Turkish Mosaic circuit. Days 12 and 13 (500 Kilometre distance covered)

15th October 2010
 Dinizli - Kekova - Kas

I have unfortunately not taken  any photo of Kekova, having decided to film the boat trip along the bay instead. Many of the Lycian tombs can still  be observed around this area, and according to underwater archeology there are  also several ruins of the submerged city to be viewed.

Once off shore we had the possibility of diving in the clear crystal waters for half an hour, which some of us did ... whilst the greatest majority of us (myself included) just quietly sat at the tables on the deck of the boat ... drinking, talking and admiring the surrounding landscape.

16th October 2010
Kas - Myra - Antalya

We left Kas, a pretty charming fishing village we had stayed at the night before,  and hit the road on our way to Myra. It didn't stop raining ... and once more we have had to take photos in fairly difficult settings ...  avoiding the wet and muddy puddles ... holding  the umbrella on one hand and the camera on the other ...

The Lycian rock tombs in Myra were very impressive, particularly if one takes into account the fact the carving into natural rock involves a considerable degree of architectural skills, together with the inner walls of the city being dated back to the 5th century BC.

Lycian rock-tombs in Myra (Left). Monumental relief detail from a rock tomb (Right).

Masks on the Myra marble theatre frieze (Left). The Theatre of Myra (Right).

The construction of the well preserved Roman theatre located at the foot of the steep hill cannot be dated precisely, though there seems to be evidence that the theatre, which has a sitting capacity of 11,000 was damaged during the earthquake of 141 AD, having been reconstructed through a generous donation by a wealthy  citizen od Rhodiapolis.

What can I say? ... At this moment in time I honastly don't know, all I seem to know is that this trip is coming to an end and I feel I am a lot more culturally enrichened by having been here, though I strongly feel it won't be the last time either.

We then headed to Kale to visit Saint Nicholas Church, which dates back to the 8th century, though there were renovations in the 9th century, having from the 12th century onwards become an increasingly popular place of pilgrimage. The remains of frescoes on its walls really caught my attention, though most visitors, of Russian origin were perched over Saint Nicholas tomb (whose bones were stolen and taken to Bari), throwing coins and begging for favours (he is said to be the patron saint of the Russian merchants).

Saint Nicholas church frescoes.

We still had time to walk around the village and to my surprise most shops which sold Saint Nicholas related objects belonged to Russian citizens who, according to provided information, have been moving here since the restauration of the Church was carried out by Russians.

By the end of the day we were back in Antalya, where this whole "adventure" started. Those travelling to Paris will be leaving very early in the morning and the ones flying into Nantes and Lyon airports will still have enough time to visit the centre of Antalya tomorrow morning.

I feel like those adolescents who react negatively to being forced to turn their backs onto something they are enjoying  ...  and the truth is I don't feel like saying good-bye to people like Michele, Ana, Marie Hélène or even  one or two of the couples I seem to have got along well with ... I don't feel like going back to a culturally lifeless type of working routine ... I don't ...