Day 12 - Kelebekler Valisi (Butterfly Valley)
It was a short riding day, but very eventful.
We had read online about an abandoned "Ghost Town" near Fethiye. It was on the other side of a mountain and, despite being only 10km away, we felt suddenly thrust into a very rural Turkey.
The Ghost Town of Kaya Köy
The town was built in a medieval style and used to be home to many Greeks and Turks. But during the first world war and the overthrow of the Ottoman empire, many men left to fight in the war. Then after the war, there was an accord that forced out all of the Greeks, the town was already in decline and rumors began circulating that the departing Greeks had poisoned the cisterns. Furthermore, the city was further damaged in an earthquake (a recurring theme), leading to its total abandonment.
It was overcast, adding to the ambiance.
The houses were stone outlines of what used to be there. After further decay, farmers were allowed to take the remaining wood from the structures. What remains of Kaya Köy now is a village of about 1000 inhabitants.
It just so happens that one of these inhabitants was driving up the mountain after Fethiye at the same we were and helped Mylène, who was waking her bike, by taking her in his car to the top. He gave her a card (actually a hygienic wipe typically given out after meals) with the name of a restaurant. He also gave us cherries, strawberries and peaches as a mountain top snack and told us to drop by the restaurant for tea. After visiting the first town we decided to take him up on his offer so we found the restaurant - a bit of a ways from the ruins on an improbable dirt road near the end of the village.
But this wasn't a run of the mill tourist restaurant. The first thing that struck me was the disproportionate size of the restaurant compared to the village. We were one of the only people there, but most of the period eating were Turkish, with some standard British tourists as well.
In the entrance was a large meat freezer containing whole, prepared lambs hung from their limbs with giblets (kidney, heart, liver, stomach, etc) in skewers below them.
The meat freezer at the entrance to the restaurant.
As we looked for a place to sit we ran across some cages with sheep milling about. It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out (but I also asked) that these were the next sheep destined for the entrance freezer.
We saw some people barbecuing their own kebab in little booths, but we were unsure how to order and at first thought that they had misunderstood what we wanted, but we were the ones who had no clue, especially next to such obvious meat connaisseurs. Instead we ended up ordering tandır, seasoned and slow cooked lamb.
Mylène in the booth drinking some çay.
The meal came with hummus, eggplant and rice.
Afterwards, Ali, the man who picked Mylène up in his car, came and sat with us for a while and chatted. He brought us out some tea, then some hot, melted helva (basically sweet, melted sesame flour) with walnuts, and some fresh watermelon. We could barely move afterwards but I still had a mountain to climb to get to our evening's destination. He gave us shots of rakı for the road and off we went.
There is no road to Butterfly Valley, only a steep, vertical path down a cliff face, or a short boat ride from the nearby resort town, Ölüdeniz. If you've been reading this blog you already know which route we decided to take.
A look at the western cliff face from the opposite side into Butterfly Valley.
Straight on before the descent.
There were ropes to help you down some of the steepest and treacherous areas. Otherwise it was mostly scrambling down the rocks starting from a height of about 450m.
The view at the end is pristine and spectacular and well worth the climb. There is actually kind of a commune down there with gardens, fruit trees, bungalows, tents a kitchen and a bar. It would have been nice to know before setting out with our tent.
We were woken in the morning by an intense windstorm that came howling down the cliffs. Tents were blowing everywhere and we lugged our tent to safety near the eating area against some crazy cross winds. We drank tea and had a great Turkish breakfast while waiting for the winds to die down. Then we took a hike to the center of the valley where a waterfall is still carving out parts of the cliffs. Here, it was also very steep and a rope hung into the waterfall. So yes, you climb into the waterfall, which is inherently slippery since you have to try to find your footing on wet rocks.
Climbing inside the waterfall.
After coming back to the camp we hung out with some of the other patrons - most of whom were Turkish.
Then we made the steep climb back out and I got back on my bike to climb some more mountains and head to Kaş.
We had read online about an abandoned "Ghost Town" near Fethiye. It was on the other side of a mountain and, despite being only 10km away, we felt suddenly thrust into a very rural Turkey.
The Ghost Town of Kaya Köy
The town was built in a medieval style and used to be home to many Greeks and Turks. But during the first world war and the overthrow of the Ottoman empire, many men left to fight in the war. Then after the war, there was an accord that forced out all of the Greeks, the town was already in decline and rumors began circulating that the departing Greeks had poisoned the cisterns. Furthermore, the city was further damaged in an earthquake (a recurring theme), leading to its total abandonment.
It was overcast, adding to the ambiance.
The houses were stone outlines of what used to be there. After further decay, farmers were allowed to take the remaining wood from the structures. What remains of Kaya Köy now is a village of about 1000 inhabitants.
It just so happens that one of these inhabitants was driving up the mountain after Fethiye at the same we were and helped Mylène, who was waking her bike, by taking her in his car to the top. He gave her a card (actually a hygienic wipe typically given out after meals) with the name of a restaurant. He also gave us cherries, strawberries and peaches as a mountain top snack and told us to drop by the restaurant for tea. After visiting the first town we decided to take him up on his offer so we found the restaurant - a bit of a ways from the ruins on an improbable dirt road near the end of the village.
But this wasn't a run of the mill tourist restaurant. The first thing that struck me was the disproportionate size of the restaurant compared to the village. We were one of the only people there, but most of the period eating were Turkish, with some standard British tourists as well.
In the entrance was a large meat freezer containing whole, prepared lambs hung from their limbs with giblets (kidney, heart, liver, stomach, etc) in skewers below them.
The meat freezer at the entrance to the restaurant.
As we looked for a place to sit we ran across some cages with sheep milling about. It didn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out (but I also asked) that these were the next sheep destined for the entrance freezer.
We saw some people barbecuing their own kebab in little booths, but we were unsure how to order and at first thought that they had misunderstood what we wanted, but we were the ones who had no clue, especially next to such obvious meat connaisseurs. Instead we ended up ordering tandır, seasoned and slow cooked lamb.
Mylène in the booth drinking some çay.
The meal came with hummus, eggplant and rice.
Afterwards, Ali, the man who picked Mylène up in his car, came and sat with us for a while and chatted. He brought us out some tea, then some hot, melted helva (basically sweet, melted sesame flour) with walnuts, and some fresh watermelon. We could barely move afterwards but I still had a mountain to climb to get to our evening's destination. He gave us shots of rakı for the road and off we went.
There is no road to Butterfly Valley, only a steep, vertical path down a cliff face, or a short boat ride from the nearby resort town, Ölüdeniz. If you've been reading this blog you already know which route we decided to take.
A look at the western cliff face from the opposite side into Butterfly Valley.
Straight on before the descent.
There were ropes to help you down some of the steepest and treacherous areas. Otherwise it was mostly scrambling down the rocks starting from a height of about 450m.
The view at the end is pristine and spectacular and well worth the climb. There is actually kind of a commune down there with gardens, fruit trees, bungalows, tents a kitchen and a bar. It would have been nice to know before setting out with our tent.
We were woken in the morning by an intense windstorm that came howling down the cliffs. Tents were blowing everywhere and we lugged our tent to safety near the eating area against some crazy cross winds. We drank tea and had a great Turkish breakfast while waiting for the winds to die down. Then we took a hike to the center of the valley where a waterfall is still carving out parts of the cliffs. Here, it was also very steep and a rope hung into the waterfall. So yes, you climb into the waterfall, which is inherently slippery since you have to try to find your footing on wet rocks.
Climbing inside the waterfall.
After coming back to the camp we hung out with some of the other patrons - most of whom were Turkish.
Then we made the steep climb back out and I got back on my bike to climb some more mountains and head to Kaş.
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