Day-10 | Kaş or Bust

Pinarbaşı trailhead to Kaş | 23.2km

Again a late start, partly due to lying in past dawn and having a long breakfast but also because the valley was damp overnight so I lingered to dry my kit in the warm, early morning sun.

Looking down on the previous night's camp

A long 13km slog over mixed terrain, forest trails initially but then onto now common and ultimately annoying and uninteresting scree slopes, with a 500m climb followed by a 500m drop into the village of Çukurbağ. I'd hoped to find a market or somewhere to get lunch here but I nonchalantly passed Dede's (Grandfather's) Pansiyon with Dede sat outside. We exchanged greetings and I gave him the low down on the other trekkers behind us. A short while further down the hill I came across an elderly villager and asked where the closest market was. 'There isn't one for miles'... Okay then the closest place to get a meal. 'Nope'. Okay then where can we find some food? 'In the next village', some 6km out of the way...

Forest trails

Scree slopes dotted with abandoned farm houses

Despondent but not wanting to climb back up the hill to take up on Dede's offer of çay I plodded on and started tapping up villagers for food. Eventually one house took pity and gave me two loaves and a big bag of tomatoes, which my hiking buddy Morten and I snaffled down in the grounds of the local mosque with some cheese triangles and honey we had left over.

Water çeşme (spring) with camping platform

Re-energised and stocked up with water I set out for the final push to Kaş, hoping to make it there by dusk. The terrain was mostly flat roads and trail paths through open fields and unchallenging so ground was covered quickly and I made it to the cliffs of the 'Sleeping Giant of Kaş' in great time.

Towards the flat last few kilometres of the flat trail before the descent to Kaş I wove through the remains of Lycian tombs.

The end of the trail opened out into an amazing view over Kaş, Çukurbağ Yarımadası and the Greek isle of Megisti.

Kaş with Greek Isle of Megisti in the distance

After breathing in every last drop of the view I began to make the steep descent down the steep valley to Kaş. After ten consecutive days of walking and at the end of a hard day the climb was all the more precarious and my concentration kept wandering. I slipped on loose rocks several times, ended on my bum on two occasions and managed to slash my little finger open when I was putting my hand out to break my fall.

Owww...

Bandaged up, I headed to the Aphrodite Pansiyon (60 liras a night b&b, clean rooms with small en-suite toilets and little balconies overlooking the bay) for an off-day to restock and recover before getting back on the trail.

Lush Aphrodite Pensiyon