling or throwing a stone, no wind, nothing. Dead quiet. And so beautiful at the same time. Unreal.


What didn’t help to get rid off the eerie touch, was a rotting carcass on the trail. Covered with feasting flies. The bastard couldn’t figure out if it was a dog or a wolf? They say wolves live on higher elevation and not near the coast. At the same time, wandering wolves cover hundreds of kilometers in a few days. The bastard liked to imagine that it was a wolf. One that had lost a heroic duel with a Kangal shepherd dog. A bit further down the trail a snake crawled away from the path into dead leaves. It was an even brown snake of about a meter long. You don’t see snakes that often. At least the bastard hadn’t. His guess, it was a black whipsnake. Again, not helping to get rid of the eerie atmosphere either.


So, when the bastard finally arrived at the open sea again, he was glad to leave this somewhat uncanny feeling behind him, in these also enchanting hills. The downside was that the progress on this second part of the trail was terribly slow because of the very rocky and rough surface. But he saw the marine of Üçağız slowly coming nearer. Salvation was not far away.


Üçagiz is a small and friendly touristy village with a marine for mainly tour boats and ferries to the towns of Kaş, Kale and sometimes to the city of Demre. But also for yachts and some small fishing boats. They say they catch lobster in the waters along the coast. Caught with diving and sometimes with traps. Clearly the tourist season hasn’t started yet because the little restaurants on shore are nearly empty. The bastard stayed in the Ekin Pansyion in the west side of the village. Straight at the trail of the Lycian Way. With the lovely, bit noisy sea only ten meters away from his window.


But the bastard couldn't help to think back at his austere stay with Mustafa and his wife at Aperlae yesterday. He felt sorry to have left this simple but o so serene spot. Such a laid back place. Zero commercial development. And where Mustafa and his wife were growing old together. Sitting on their worn out sofa facing the long rickety, wooden jetty, the green blue Mediterranean Sea, and each morning the sun also rises. Sometimes they are arguing together. Sometimes laughing together. But always very loudly. The bastard even saw a binocular laying on the old sofa. Probably they use it to peek at the fancy expensive yachts and ships anchored further out in the bay. A world so different from theirs. "I hope the two can grow even older together in this peaceful, teeny-tiny corner of Turkey", the bastard thought.


Üçağız
Üçağız
 


Note – Walking part of the Lycian Way fits a series of coastal hikes of the Frisian Bastards to experience the regional maritime landscape and culture. Exactly where the Frisia Coast Trail is all about too. For these reasons the bastards hiked the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in the southwest of Wales (read our blog post Croeso i Gerddwyr), the Andalucian Coast to Coast Walk in the south of Spain (read our blog post Naranjas and Reservoir Dogs – Hiking in Andalusia), the Rota Vicentina in the southwest of Portugal (read our blog post Surf on someone else’s Turf – Hiking the Rota Vicentina), and the coastal section of the Bibbulmun Track in the southwest of Australia.


Suggested music

Pharrell Williams, Happy (2013)

Poledouris, B., The Blue Lagoon Soundtrack (1980)


Further reading

Clow, K., Lycian Way (2022)

Hemingway, E., The Old Man and the Sea (1952)

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