Merhaba,
It’s bright and sunny and very windy here, gusts of 41 knots on our wind indicator here in the marina. This is part 2 of our Friday “mystery tour.” It’s a mystery because Gwen likes to surprise people with new places they maybe haven’t been to. It’s always fun with at least 2 or 3 food stops. This email is about the lovely village of Sidyma that would easily be a favorite if we lived nearby. It’s a few hours from here but up a wonderful road for motorbikes! Sidyma is located on the Lycian Way near Fethiye.
Ru
“Sidyma is little-visited, and this is a shame because it is a beautiful place. I think this may be due to little publicity and reports that the road leading to it is poor. In any case, the road must have been improved in recent years because even though the last part of it is a track road, it is a good road and a car can easily reach the site. The drive up is gorgeous with beautiful views along it. To get to Sidyma, turn off the main Fethiye-Kalkan road about 6 km south of Eşen and continue on about 14 km to Sidyma (village of Dodurga).
The site is interesting not only for its ruins, but for the fact that the lovely village of Dodurga has been built among the remains, charmingly reusing pillars and other ancient pieces in the villagers’ houses and other structures. The site is virtually untouched and gives visitors the chance to see a Lycian site much like those seen by the first European explorers.
Not much is known about this site. However, the form of the name -yma, is proof of its high antiquity. There is evidence of settlement at least in the early classical period (including the ruin of a pillar tomb and a wall of ashlar and polygonal masonry) but most remains are from the Roman Imperial age. Remains include numerous sarcophagi, impressive monumental tombs, a badly-preserved theatre, bath, stone, temple, church and others things.”
http://www.lycianturkey.com/lycian_sites/sidyma.htm
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Driving to Sidyma on the squiggly line that is the road. |
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Not such a bad road….especially compared to driving around the mountains of Colorado. |
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Sidyma mosque |
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The friendly lady next door…who Gwen just loves! invited us for tea. |
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Preparing tea |
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Tea and lovely spinach gὄzleme which was a wonderful snack as lunch wasn’t for another hour and it was already a good deal past noon. |
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Randal wearing his red leather Kapadokya hat |
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“Those living in Sidyma (Dodurga) are still very friendly, kind, gentle people (only about 80 people) and they would love to see more visitors. Some of the young people that we met speak some English. The village is along the Lycian Way walk and the muhtar (village headman) who is also the imam, has told us that anyone may camp in the courtyard of the mosque if they wish. In case of bad weather, seek him out for permission to sleep in the mosque – he speaks a little English and is a very kind man. There isn’t a shop in Sidyma, but water can be found at the mosque. Some of the people of the villagers sell carved wooden spoons of sandalwood (we bought some, they are inexpensive and very nice) and kilim articles woven in the village. But don’t worry, they aren’t pushy. Some of my friends recently returned from a camping trip to Sidyma and said that the people there were just wonderful, so friendly and helpful, and that they are the friendliest villagers they have met on their many camping/walking trips in the Turkish mountains (and most villagers in Turkey are very friendly). The villagers brought them some food and invited them over for tea and the imam had them park their motorcycle at the mosque. My friends found an area near the necropolis to be an ideal camping spot and walked to the top of the hill behind the mosque where the views were spectacular.” |
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Walking the stone path to see the tombs….and just to go for a walk! |
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We headed back on a smoother road but soon Taṣ realized that it was the “long way’round.” (Not sure if this was part of the Lycian Way or our stone path, but the “Way” takes you from Fethiye to Antalya about 510 kilometers or 356 miles.) |
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So we crossed back over a dry stream bed. |
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Walked the path through the tall grass and returned to the village where most of our fellow travelers were waiting for us. Only 4 of us had gone with Taṣ while the others took photos in the village and drank more tea. Both were lovely choices. |
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Back on the road to Yediburunlar Lighthouse…which is not a lighthouse at all. |
