Simena and the Sunken Sea - May 11th

-


Today we were dropped off at Simena Bay, which some view as a sunken treasure because parts of the ancient city of Kekova is now submerged in the sea, along with remains of the Titus thermal baths. 

From here we climbed up into the village which is built on terraces. Each home offering up snacks and ice-cream to tourists who begin their hike up to Simena Castle. We stopped at a Pension where we gathered to add dried grains, lentils, dried mushrooms, or anything that we brought from our own home country to add to the cooking of an Ashura (ancient dessert) that would simmer on the fire while we hiked. With each ingredient added we would cast our wish or prayer into the pot to sweeten the Ashura that we would eat at the end of the day. 

After this some of our friends went for a boat ride on the Mediterranean Sea while the busy walkers like myself climbed our way up towards Simena Castle. Although we did not climb the many stairs to the top of Simena Castle from the Byzantine Era for the fantastic views overlooking Simena Bay, we climbed high enough to visit the small theatre that faces the sea.  A few of our companion storytellers filled the ancient area with an array of old tales. 

Later that afternoon we met Kate Clow in her home along the Lycian Way (pronounced Lick-ee-un). Kate is the British expatriate who conceived of creating this trail which was opened in 1999. This incredible hiking trail is accessible thanks to Kate Clow and the volunteers that she organized to waymark the trail which is over 500 km long. 

This path is high up in the mountains and takes many twists and turns connecting villages, mountain hamlets, and ancient Lycian and Roman sites. In fact, parts of the Lycian Way were used by the ancient Lycians as routes between their cities and ports. 



  The view is worth the trek                                     Stirring the Ashura


                                                                        Meeting Kate Clow


    

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

May 14th Discovering Phaselis

-
Image
Our last hike along the Lycian Way with http://www.feast-story.org  led us to the ancient ruins of Phaselis and beaches in Kemer. We walked along trails that overlooked the Mediterranean Sea and the first of three harbours. As we walked through tall pine groves the landscape soon changed to include tall cedar trees.  Along the trail we began to walk through a Necropolis (cemetery) on the outside of the city walls. Large stone sarcophagi typically indicated that each sarcophagus was the resting place of someone important. Whereas, smaller more shallow imprints of a burial were detected by the rectangular imprint that is forever imprinted upon the land. Many of these graves have been unearthed and in some cases numbered in the past twenty years.  Ancient sarcophagus found three metres down in the sea Shells are visible on the side of the sarcophagus Imprint of a grave  Tombs  Framing the city walls are large portions of an ancient Aqueduct facing Military Harbour ...
Read more

Mount Olympus & Mount Moses in Anatalya

-
Image
Such a surprise to learn that there is a Mount Moses and Mount Olympus along the Lycian Way.  The day began with a major hike towards Mount Olympus. We were challenged but the views were spectacular.  Have you ever crossed a babbling brook with a knapsack on your back and hiking boots on your feet and poles in hand? It was like walking across a balance beam. I started off gracefully, until the pack on my back shifted left. There it went downstream!!! Our fearless and quick thinking tour guide, Yunus Ozdenir whipped off his hiking boots and waded in the water to retrieve it downstream. It was a lucky save!!!   He said that because it was at the start of the hike my bottle was full of water which made it heavier to be carried away!!  We trekked down to see the  burning flames of Chimaera. These are the eternal natural fires of Lycia that dot the landscape.  The flames burn from crevices in the rocks of the Cirali  Mountains and ancient beliefs credit thi...
Read more