Turkey – Lycian Way and Paragliding | Knotty Ewe On the Land

Yesterday was one of the most spectacular days of my trip so far. It was pretty much as perfect as I could want. For the past couple of days we were staying in a small village called Kayakoy. We have been staying in a lovely small hotel where we were the only guests as it is the very end of the tourist season now. We felt like we were visiting someone’s home it was that relaxed and comfortable. Also the food was wonderful. The only draw back was how cold it was at night – we were all digging out our thermals to wear and piling on the blankets. It was a good reminder of what it will be like going back to Canada in December!

Relaxing at the hotel in Kayakoy.

Rooster at the hotel

Above Kayakoy there is a ghost town of abandoned houses. This is one of the villages which in the 1920s had its entire ethnically Greek population transplanted to Greece and ethnically Turkish residents moved here from Greece (the great population exchange in which in total 1.5 million Greeks were moved from Turkey to Greece and 500,000 Turks were moved back to Turkey). The houses were never really used by the new Turks and so were abandoned and have now deteriorated to their picturesque state.

Climbing the hill to the ghost town

Ghost town above Kayakoy

From the ghost town we started our hike over the mountain to Oludeniz. The 6km that we walked was the first portion of the Lycian Way which is an ancient trading and communication route that connected 110 Lycian villages along the coast of south-western Turkey. It was a beautiful and challenging hike. I would love to come back and hike more of the 510km trail (maybe not all of it though as it was very rocky and very challenging).

Our reward at the end of our hike, which only took about 2 hours was to arrive in Oludeniz which is a lovely beach side community. It was very relaxing to lie on the beach and go for a swim in the crystal clear waters which were the perfect temperature – refreshing but warm enough to relax and float around.

As we were coming over the ridge along the Lycian Way we spotted many many paragliders launching off a mountain beside the sea. After enquiring as to price, duration of flight etc, a group of us decided to give it a try! This was very very far outside my usual comfort zone but why not! I don’t regret it at all as it was a magical and wonderful experience (terrifying but fantastic!).

We rode up to the top of the mountain to 6500 feet. The van ride alone was hair raising as it was hairpin turns all the way up the side of the mountain going about 80kph and the seat I was sitting on wasn’t fully bolted down. The higher we went the more nervous we got, but the perspective of having to ride the van down was motivation to go ahead with the launch.

Getting in the van to go up the mountain.

At the top of the mountain we got strapped into our gear which was really a padded chair inside a backpack and a helmet. My pilot clipped onto the back of my harness with the parachute attached to him. We had to stand at the very edge of the mountain. When my pilot said run I ran as hard and fast as I could off the side of the mountain. It was terrifying but then as soon as we were airborne it was just gentle peace. It was truly magical to be sailing so high above the mountains and the sea. It was close to sunset to the sun was very low on the horizon. It was incredible.

Getting in the van to go up the mountain.