Day 163 –168: Snow covered kilometres
Fethiye – Patara – Kas – Demre – Olympos – Antalya: 320 km
I’ve been a little concerned about today. I wouldn’t say I’ve been dreading it, but it’s certainly close. For today is a day of climbing. I’ve done my research and it’ll be one of the toughest days yet. I’ve also seen the snow-covered mountaintops in the distance. There is a possibility of taking a less mountainous road to Patara, but I decide I’d rather die in the beauty of Butterfly Valley than sort of die following big roads full of cars. The morning comes and I stuff myself with the hostel’s breakfast and make sure I take enough food with me. Let’s go!
The climb is gruesome, endless and amazingly beautiful. Half way up icicles hang from the marble rocks. Even further, the sides of the road are covered in ice. Whenever the trees don’t form a think wall of pines I stare down the cliffs into the clear blue water of the Mediterranean. I take my time; I take my pictures and smoke my cigarettes. With the ocean, the view on the nearby islands and the forests, the nature reminds me of Croatia, only with a temperature drop of 30°C. Near the top there are stretches of road where the sun hasn’t reached that are completely covered in ice. I walk, slid and slide over them. Finally, drenched in sweat I reach the summit. Going downhill I nearly freeze to death. I have to stop twice because my feet and hands hurt too much from the cold. But I reach Patara, and luckily the shower in the deserted cabin park is warm.
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I take it easier the next day. My knee has started to hurt. It might be the cold, it might be my new shoes, it might be yesterday’s climb. In any case, I have to make sure the problem doesn’t get bigger. I’m not in a hurry anyways. The road to Kas a beautiful one, situated snugly between the water and the mountains. I get there in less than 2.5 hours. In Kas most things are open, less tourists and more locals I think.
Even though I hadn’t planned to stay in Kas for an extra day I do. The weather is supposedly horrible tomorrow. The forecast was right. Rain for hours, snow in the mountains. The locals can’t stop talking about this year’s winter. In a bar somebody tells me it’s the first snow in 20 years. Another claims it’s been 60 years. It shows. Buildings don’t have central heating, everywhere people are cramped around haphazardly installed cast iron wood stoves, often the showers are not more than lukewarm. Nobody’s prepared for temperatures like these.
I for one am quite excited for the snow. And I get what want when I set out to Demre, on the day the rain passed. Starting with a seriously steep climb, soon everything is covered in a think blanked of snow. On the other side of the mountain the mist clears and a clear blue sky reveals itself. It’s like I’m on winter holidays, this time with a bike instead of skis. Enchanted by my surroundings Christmas songs pop into my head and I hardly feel the cold. That of course changes when the snow disappears but the cold stays throughout the day. The shower that night doesn’t get warm and I take it while shouting and cursing, warming up in blankets underneath the makeshift heater that normally cools the room. I’m alive!
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Antalya is my next anchor. Two days until I get there. Tonight I’ll stay in Olympos. Actually, I’ll stay in Cirali, but the place is better known for its ancient nearby ruins. After convincing the guards to let my bike in, I ride through history onto the nearby beach. Today has been incredible. Turkey has definitely made up for its boring big roads around Istanbul. Endless mountains and valleys cut out by marble green and turquoise rivers have surrounded me all day. And it all ends with a beer on the beach. Perfect.
After a quiet night in another town where everything is closed and another cabin (they are surprisingly popular here) in the valley Antalya is my next stop. I found a place to stay with a Dutch girl I met on dating platform Bumble. She normally rents out her spare room on Airbnb. I wonder how it’ll go, but I’ll be fun nonetheless.
