Kayaköy, The Ghost Town

After the tandem paragliding pilot told me about Kayaköy, the ghost town yesterday, I decided to go there today.

It used to be a town where Muslims and Christians lived. There was no conflict. Everyone lived harmoniously. But after the war between Greece and Turkey, things changed. Muslims stayed in Turkey and Christians in this town were forced to go to Greece.

They were forced to leave their homes.

In the meantime, Muslims in Greece were forced to go to Turkey.

An earthquake in 1950’s destroyed this abandoned village even more.

I walked around the ruins.

I had to agree to some reviews – the signage was terrible. Or maybe I should say there were only a few signs.

It was hot.

The sun was very strong.

I chose to go there at around 3 or 4pm hoping that the sun would not be too strong but it was burning me.

There was a church in the ghost town but it was closed because of restoration / maintenance work.

I climbed up to a tower and enjoyed the breeze and the view.

It was so cool!

I really can’t stand the heat. I am used to mild weather, like from 0 degree Celsius to 28 degree Celsius. Yeah, I know. I am like a penguin. 😀  I am used to the weather that doesn’t exist in the place where I was born but it exists in the place where I spent part of my life. Feeling a bit nostalgic now.

It was so nice up on the top. I didn’t want to leave.  A lady and her travel companions saw me and offered to help me take photos.  She even asked me to pose. I never knew how to pose but she gave me some ideas. That was very kind of her. And that’s the photo you can see here.

I actually climbed up there twice – before I hiked to the church and after. It was a long way by the way but it was worth it.

I loved the breeze.

At the top of that hill, there’s a little house. Not sure what it was for in the past but when I stayed inside, the breeze came in through a south facing window. So comfortable! All my sweat was blown away. 😀  It was like an air conditioner. It probably served that purpose while the villagers met each other here.  The more I looked at it, the more it looked like a gathering place or a chapel.  It’d be too small for a house.

It was around 5:30pm when I finished the hike. I could stay there for a longer time.  It’s such a huge area. I could still see the yards of some buildings even though it was covered with grass. I could still see some faded colours on the stone walls of some houses, blue and red. I could see some wells too. I could see that the villagers collected rain water.  Guess why I made this assumption? I saw a stone pipe extended from the roof to a stone container in one house.

My paragliding group recommended the fish market in Fethiye so I went there to check it out. I didn’t intend to eat there. The seafood was not live (not swimming).  In Asia, the sellers sell live seafood. You can see the fish swimming in a little pond or tank in the markets. So, when I saw that in Turkey, I wasn’t impressed.  But a fish monger managed to sell me his fish, shrimps and calamari. I couldn’t find a restaurant though. All of them were full. So, the fish monger helped me find one. In the end, they took me to a restaurant outside of the fish market. I shouldn’t have bought it in the first place. The restaurant staff was so rude. I honestly just wanted to eat the seafood. But the restaurant staff said in broken English, ‘no salad, no drinks, no cooking.’ meaning, if I didn’t order salad and drinks from them, they would not cook for me. In the end, I had to pay for those things as well as the charges for cooking the seafood. Their attitude was really bad. If they had a better attitude, I would be more willing to order more things from them.

I walked around town after dinner. It must be a good season to get married. I saw a big wedding at an outdoor basketball court. That’s quite interesting. Music was loud, people were dancing just like those guests at my friend’s wedding.

Time to head back to Ölüdeniz.

I had been staying in Ölüdeniz for 5 nights. It was way too long.  The money for staying in a very basic hotel like the one I stayed at can be used to pay for a 4-star hotel in other cities in Turkey. Also, other than paragliding, swimming and some hiking, there’s nothing much to do. Thermal spa, Turkish bath can be found anywhere in Turkey and they cost much lower than in Ölüdeniz too. So, take my advice: 2 days for Ölüdeniz is more than enough.

17 August 2018