ianandoana.com

We arrived in Olympos tired and hot! It was in the high 30s at 7 pm, and the next day would only get hotter. We also REALLY needed showers – 4 days on the boat with only salt water ‘baths’ and over-the-sink showers was a little long. Checking in at Kadir’s Tree Houses took a little while, but finally our room was ready. We had the one on the top right in the photo below. Not really a tree house, but much better. Kadir’s consists of a set of about ten of these complexes which surround a similar yet circular two story bar. The complex reminded me of the old western tv sets with mostly unpainted wooden structures surrounded by dirt roads.

As it turns out, Kadir’s hostel burned to the ground this past February and with the help of neighbours and volunteers was completely re-built in less than 2 months, to be ready for the busy summer season. While it might not have the character it used to, it was awesome sleeping in a brand new bed and using a brand new shower!

There are three different bars on site, open at overlapping hours so you can get a drink or a snack pretty much any time. There are also lots of lounging areas with floor pillows, which many people took advantage of during the hottest parts of the day. There are chickens and peacocks roaming around everywhere too!

Breakfast and dinner are included in the per-night price, so that was nice, since other than a whole bunch of gözleme stands, Olympos doesn’t have too many restaurant choices.

I noticed a lot of ‘Renaults’ while we were in Olympos which looked mighty familiar … hmmm Dacia?!? That explains where all those Romanian Dacias went to die.

We only had one full day in Olympos, so we braved the heat and walked down to the beach. Kadir’s is as far as you can get from the beach and still be in Olympos, so we cheated and got a ride halfway down with the free beach shuttle. Olympos was an important Lycian city around the 2nd century BC and the main path that takes you to the beach crosses through a the ruins of the ancient city. In order to pass through you are actually forced to buy a ticket to the ruins.

The beach is surprisingly wonderful. More pebbles than sand, but long and almost deserted, with beautiful blue water.

In the evening we took a minibus to the chimaera, the ‘eternal’ flames shooting out of the ground on the hillside. They’re caused by permanent gas (methane) vents, and there used to be dozens of them but the night we went only about 6 were blazing away.

The flames were very cool, and it was neat to see them in person, after reading about them in Greek mythology. If you go, wear sensible shoes and most importantly, bring a flashlight! It is about a 20 minute hike up a narrow path in the pitch black dark – a perfect recipe for a fractured ankle!