Day 3 – March 19th 06 – Kumluca – Elmali (50 miles, +1370m)
We left Kumluca in the bright sunshine after a lovely breakfast of savoury pastries and ‘chai’ (Turkish tea drank in a glass without milk and with plenty of sugar) and the plan was to head to the ancient ruin of Arykanda. We rode out through the suburbs of Kumluca and through several small villages accompanied as usual by smiles, beeps and waves, passing minarets and even a few small ruins at the side of the road, parts of which were now resourcefully being used to keep bees!
We came to a junction and a local man gave us directions, and then invited us in for chai, but we had to decline as we knew we had a long day ahead of us especially when we asked about the gradient of the road and he just pointed up. Just before we started on what was going to be the biggest climb of the week a man came out of his house with a load of oranges for us and proceeded to peel them with his knife and offer them round to us, like the other day, they were gorgeous, we had 2 or 3 each. We chatted with the man for about 20 mins, said our farewells and started on the climb. This climb would eventually take us from sea level up to 1120m, we were in for a long one, and it was baking hot already.
The climb was fairly steady and the gradients not particularly difficult but in the beating sun we were losing fluids by the gallon, however we had the gorgeous snow capped peaks in front of us to take our mind off things as they drew ever closer. About halfway we came to a junction that wasn’t on the map so I went to ask directions at a nearby stonemason business, and what do you know, we were invited in for chai, this time taking them up on the offer, not only out of courtesy and intrigue, but to escape the sun for a bit. We were greeted by the “general manager” and shown into a cool room with a huge marble table and served chai, it tasted good. We exchanged pleasantries and broken conversation with the manager who was learning English and enjoyed a welcome break. We were then offered to fill our water carriers with the “the best water” which came straight off the mountain, we did so as we’d gone through quite a bit already, it was as the manager said, you could taste the freshness. We began the second half of the climb, sweating up the hill for another couple of hours, admiring the scenery and chatting with the “Elmali Boys” a bunch of young lads on motorbikes who saw us at the side of the road and came over for a chat, we were to bump into them 2 or 3 times up the mountain.
Our destination was going to be Arykanda but after missing the turn and finding out there was no accommodation anywhere near and we didn’t fancy a night without tents above the snowline, so we decided to push on up the mountain to the town of Elmali where we’d been assured there would be a hotel or pension, although time was getting on and Elmali was still a way off. The vista in front of us was spectacular, a huge plain surrounded by inspiring snow capped peaks. We wrapped ourselves up in full winter clothing as the temperature had gone from about 25deg C to less than 10 and the clouds were gathering. We descended a small amount and began the slow ride into Elmali along the pan flat plain with a strong, cold wind in our face, it was getting late and we were all feeling tired.
The straight road into Elmali took forever and we finally rolled in to town at about 6.30pm, cold, hungry, dehydrated and in need of a beer (which tends to be a good cure). Alas we didn’t find a bar (a temporary set back) but a friendly local guided us by motorbike to the town’s hotel, we put our bikes on the roof for safe keeping and crawled into our rooms. After a hot shower we strolled into town for some food and that beer and managed to get a meal in the only restaurant still open. We’d had a hard day today, and after finding out the town had a hamam (Turkish bath) we all decided it would be a good time and place for a rest day. And it never did rain.
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