The smoothest of starts to our day. Up early, off to the Otogar, booked tickets on a 7.15 am bus to Mersin, from there on to a dolmus to Kizkalisi almost without a break. As a result, we were in Kizkalisi by about 12.30, with half the day still ahead of us. And there our run of luck ended. We sought directions to our hotel, Hotel Baris, and followed the directions we were given, further and further away from the centre of town. The further we went, the more rundown and rubbish strewn the streets became. When we arrived at our hotel, the lobby stank of cigarette smoke. Nobody in attendance could speak English, and although we were happy to make do, as we have been doing elsewhere, with the few phrases we have through the LP book and universal hand gestures, they insisted that we wait while they rustled up their resident English speaker, who arrived looking like she had just got out of bed. We got the formalities sorted, then were taken upstairs to our room, ascertaining from the gestures of the hotel employee that we had been given a room furthest away from the noise of the music that would be playing downstairs at night (which has just started up - it might be a long night). The wi fi doesn't work, there is no hot water, one light globe of the four in the room works, and the walls are bright buttercup yellow, possibly the result of decades of Turkish dedication to tobacco. If I hadn't given my credit card details when we booked, we might have abandoned ship and gone somewhere else. This place outdoes the night before for worst hotel.
Anyway, travel is made up of things like this, so this becomes just another experience to be made the best of. We went back into town and wandered around a bit. We are on the Mediterranean Coast in an area that is littered with ruins. It may be easy to become blasé about these things but we are enthralled. Despite the beautifully mild weather it is still low season so there are few tourists and many hotels are still closed.
Kiskalisi has two Byzantine-era ruins of castles, Corycus on the rocky foreshore, the other, Kizkalesi, about 300m offshore and a few hundred metres away. It is almost surreal and if it were not for the fact that these are archaeological sites one could think it was a garish Las Vegas-style parody. Today was a lovely warm day, but by the time we got to swimming it was late and starting to cool down, so although we did dip in the Mediterranean (a first for Joseph) we have postponed the swim to the Kizkalesi castle until tomorrow. We have also booked into a different hotel tomorrow night, and we are looking forward to a much more restful time of it.
Next morning after breakfast, which despite being served on tablecloths littered with cigarette burns, is not too bad, we get the hell out of Dodge and make a beeline for our new hotel. Hotel Yaka is dated, but clean and welcoming, and appears to have been one of the premier hotels in Kizkalisi in its time. That time is long gone, and now there are several apartment hotel buildings between Hotel Yaka and the beach, where before it probably enjoyed uninterrupted beachfront and sea views. The owner is part of the overall faded grandeur, speaking a variety of languages and using formal, courtly English. It all adds to the appeal of the place. Yaka stands out for being tidy, clean and maintained. It is still well short of the high holiday season, and the streets and buildings all around are dirty, filled with rubbish and in some cases almost derelict. Signs of preparation are around, with repair and extension work being done on many of the empty hotels, but all the same some time between now and the opening of the season, there is going to be an absolute frenzy of cleaning if this town is going to look presentable.
Our first stop is the Chasm of Heaven and the Pit of Hell. These two geographic features are a few kilometres north of Kizkalesi. The story of the Pit of Hell is that it is the place where Zeus imprisoned Typhon after defeating him. This is impressive to look at, but that is all you can do, from a viewpoint at the top.
To the Chasm of Heaven. It is quite a deep gorge, leading to a cave. The descent and subsequent ascent are a little like the 1,000 steps. At the bottom is a Byzantine chapel, and the cave itself, which is pretty impressive. As we climb out, we hear what sounds like hundreds of people, but it turns out to be only a busloads of Syrians on tour. They are certainly loud all on their own, but this is amplified hugely by the deep chasm.
As well as Heaven and Hell, there is another cave called the Asthma Cave. It's not so well known, and has this name because apparently it relieves asthma in those afflicted, because of its moisture. I can't speak for that aspect of it, but this cave was beautiful way beyond anything its name or what we read about it suggested. Stalactites and stalagmites both, sometimes meeting, and sometimes in different colours. Some had broken off, showing the quartz formation of the stalactite. All of it was just so beautiful, and we were the only ones there.
From there, we went back down the coast by dolmus (a sort of public minibus) to be dropped off at the turnoff for Kanlidivane. After a three kilometre walk uphill in the hot sun, we got to the ruins of Kanlidivane. Like Heaven and Hell, this is a blend of Greek, Roman and Byzantine ruins. They are crumbling now, but still fascinating to walk through. We are again the only people visiting. The ruins are set around a huge natural pit, and the story is that criminals were thrown into the pit to the wild animals there. We spend some time wandering around - it is just incredible. There is an olive tree that must be at least a thousand years old. Its trunk is split (as they tend to as the tree ages) and it is so wide that Joseph is able to seat himself entirely within it. We find fossilised sea shells in some of the stones that were used to build the churches. This place is so rich.
We head back down to the main road and catch another dolmus back to Kizkalisi. The day has given us so much, but it is not over yet. We head to the beach, and swim over to the castle. This is a 300m swim, and is the longest uninterrupted swim Joseph has ever done. The castle is still closed for the offseason and we need to get back to shore before darkness falls, so after a brief rest we head back. Other than us, there are a few kids splashing around in the shallows, but nobody else has really taken to the water.
To complete the day, we treat ourselves to a seafood dinner at Narlikuyu, a small town a few kilometres away. The setting is almost from a travel article in a glossy magazine - a small cove with restaurants lining its edges, lights reflected on the water, and the sea gently lapping the shore. The food was great, but easily the most expensive meal we've had in Turkey. We have come to this restaurant on the recommendation of our host at Yaka, and I expect that there is some kickback going on. All the same, it was a good meal, and a lovely end to a lovely day.
The next day is a lazy day, and we leave Kizkalisi on the overnight bus to Pamukkale.
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