Days 16–19May 7–10, 2021

To the arch

Day 16The beach and the river↓
Day 17Easier, and more beautiful↓
Day 18Butterfly Valley↓
Day 19The arch I walked past↓

Likya Yolu, the arch16:16

Kalkan → Fethiye · ≈90 kmRoute · 0%

Friday · May 7

Day 16

Patara along the beach

A tip from a stranger saved me a day of mountains and gave me the strangest river crossing of my life.

Morning view over scrub and an olive tree to a hazy bay — Morning on the coast07:01

A flooded ancient colonnaded street lined with column bases — Patara, the old main street12:11

The stone seats of an ancient theatre with a ruined building behind — Patara, the theatre12:19

01 · Advice

Fifteen kilometres of sand.

Somewhere around here I met a Ukrainian woman who had already walked a lot of the Lycian Way. She told me I could cut out one section by walking about fifteen kilometres along the shore instead of through the hills. I listened to her and took the beach.

A wide turquoise river mouth meeting the sea, with dunes on the far bank — The river mouth15:45

03 · The dogs

Surrounded.

Further along the shore a shepherd was driving his cows, together with a few enormous dogs. The dogs surrounded me and started to growl. They were really huge, and they looked dangerous. I was scared. Then it passed, and I walked on.

A low dark island offshore, waves rolling onto a beach under a hazy sun — The end of the beach17:10

A long empty sandy beach leading to mountains — Looking back17:10

Beach≈15 km

Riverneck-deep

Dogstoo many

02 · The river

The pack on my head.

Halfway along the beach a river runs into the sea, and there is no bridge. The water came up to my neck.

I put the whole backpack into a big rubbish bag so it wouldn’t get wet if it fell in, lifted it onto my head and waded across. Once it did fall into the water, but nothing inside got wet. That was a real challenge, and a good one.

Drawing · the crossing, roughly to scale

rubbish bag + head = waterproof.

Saturday · May 8

Day 17

Up the coast

After the empty middle, the western part of the trail felt easier, and more interesting.

A long green valley opening towards the sea between mountain slopes — Down the valley10:07

Andrii standing on a gravel ridge against a grey sky — Me, day seventeen11:59

A red earth path winding along a scrubby slope above the sea — Red path14:14

04 · Fellow travellers

A couple from home.

In the western part I met an older Ukrainian couple. They were in no hurry at all. They were travelling the trail slowly, exploring its history, the ruins and the old Lycian towns. I camped next to them for a night and then walked on.

A path along a high scrubby headland above a blue sea — High above the sea14:14

Babadağ and Butterfly Valley · relief from elevation data, height ×1.8Scroll · 0%

Babadağ · 1,969 m

The coast gets steep.

Above Kabak and Faralya the mountains drop almost straight into the sea.

Day 18 · May 9

Butterfly Valley.

A canyon you look straight down into, then the lagoon at Ölüdeniz from high above.

The end of the trail

The arch is somewhere here.

I was already there on day eighteen. I just didn’t know where the arch was.

0metres

Sunday · May 9

Day 18

Kabak to Ölüdeniz

The trail’s grand finale: cliffs above Butterfly Valley, then the lagoon at Ölüdeniz from high above.

Looking straight down a white cliff to a turquoise bay in Butterfly Valley — Butterfly Valley12:34

Steep cliffs and pines above a deep valley — The cliffs12:37

The blue lagoon and white sand spit of Ölüdeniz seen from a high slope — Ölüdeniz from above16:16

05 · Almost there

Somewhere here is the arch.

The Lycian Way officially starts, or ends, at an arch near Ölüdeniz. On day eighteen I was already there. I just didn’t know where the arch was, so I kept following the trail.

06 · A photographer

A contact for years.

At the very end of the trail, in Ölüdeniz, I stopped next to a man and the women he worked with. He was a photographer, and they were about to set out on the trail themselves. We talked for a little while. Later he found me on Instagram, and he still follows me. We’ve never met again, but we’re still in touch, a little. I like that.

Trees and lawn in evening sunlight at the edge of a resort town — Last evening on the trail19:21

Monday · May 10

Day 19

Ölüdeniz to Fethiye, and back

I finished the Lycian Way in Fethiye, then took a bus back to take a photo at the arch I’d walked straight past.

Still blue water reflecting mountains, with a sailing boat — Calm water08:20

A wooden pirate-style tourist ship moored in turquoise water — Pirates, for tourists08:21

Roofless stone houses of an abandoned village spread over a green hillside — Kayaköy, the abandoned village09:43

07 · The finish

Back for a photo.

I walked on past Kayaköy all the way to Fethiye. That was the end. Then I took the bus back towards Ölüdeniz, found the arch with “Likya Yolu, Lycian Way” written on it, and finally took the photo.

A wooden arch reading Likya Yolu Lycian Way over a path between pines — Likya Yolu16:16

Andrii sitting on the ground under the Lycian Way arch — Done16:40

08 · Nineteen days

I walked the Lycian Way.

It was really hard. The pack was heavy, I was always dirty and always sweating, and my feet smelled for weeks afterwards. Every single day I pierced new blisters and taped them up again.

But I took the risk and went, even alone. I wasn’t afraid, and I did it. I saw so many beautiful views and places, and I’m grateful to myself for every one of them.

Days on the trail19

On foot≈400 km

Hotel nights0

Blistersevery day

lycian way — done.