Itchy Feet

I've got itchy feet and it's not the sort of irritation that can be cured by a trip to the pharmacy.  The affliction started about 10 days ago in the Chamber of Commerce lecture hall while listening to a talk by Altay Özcan, co-author of the Carian Trail guide.  I'd gone along hoping to pick up some tips on how not to get lost while following this new route, although I know that "forgetting to take the guide book with us" is the main reason we find ourselves up a hill in a thicket on most of our rambles.  It seems that we are not the only ones, as Altay willingly admitting that they too found themselves stuck in impenetrable brambles on many occasions in the production of the book. Accompanied by beautiful photographs, he lead us on a virtual walk along the whole 800+ kms of the Carian Trail.  By avoiding big towns and touristic areas, he took me back to the Turkey I remember from the 1980s. Stretches of blue sea bordered by craggy rocks, ancient temples and nobody apart from the odd goat herd. It is so heartening that these wild places are still there for those willing to make the effort. However,  this route is no walk in the park. It's a serious trail that needs proper equipment, preparation  and a good degree of stamina. Sadly I don't think I have the endurance to complete long hikes  but hope to to cherry pick some flattish sections with access to a dog friendly pension nearby.  Once this wet winter has dried out and before the summer sun gets too ferocious, I'm looking forward to heading North, South or East in search of the wild places.

http://www.cariantrail.com/

The Carian Trail

http://www.kariayolu.com/

The Carian Trail was officially opened this week. A 800 km route through the counties of Muğla and Aydin, this trail passes through villages, countryside and mountains and aims to spread some of the income from tourism presently concentrated on the coast, to the inland areas.  As you can see from the Karia Yolu map above, Bodrum is not on the main route, but it does branch off to encompass our Carian history and take in  Theangela and Ceremos. 

The finished way will have international path signs every 50 metres and 220 signposts  to keep travellers from getting lost.  It's an exciting project which has been relatively low key up to now.  A guide book to the route is being published and should be available in 2 months. 

This initiative is presumably inspired by the The Lycian Way made by Kate Clow, which runs along the Mediterranean Coast.  In the past couple of months,  part of the Lycian Way has been bulldozed to make way for a large hotel, so finger-crossed the Carian Way doesn't open up our so far unspoilt interior to the developers diggers.