Ancient Arykanda

After all the fun of the previous evening, despite the relatively late start, it was still quite hard to get going on Friday 2nd October. However, at 10am we were all in the buses and heading towards the ancient city of  Arykanda, about an hour's drive away, and one of the least visited Lycian sites. Until recently the access road was suitable only for small off-road vehicles and even now tourists can only be driven in in small coaches and minibuses and then only if it hasn't rained recently.

Arykanda has been likened to Delphi as it overlooks a deep valley between 2 high mountain ranges. There are great views along the valley but, pre-warned that there is much to see at the higher levels, we left the bus and immediately started the hike up.

The larger baths complex    

We stopped first at the 'small baths' but there was relatively little to see there so we continued to the 'large baths', an impressive complex standing about 10m high at its facade. It still has windows over 2 storeys, and a plunge pool and some original plasterwork and paintwork visible inside.

The necropolis   

Behind the baths is the necropolis with some impressive tombs, one of which was converted to a church in early Christian times.

The State Agora    

Further up the site is the State Agora, with one side open to the view and the other 3 sides colonnaded.

The Odeon   

The Odeon, partly restored, is behind the State Agora and this too has a great view down the valley.

The theatre   

The stadium   

We climbed through the Odeon to reach the impressive theatre (still occasionally used for concerts) and, above that, the stadium which, unusually, has seating only on the side next to the hill; the other side is open to the increasingly airy view.

The Commercial Agora   

From the stadium we traversed the hillside to the Commercial Agora - a long way up to bring food and produce for trade.

The Terrace Bathhouse   

Between the 2 we found the remains of a small bathhouse, somewhat off the standard trail around the site, and clearly still in the process of being excavated.

The Bouleuterion   

The Commercial Agora, like the State Agora, has great views across and down the valley. Behind it, and a little higher up, are the remains of the bouleuterion, many times devastated by fire and earthquake and many times rebuilt.

The Temple of Helios   

In the same area are the remains of the Temple of Helios, a holy house and the Archive Store.

Ruined water cistern   

The remains of a large water cistern can be found alongside the State Agora.

Looking down from what we think was the observation tower   

High above everything are the remains of an observation tower. We only learned of this quite late in the visit but having just enough time to scramble up (or so we thought) we high-tailed it up through the remains of the higher level ruins. This area is now well-covered in pine trees and the years of fallen pine needles underfoot and the steep slope of the ground made for hard and slippery going. As we got higher the ground became steeper, more of a proper scramble than a hard walk. We eventually made it to, what we think, is the observation tower's rocky shelf but since we didn't follow a marked route (if, indeed, there still is a marked route) it is difficult to be sure. However, we did find the remains of a square building on a rocky ledge with almost sheer drops on 3 sides and a great view albeit partially obscured by the recently grown pines.

The Nymphaion   

By that time though, we needed to head back so as not to be late for the coach so we scoped a better route down the hill . This passed the Nymphaion...

The Traianeum   

… and the Traianeum.

The ancient basilica

Whilst also giving us just enough time en route to see the well-preserved mosaics of the ancient basilica before meeting up with the rest of the group with a minute or so to spare.

After a short ride in the coach we reached a restaurant close to a fast flowing river, with chairs and tables arranged on the bank under the shade of the trees. It was a lovely cool and refreshing spot in which to stop and have a lunch. This was without a doubt the best meal of the rally: there was an excellent salad, delicious village bread, oven baked tomatoes and garlic, mushrooms baked with cheese, baked onion, fried potatoes and wonderfully fresh trout (fried, grilled or 'under stones'). We all ate our fill and there was still food left over. How the restaurateurs made any money from the TL20 per head charge we have no idea!

The penultimate night of the rally, there was no event planned so we had some drinks on board with Richard and Barbara from Breakaway and picked their brains shamelessly for top tips for long-distance passagemaking (they are 17 years into their circumnavigation with just the Atlantic to go to get them back to their USA start point). Richard had spent the day fixing a leaking holding tank and so thoroughly deserved an evening off and away from the site of his labours.

Fınıke, Turkey