Olympos
After taking a night bus (22YTL) from Göreme, I found myself in Olympos, along the coast of Turkey on the Mediterranean. Olympos is just a little tourist town… and to say town is pushing it. It’s really just a bunch of pensions, set in treehouses, restaurants, and agencies to book travel tours or adventure sports. The only ATM in the area is a mobile truck that drives in daily. But what brings people here is the chillout factor. There’s a beautiful beach surrounded by mountains and ruins, although it’s a rock and pebble beach, which takes some getting used to to find comfort. And other than the beach, there’s nothing to do but chill. The pensions are treehouses, which is cool, but we’re not talking about the shitty kind you built as a kid. Many have (much needed) air-con, and are quite comfortable. It’s really more like cabin camping. I stayed at Bayram’s, known particularly for it’s chill atmosphere, as compared to some other which also have discos, and hordes of drunk Aussies. For 20YTL a night, you get a bed, breakfast (with a choice… not just Turkish!), and a dinner (which, after a couple days, started to get a little dull. But Saturday is protein day with meat. Woo!) And since there’s nothing else to do, it makes a cheap little stop. Although the bar drinks are overprices, and they ask you not to bring any from outside… but as long as you’re still drinking what they have and aren’t obvious about bringing it in, no problem, and buy from the cheaper market down the street.
It’s supposed to be a 2YTL fee to get to the beach because you have to pass through the ruins to get there, but just walk behind the ticket booth, or through the jungle pathway a little further away and again, no problems. The site of the ruins isn’t very large nor particularly impressive, but adds a nice touch to the area.
One of the other things to actually do is see the Chimaera, a collection of flames coming through the rocks on the side of Mt. Olympos, caused from gas that ignites when it comes in contact with the air. The hostel offered a trip there for €7,5, not including the €2,50 to enter the area. You’re really just paying for the ride there. It’s best to go in the dark so you can see better, but you have to hike 20 minutes up the path from the parking area. The flames are kind of cool, but nothing thrilling.
The common area at Bayram’s has the typical Turkish sitting areas- square with cushions along the perimeter and a low-sitting table in the middle. No shoes allowed. There’s also various tables with benches and hammocks, in a nicely tree-shaded area. So when not at the beach, you’re here talking, playing backgammon or cards, smoking nirgile, or having some beers. One night a few of us ventured down to Kadir’s, the big party hostel, with three bars and dancefloors and 400+ beds. Sure glad I didn’t stay there. Ridiculoously overpriced with shitty eurotrash music, and they tried to charge a 10YTL cover, but since it was 2.30 in the morning already, we got out of it.
Olympos is either the starting or ending point for people taking the Blue Cruise to/from Fethiye. Most people end here, but what I found surprising is the tourists in Olympos are predominately Turks, which was nice. One Aussie girl in my dorm was amazed at the lack of roving pack of Aussie blokes, for which we were rather grateful. I guess after four days on a cruise doing nothing, most people don’t stick around Olympos for very long. Since I’m essentially doing the Backpacker’s Trail in reverse order, I started my cruise in Olympos. Cruises aren’t normally my thing, but everyone raved about how great it was, and I was wanting to get on a boat at some point… And at 300YTL which covers three meals a day, accommodation, and transport to Fethiye, and the chance to see the coast and some other sights I wanted to check out along the way, I decided to go for it. Unfortunately I couldn’t get on one until Monday the 30th, so that meant four days chilling in Olympos, then four days chilling on a boat. After, I’m sure I’ll be itching to DO stuff, but hey, I don’t vacation like this often. It’ll be nice to do. And, I should end up with a hella-tan.
Tags: Asia, Travel, Turkey
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