Turkey Tour Day 6 - Cirali & Olympos

I really hate these overnight buses. It is practically impossible to get any decent amount of sleep what with the uncomfortableness of the seats, people not closing the curtains and the when you finally do get some shut eye, the bus driver decides that's the best time to stop for a toilet break and turn all the lights back on.

This, on top of getting yet another cold, didn't make for a pleasant beginning.

But what can I do? It is what it is and it's the last overnight bus ride.

Cirali is beautiful. It is situated in the mountainous regions of southwest region of Turkey but also boasts a secluded beach that you wouldn't think were possible considering the surrounding area.
We first stopped for breakfast and had a traditional Turkish breakfast which includes bread, olives, tomatoes, fried egg, cheese etc. I downed a fair bit of honey tea to try to drive my cold away. The restaurant we ate at had its own natural water run off and we got to drink fresh water and yes, it tastes like mineral water.
After breakfast we gratefully arrived at our modest hotel and had a much needed shower before we headed to the beach.
The beach is very nice, although there is no sand but small rocks which is a massive pain in the ass to walk over, especially when it is 37 degrees and they are boiled. But, troopers that we are, persevered and swam in the warm water. Unfortunately the marine life is bare there and saw only a few little fish.

View from the top of Olympos

Feeling the effects of the past 12 hours, we headed back to the hotel and had a much needed nap and then hanging around the hotel, playing with their new puppy and table tennis before we headed to Olympos. Not to be confused with the one in Greece, this Olympos was home to a temple to Hephaestus, the God of Blacksmiths and Volcanos, but also the Chimaera (it is also know as Mount Chimaera).
We had to walk a kilometer up a rocky/unstable path (that some of us didn't make) to reach the Chimaera vents and the former temple.

One of the many vents on the top of the hill

The vents are pretty cool, they are natural forming flames coming up from the rocks. The ancient greeks believed it to be a Chimera, a fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, a body of a goat and a serpents tail, that was buried seven levels deep the mountain by Bellerophon, who was believed the be the greatest hero and slayer of monsters.
It's pretty amazing the see the fire coming up from the rocks like that, almost like a permanent campfire, and we actually tinkered with the idea of bringing marshmallows.
While I liked the fire rocks, I found the former building/temple more interesting. I found a stone with ancient greek writing on it and also paintings from byzantine people who lived in it after the greeks did. The structure is mostly in ruins but you can make out parts of it and it's fun to imagine what it was like living there back in those times.

My ancient greek is a little rusty but I am pretty sure it reads: Tupac lives

After the trip to Olympos, we had dinner at a local restaurant and then headed to bed.

It's definitely a fixer-upper