Kabak Valley

After a fun/busy/fulfilling/soggy/sunny trip from the parents (pictures of which I'm sure you've all seen many of), I took off to Antalya to meet up wıth Kate and head down to Kabak Valley.

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We took a 3 hour bus from Antalya to Fethiye, then hung around the bus station for a bit to wait for our dolmuş out to the top of the valley.

 (The Bus)

 (The Rest Stop and Olde Ladies)

 (The Far-Scarier-Than-It-Looks Dolmuş Ride)

Kabak Valley is part of a natural preserve that prohibits permanent structures from being built.  Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) people have built complex camps into the hill side and all along the valley floor, turning Kabak Valley into a major stop for hikers and yogis.  Being the beginning of the camping season, we pretty much had our camp, Shanti Garden, and consequently the beach, to ourselves.

 (We stayed in one of the huts on the righthand side)

(We read a lot, usually, but not always, right by the beach)

(We were actually there!  Really!)

It was really nice to be able to take a vacation where the objective is to relax.  It's a strange feeling:  traveling and then not stalking around a city with a map and a camera from one sight to the next.  I guess this is what normal people do when they go on a vacation - lay on the beach and read for hours - but I've always felt like I had too much to see while I've been in Europe.

Wow... reading that last paragraph back, it sounds pretty terrible.  All traveling is great, and I'm lucky to be doing it.  This trip ruled just as much as any other.  I shouldn't cast seeing the great monuments of the world as a chore.  Kabak Valley is a great monument in and of itself.  The architecture is just a little bit less refined than some others.

 Anyway, we got to do some hiking along the Lycian Way as well.  The camera stopped working halfway through the hike, so I don't have too many pictures of it.  We did some bouldering in the rain, then decided to stick to the trail for a bit.

 (Extreme)

 (Trail Markers)