Lycian Way Day 5: Xanthos to Kalkan

Xanthos to Kalkan

Starting km: 70

Finishing km: 88

Distance walked: 18km

This was a day of two halves.  

The morning was great.  The dog that had kept us up all night greeted us cheerfully and accompanied us for the first km or so of our walk (I honestly think now that it probably thought it was protecting us by barking all night near our campsite… who knows, maybe it was!?)

From there most of the morning was spent walking on the aqueduct that fed Xanthos.  Not just near it, but literally on it, as it contoured the hillside. It was in varying condition, but especially as you neared the source it was in great shape, still being used by some locals for irrigation 2500 years after its construction!

Things got tougher as we climbed up through thicker bush and a bit of mud towards the water source.  The whole rest of the day was a bit tiring and frustrating, as the trail bobbed up and down hills, in and out of pine forest and little villages.  In doing this it committed the cardinal sin of trail design, being difficult for no particular reason. The views out over the greenhouses and distant mountains were nice enough, but not worth climbing up a 200m hill, then down again, then up again four or so times over, especially when multiple roads went the same places without all the twists and turns and hills.

It just got a bit frustrating, especially for Sarah who walked most of the day in jandals to aid her blister's healing.  

When we arrived at km 88 in the town of Akbel, we took a (metered but surprisingly expensive, but I understand that in the expat-heavy town the taxis have formed a bit of a cartel) taxi downhill to the town of Kalkan. 

I hadn't realized it until about an hour before we arrived, but Kalkan is ordinarily the kind of place I'd avoid like the plague.  Filled almost entirely with holiday villas and summer homes occupied mostly by British expats, the whole town center is pretty much entirely bars and restaurants.  Accommodation is pricey by Turkish standards too.

But:

1. It's quite pretty and
2. It sits in a spot where the Lycian way almost doubles back on itself as it loops out and around a peninsula to visit the ruins of the Lycian site of Patara.  This means that we can spend two nights in the same place, I can walk out to Patara and Sarah can meet me there by taking a dolmus and give herself a full day of foot healing time before we hit the trail again together day after tomorrow.

We ate (and picked) lots of pomegranates today.