Day-15 | Bittersweet Efes Malt Day

Needing to think of my next move, and my walking buddy Morten deciding to cut his journey at Demre a short distance away, I took a day off and chilled at the campsite, eating and drinking beer while I updated the blog and caught up on some reading.

Efes keyif...

Andriake campsite

Lavaş flat bread, tuna and local veggies for a DIY lunch and later a grilled breem fish dinner at a local harbour restaurant with more beer. 

Fish dinner view from Çayağzı harbour 

I've finally made the decision to cut the journey at Demre, 6km away. I've been too slow covering ground on the Lycian Way as I underestimated the terrain and set targets too high (i.e. walk all the way and cover all sections, taking the most difficult routes). Plus there's a storm brewing for Tuesday & Wednesday so it would be foolhardy to attempt the next section, which is over mountains and off-grid for 48-72 hours, until the storm has passed on Thursday. Needing at least ten more days to finish and not wanting to push my luck at work plus having some issues with kit suitability it seems pertinent to stop here, reassess and come back to finish (or start again!) another time. Small pencil tick for this one on the bucket list! A slightly bitter feeling of regret but it's been a great adventure and I'm certainly fired up for more mini-trips alone, with friends or with family.

I ended the day with more Efes Malt around the campsite's wheelbarrow fire, the scent of the smouldering rubber wheel wafting gently on the breeze. The Lycian Pathfinder students
were up late and laughing excitedly. For a moment I thought of dragging myself out of my bivy bag and asking them to pipe down, but then I remembered my younger days and annoying old gits complaining about the noise so thought better of it. I suffered in silence, grinning like a loon at youthful memories of raucous parties as I gently drifted off into an inebriated stupor in my tiny bivy.

Bitter sweet memories :)