Sunday, 2 October

Today we headed south along the coast to the Turkish Olympos and the village of Çirali. We got a bit lost thanks to my navigating which should not have been a problem except I sent Doug down a narrow mountain road that was getting a new asphalt top. One of the challenges in Turkey is that many villages have two names. I think some are historical names and some might be the older Greek names. In the 1920s there was a population exchange of ethnic Turks and ethnic Greeks. Ethnic Turks in Greece were exchanged with ethnic Greeks in Turkey. Whole villages were transplanted. The scars and legacies of these migrations are still evident. One result that affects travelers, likes us, is numerous villages with multiple names.

Because of our wrong turn we had to make a bathroom break where we noticed that all of us had black tar on the backs of our legs. Then I looked at our rental car and it was completely tarred. It looked tarred without the feathers. At first we thought we might be able to wipe it off with paint thinner but upon closer inspection, we realized cleaning would be a futile endeavor. We decided to just ignore the problem and find a place to stay.

We found the Kimbala Hotel with gracious host Bulent Coskun. The place thrilled Liam and Colin. First, there were three one-month old puppies. We all have a new favorite breed of dog, the Anatolian shepherd. The mother and father dogs were huge, like pony size. They made our German shepherd Jolie look petite! The mommy dog was a little grumpy and tired with having to feed and care for the pups. The father dog was like a huge, overgrown puppy and would come bounding through the compound knocking over anything in its path. The puppies were into everything they weren’t supposed to be. They were always trying to sneak in the house and kitchen as the cook fed them lots of scraps. Then in the middle of some silly antic the pups would just curl up and go to sleep. Every time we sat down to eat the pups would come play and then fall asleep on our feet as we ate. Liam and Colin were enraptured and couldn’t stay away from them. We entertained the idea of bringing a pup to NZ, but then thought that we are having enough of a challenge getting our own dog into NZ let alone an Anatolian shepherd from Turkey with undocumented healthcare!

We climbed up to Chimaera in the dark wearing headlamps to find our way. This hike was one of the moments where the ancient world comes to life. We had read these flames have been burning for over 2,000 years. The scene felt primordial. After a half an hour of hiking we came out on a hillside with what look liked many small campfires. Small groups of people were crouched around each “campfire.” Some kids had lit sticks on fire and were waving them in the dark sky. Only silhouettes were visible. People could have been wearing animal skins, tunics or jeans. The flames came from small cracks and holes in the rocks. In some crevices the flames glowed hot blue. Larger yellow and red flames reached skyward. One group of people was having a hotdog roast on sticks around one burning rock. How I wished we had brought marshmallows! Remember the marshmallows if you ever visit Chimaera.

Note: Doug spent one morning getting the car detailed to remove the oil, while Carolyn & the boys played at the great beach in Çirali.

Here are some photos from our time in Olympos.