On the Lycian Way

Finike to Selcuk

Friday, June 5.

A brief assessment of our lodgings first. My comments are on the basis of Australian (or rather Brisbane) standards. The two bedroom flat is spacious with at least a 3 metre ceiling. Finishes are good and sound but without design flair. The bathroom is roomy and is fully tiled. There is a lot of tiling on the building externally. There are two good size balconies and all the railings are tubular stainless steel. The lift seems of good quality and the public spaces are better finished than many of our speculative flats. Parking of vehicles is all external but it seems that most people do not have cars. The outside public areas are Spartan and grossly under designed with almost no trees. However, the whole development is very new and improvements could be made in time. Overall, we are quite impressed.

There are two single beds in this good size room.

We are obliged to make an early start because we have quite a long way to go and we want to allow time to enjoy our route. We did not cover much distance yesterday as we wanted to detour to Aspendos and then had to get through Antalya twice. However, today’s drive is referred to as the Lycian Way. There is spectacular scenery as the road hugs the steep hillsides and winds its way right along the Mediterranean coast. There is much to explore in the villages along the way. Regrettably we will not be able to do it this time.

It is a brilliant morning. We have a scratch breakfast of some fetta and yesterday’s bread by the roadside and a placid aqua bay. The setting is perfect but it is sad that there is nowhere to sit.

A perfect breakfast venue.

The scenery is most impressive, at times quite breathtaking. It is a pity that as the day progresses, there is haze. The road, cut into the steep mountain side is also quite a feat. Construction and improvement works are still going on. Regrettably, it has been designed for moving along and not stopping to admire the picturesque views. But even so, it is post card views all along the way to our destination.

Lunch is another blind hen’s job. Perhaps we should not credit our luck. May be most of the country food, while simple, is good, wholesome and colourful. We have had the best pide in Turkey. The dough is more like a pastry than bread. It is light, thin and generously filled. Supplementing it along the way with some of the best fruit we have had is more than sufficient. The peaches are exceptional, the bananas sweet and the apricots just the way they should be – firm, sweet on the sunny side and a little tarty on the other.

The car is performing almost exceptionally well. The suspension is very firm to being a bit tough on rougher roads. It is also a little noisy on anything other than good bitumen. However, as a result, the road holding is excellent. You point it in a direction and that is where it very willingly goes without wallowing or drift. The small diesel engine is very responsive and impressive, cruising along at 2000rpm doing 115km/hr.

It is hard to believe but all of the white patches are hothouses growing various vegetables.

Finding Seljuk is easy but homing in on our hotel is again a problem. Fortunately we have pulled up opposite a taxi rank. Surely they would know. The directions are very simple. Just drive straight ahead until the St. John’s Basilica sign. Turn right, go almost as far as you can, keep an eye out and you cannot miss it. There is no problem.

What remains of the Basilica site, from the hotel terrace.

We are on the edge of town, and as luck would again have it, in the older part. Most of the residential buildings have been turned into small hotels and guest houses. Our place is modest but cheerful, attractive and comfortable enough. As is often the case in inexpensive accommodation, using the laptop is a bit of a juggle but we manage. The internet is sluggish and at times intermittent but that is the way it is. We are booked for three nights without a detailed plan but we will work things out as we go with the help of some local advice and Lonely Planet.

We round the day off with a meal of plain grilled fresh fish and some chips, just around the corner - not heavily battered and wrapped in paper though. We have also come to like Efes beer.