Lycian Way, Likya Yolu

 We were up early in order to have a good deal of our uphill walking in the shade before the sun became too fierce. Farewell to the Gold Lion Hotel, we were the only guests in a huge hotel and it felt a big odd. We found a lovely little patisserie open and they served great coffee with a slice of hot apple cake straight out of the oven, yum! We had to carry a lot of water today as there were no water fountains for 10ks and the track was pretty much old goat herding trails so no fancy cafes or shops to be found.

It felt good to have our packs on again and be setting out for the day. Our packs are pretty light but with the extra 3 litres of water each, they felt a tad heavier. 

It was  uphill all the way on really tough ground,   you had to really watch your footing. 

The views as we gained elevation were spectacular. We had to keep an eye on the rocks for little red and white track markers to be sure we didn't veer off into the wrong goat track.

As we came around to the corner of a cliff face we met a young man that had set up a spot selling freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice. Perfect timing as we were flagging and totally impressed at the entrepreneurial skills of this guy. He had to lug all the juice uphill in coolers and hope for some customers. 

The juice was home made and half frozen, it was divine. 

A bit further on this young lady had set up a stall making fresh gozleme/ spinach and cheese pancakes. This was in the middle of nowhere. 

We walked underneath the site of a huge earthquake that hit the region in 1957 and you could see how great swathes of hillside had just slid down the valley with boulders the size of apartment blocks.

It was good to see the sign for Faralya, our end point for the day. We started a brutal descent that took us through small farm holdings back yards and pasture land. Every so often we passed a new build that had been abandoned, massive structures left half finished and rusting in places. 

We crossed paths  with stock roaming free and you could hear  cow bells high up in  the hills. There were wild flowers everywhere, so pretty.

We saw 11 hikers today. 2 Aussies, 2 from the Netherlands, 2 from Switzerland, 1 Turkish, 1 Spanish, 2 that didn't speak so not sure of their home country and 1 other kiwi. 

 Faralya, we made it! Hard going in places.  

We're staying in a very humble village pansiyon with mamma making us dinner and breakfast. A good day was had by all.