- 3/27/2006
Drove through the mountains and pines to Phaselis, a ruined Lycian city founded around 334 BC, a port for the shipment of timber, rose oil and perfume.
There are three small harbors, a theater that we walked up to through an overgrown path where Mike sang us the tale of Abdul Abulbul Emir (a Crimean War
song). Lunch was trout and fresh-baked bread and salad, all for 10 lire each, in an alpine restaurant we had all to ourselves. After the meal our host
(the owner) played the saz, a long-necked guitar-like instrument. Next we hiked up to Chimaera, a mountain top where natural gas comes out of holes in the
rock and ignites. Nice ruins and good views! But by now our little group of adventurers was beginning to dawdle. On to Olympos; we walked along a stony
beach past a crusader castle, into the woods where ancient ruins peeked out from the trees and on the other side of a slow-flowing river, to a Lycian
necropolis on the hillside. As we had dallied too long, our driver Sayid then had to speed us back along the coast road at 140 km/hr to get us back in
time for dinner. "Number One Driver!"
