Hiking the Lycian way is a great way to escape the crowds, see real Turkish villages and also enjoy some spectacular scenery along the Aegean Coast. Descriptions below, and Garmin route map links also below for each section of the hike.
Waking early in Fethiye (well, breakfast starts at 8am, the Turkish aren't too keen to get up earlier than that in Spring!), we took a 5 lira Dolmus (a mini-bus... which means "Stuffed" in Turkish) to Esen. We then took a 50 lira "taxi" (a beat up, old 4 door sedan) the 20 km from Esen to Alinca for the start of our hike. Hiking through pine forests, it was downhill the whole way to Kabak... the views were amazing. We stayed at the Olive Garden, a cliff top restaurant-cum-hotel run by a former chef. The views and food were absolutely stunning. Day two we hiked only a few hours, along a level contour to the village of Faralya... again, more ridiculous views, plenty of bright red poppies and other mountain flowers. Frankly, I'm surprised we didn't see Julie Andrews singing, it was that scenic. We unloaded our packs at George House (ok, but not as nice as Olive Garden), ate lunch, then climbed (yes, "climbed", not "hiked") down to Butterfly valley - home of the Tiger Jersey butterfly who wasn't around because it was too early in the season. The valley was still nice, and the weather was good enough to hop in the Aegean for a bit (cold, but not too bad). We then climbed back up (easier than down climbing), then watched the sunset with a bottle of wine and enjoyed a traditional dinner. NOTE: dinners here were all vegetarian... not sure if this is cultural, or the proprietors are just usually health conscious, but we weren't complaining! Day 3 we hiked along mainly dirt roads to Ovacik where we caught a Dolmus back to Fethiye. We had another day and a half in Fethiye, and mainly just relaxed and ate yummy food at Mozaic Bahce, a wonderful eastern turkish restaurant that also sold Turkish lamps (we bought one, of course).
Alinca to Kabak: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79616919
Kabak to Faralya: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79616923
Faralya to Butterfly Valley: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79616929
Butterfly Valley to Faralya: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79616937
Faralya to Ovacik: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79616941
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