9/15/07
Finike, Turkey 5:00 pm
Today was day 3 of hiking on the Lycian Way. It has been really amazing here- pristine beaches, awe inspiring views and old villages and ruins. Yesterday, we woke up at the goat herders camp, cooked breakfast, drank in the views and hiked out to Andrasan. It was a good amount of downhill, which was hard on James’s knees, but we arrived in Andrasan in good spirits and looking forward to swimming. The beach was rocky and windy, but the water was cool and refreshing. Andrasan is one of my favorite towns so far, with a nice easy feeling, not too many tourists, and beautiful sailboats near the shore. We swam in big waves, then showered off under a sway sculpture, but wished we would have waited to shower under the elephant or dolphin showers just down the road. We refilled water and bought some fruit and veggies for lunch and ate under the shade at the beach. We got moving again at around 1:30 or so, hiked up to a camel farm (off-season, so there were no camels), and were feeling scorched by the hot sun. The hiking was hard- lots of scree and steep ups and downs, and it was hot, but we were rewarded by stellar views of “floating island” and the mountains and the sea. Finally, we arrived at the lighthouse- our goal for the night, because we read there was a cistern there. It was magical, because we arrived right at sundown, quickly found the cistern and did a water dance, and watched the sun set over these beautiful islands and calm water. It was such a relief to arrive after a hard hike, drink water, cook, and enjoy this beautiful spot on this gorgeous peninsula. The light house has an interesting history, as the waters surrounding it are some of the most dangerous in the Mediterranean because of cross currants. So there are a lot of ship wrecks under the water, wish cool relics apparently. We slept badly unfortunately, as we slept under the stars and were attacked by bugs and warm temperatures in the night.

Morning came and I awoke at dawn- James watched the sun rise, and Sinem and Emmett slowly awoke. After our bad nights sleep, we were all feeling kind of bad- sore throats all around. But Emmett felt the worse, and as the day progressed, got sicker and sicker. We arrived in Karaos quickly, after an easy hike, and swam at the beautiful beach. There was a long dock which James dove off. I floated on my back for a long while, letting the views sink in. Unfortunately, Emmett got sicker and sicker as the day went on, and after a relaxing and tasty lunch overlooking the beach, we hitchhiked to Finike to find a pension and get our sick member of the team a pension.