How we hiked the Lycian Way

If you haven’t already done it. Give it a go. It will be a very memorable, challenging experience.

The Lycian Way (Likya Yolu) is in Turkey a 510 kilometer trail that officially starts from Baslangic, outside of Ovacik and ends in Geyikbayiri outside of Antalya. It can  also be walked from either end, west to east and vice versa.  cultureroutesinturkey.com/the-lycian-way

There is a book by Kate Clow available at the link below,  that gives plenty of information on the trail. Lycian-Way-Turkeys-Distance-Walking. Plus plenty of blogs of other hikers experiences on the internet.

Checkout the Via Eurasia www.viaeurasia.org. A collection of long distance hiking routes that are being linked together that run from Canterbury in the UK to Rome, across Italy and the Balkans, through western Turkey to Demre on the Lycian coast of Turkey’s southwest.

sign, Goynuk, kilometer sign, lycian way
One of the many signs on the Lycian Way

I convinced Graeme, an old friend of mine dating back to our New Zealand army days, into coming along, although he does insist he should have read the fine print before agreeing.

HOW WE HIKED THE LYCIAN WAY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TRAINING

Considering we are both in our mid 50’s we needed to get into shape so I spent February and March doing day hikes around the Pesangaran area where I stay in East Java, Indonesia. Walking in 30c/85% humidity soon contributed  to the start of significant weight loss and it was also a time get used to carrying a full backpack again and wearing in new boots to reduce blisters. Graeme  managed to fit his pre hike training in around his work obligations.

It was a process of building up, increasing kilometers and pack weight over time.

GETTING THE GEAR TOGETHER

I had found a blog called Hikethelycian.com which provided a comprehensive gear list and plenty of other information related to the trail.

hiking equipment, laid out, lycian way
Shaun’s hiking gear

BIVY BAGS

Also this was an opportunity to try using personal bivy bags instead of a tent. The bivy bag from Kathmandu only weighed 600gms without pegs. Gear Review   Worked well, kept the mosquito’s out but could be quite warm and more water-resistant than water proof as we found during the one and only time it rained. Kathmandu.co.nz/xt-Bivy-1-person-bag

BOOTS

 I brought a pair of Keens boots for the hike and wore them in during the training period. But by day three on the Lycian Way the cleats on the soles start peeling off due to the rock on the trail being very abrasive. So I suggest that you buy boots/shoes with a solid or a complete sole that will stand up to the continuous rocky trails. Fortunately I was able to buy a tube of super glue a couple of days later and managed to hold them together for the rest of the hike.

boot soles, wearing out, hiking, lycian way
My boot soles falling apart after 3 days on the Lycian Way.

CAMPING GAS

We were able to buy the cooker and gas canisters in Istanbul at Hans Outdoor. You can also buy gas canisters in Fethiye and Kas (Across the road and down 50 meters from Migros).

Gas canisters, cooking gas, camping, lycian way, where to buy.
Gas canisters brought in Istanbul and Fethiye

PLANNING

WHEN

Part of the planning was deciding on when to start the hike, March to May and September to October were the recommended times. Now having completed the trail, I would recommend the April to May period, particularly if you want to camp.

WATER

During this period there is still enough ground water around from the winter rain, which is collected either by pipes being pushed into springs, cisterns or water stands in villages.

Mountain, water source, spring water

Mountain water source

The water from springs and village water stands was good enough to drink without purifying. Cistern water required a bucket and rope to collect and the bugs etc filtered out before boiling the water.

water cistern, concrete, tree, meadow, lycian way

Cistern. Water storage. s

We had no illness of any kind whilst drinking the water.

GETTING THERE

FLIGHTS

I booked my flights from Bali to Kuala Lumpur with  Air Asia.com then Emirates from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai to Istanbul. We both used credit card points for reduced airfares.

ACCOMMODATION

Our first nights accommodation in Istanbul was booked through Hostelworld .

ON THE ROAD

Departure from Istanbul was  by bus, our first destination being the Gallipoli Peninsula. We had decided to visit before Anzac Day to avoid the crowds. Graeme and I walked over the battlefield and visited the museum which revealed the insanity of the expedition.

cemetery, gallipoli, shaun, headstones, turkey

One of the many cemeteries on the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Stopped off at Troy which was easily accessible from Canakkale.


The Trojan Horse of Troy
temple, bergama, on the road to the lycian way

Ancient Pergamum (Bergama)

Bergama as a stop over on the way to Selcuk which gives access to

amphitheatre, ephesus, historic site.

Amphitheatre Ephesus.

Ephesius (All three are ancient cities) before arriving in Fethiye, the starting point of our hike and supply point.

THE HIKE

forrest, start of lycian hike, western end, sign

Lycian Way starting gate. Western end.

April 25th 2018 we departed from the starting sign at Ovacik. 28 days later arrived at Geyikbayiri outside of Antalya.

The trail presented some most challenging moments, hauling a heavy backpack up inclines that in a couple of instances were near vertical.

graeme, rocky trail along the coast.

Graeme having a rough time on the trail near Patara

As the trail wound its way along the coast, over the mountains, through farming villages and the ancient sites of Sidyma, Xanthos, Patara, Olympus and others, we passed fantastic scenery.

sea, balconey, boat, hills, bay

Probably one of the most impressive was viewing the town of Kas from far above.

mountain view, kas, sea , ocean, town, bay

Kas – a rest day here. An alternative way to climbing down, is Para Sailing.

We followed what in some cases was no more than goat tracks. Some literally hanging off the sides of steep hills which I am glad I  had a hiking pole for extra balance.

Old Roman water aqueduct that feeds the old city of Patara. Bridge, stone blocks, hill

Old Roman aqueduct that fed the City of Patara.

Around Patara we followed ancient Roman aqueducts for many kilometers. Even camping along side it one night.

FOOD

Food wise most days we were able to buy at least one hot meal from cafes or restaurants along the way, the rest of the time we cooked from the supplies we carried.

food, bread, fish, stew, kas. lunch

Refueling in Kas.

FELLOW HIKERS

Sometimes we would not see any other hikers and other times we would be inundated with Ukrainian and Russian hiking groups. Most hikers were doing point to point hikes of several days therefore there were very few  hikers going all the way.

SLEEPING

We camped and every so often stayed in pensions, which was a time to shower and refuel the body and of course the odd beer.

camp cooking, gas, billy, rocks around fire

Another pack of noodles on the boil.

Most of the time we were the oldest hikers on the trail, and as we were carrying camping equipment we weren’t  under pressure to charge off to the next village to find accommodation each night. This meant we could take our time. We carried more weight but had a lot more freedom.

NAVIGATION

As an aid for navigation I had downloaded Trekopedia’s Trail Smart App and maps into an offline mode on my mobile phone. Having the GPS availability saved us a tremendous amount of time trying to find trail markers. It was particularly difficult across open fields with so many  goat tracks it was easy to stray of the trail. Another issue was the extra way markers that were painted by the villagers trying to direct us to their businesses.

Carrying a battery backup for your mobile phone is essential if you are camping.

HOW MUCH DID IT COST

My approximate expenditure on the  hike for the 28 days was as follows:

Accommodation$183.00
Food$504.26
Transport$4.20
Other$16.14
Siteseeing$16.18
Total.A$723.78
 US$517.19
 Euros 448.16
  

WHAT DID WE THINK OF IT

It was for both of us one of the toughest hikes we have done, tougher than anything thing we had completed in our younger days even, I would highly recommend that you Give it a go, even if you only do a section of it. Well worth it, especially for the history, scenery and the people.

eastern end, sign, graeme, shaun, lycian way

The eastern end of the Lycian Way.

WHERE TO NEXT

On finishing up in Antalya,  we cleaned and in my case replaced gear. Graeme returned to Australia via Thailand,  and I caught the overnight bus to Goreme, Cappadocia to continue my travels further east. Hiking Trails in the Caucasus

If you enjoyed this post, have a read of these hiking posts from The Backpacking Hiker: Hiking-trails-in-the-Caucasus Mountains Hiking-trails-in-the-Balkans/ Lets-go-hiking-on-the-Bibbulmun-Track-in-Western-Australia The-Backpacking-Hiker-on-the-Via-Egnatia

Cappadocia, pinnacle rocks, homes, grass

Cappadocia

RESOURCES

10 Replies to “How we hiked the Lycian Way”

  1. Great! I did it already twice, by the coast and the mountains, first time, complete in summer 2011, alone, and again with a couple of friends winter 2018. It’s one of my favourites treks, though next Augost I’ll try Kaçkar!

    1. Hello Maria,
      Thanks for your comment. There are so many hikes in that part of the world it is hard to know which to do next. I am looking at doing a number of multiday camping treks this year making decisions as i go:)
      I would love to know how your Kackar hike goes.

    1. Hello Marc. Thankyou for your comment. I have taken note and you will now find that I have now included the days taken to walk the Lycian Way.
      Regards
      Shaun

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