Well I guess now that we have confirmed that we are going to climb Kilimanjaro, we need to stay in shape! Or hopefully get in better shape!
We've been making an effort though... doing regular hiking and walking, and whenever possible involving some climbing. So yesterday we did a fairly short 1,200' climb to another ruins site. I know... you're probably getting tired of ruins sites.
Even we said to ourselves yesterday that we're not really actively searching them out anymore unless we're close to one that seems to offer something different. And of course as we heard a bored child say at a Mexican ruins site once... "it's just a pile of rocks".
So the Limyra site that we were at yesterday we went to mostly for the hike, not the ruins. But still, it was yet another different site that offered some things not seen at other sites.
Can you see the Turkish flag (in red) painted on the mountain?
We got to the parking area and we were the only car there. The ticket booth advertising the 10 lira ($1.60 CAD, $1.25 USD) entrance fee was closed, but the entrance gate to the site was wide open... so in we went.
This monument used to be a lot larger.
But looters over the years kept trying to break into it thinking there was treasures to be found. Turns out that it's totally solid, with nothing hidden inside.
Only the platform is left.
Spare parts.
Water coming from under the building.
The one interesting thing at this site was the natural spring coming from under the main structure. It must have been an earthquake many years ago the rerouted this underground stream and it now flows along what was once the main street in the city.
You can clearly see the road under the water.
And the water is so clear!
But cold.
They tried to put together this puzzle.
The archeologists built this structure as an example of what wooden buildings might have looked like back then. The main beams are all notched joints. No nails, bolts, or glue!
The theater.
It's an odd ruins site because the main road of the modern town of Yuvalilar goes right through the ruins site and directly in front of the theater.
This excavation is beside the theater, but there were no signs explaining it.
The theater is unexcavated.
Amazing how they cut the curved stone so accurately.
Again, the accuracy is mind boggling.
They say there are 4 more rows of seating unexcavated.
This area was gated off, but I stuck the camera lens through the opening.
Then, it was time to go do what we came here for... the hike to the part of the Limyra site that is up the hill!
The trail was marked on my maps.me app, and good thing because we don't think it's traveled very often other than by goats!
Lycian tombs built into the rocks.
Looking down on the theater.
Me!
Starting to get some altitude.
Nice view of the orange groves down below.
We finally came to some ruins.
Couldn't figure out why the more modern ruins behind were gated off.
View looking east.
Finike is known as the orange growing capital of Turkey!
More ruins. Just a pile of rocks!
Ruth.
We are constantly amazed by the size of the cut rocks. How did they get them up here? And move them around? Even way up here 1,200' above the main ruins site.
Some of this big wall is still standing.
One more big earthquake and this is all going to fall down.
We sat and had a snack near the top with a beautiful view. Some nearby goats smelled our food and got curious!
Ruth, having lunch with one of the goats!
We made our way back down and picked up a few grocery items on the way home.
We walked 5.5 kms (3.2 miles) with a 1,200' elevation gain.
We have now walked 363.8 kms (225.6 miles) since we arrived in Turkey October 13th.
It rained hard at times Thursday evening and overnight. Today is another nice day though. We better get out and get some fresh air because it's Friday already, and we are facing another weekend lockdown here in Turkey. Fortunately, it's supposed to pour with rain all weekend!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
And in Canada...
Just spectacular! I, for one, am not getting tired of seeing the ruins.
ReplyDeleteIt was a nice hike with some pretty views and a bit of history thrown in, it was a fun afternoon.
DeleteWe are glad to hear that you are not tired of the ruins yet because I think we may just see a few more before we are done with this trip! :-)
The clue in my crossword was "Ancient theatres" and the answer was "odea" - ever see that word in the ruins descriptions?
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, no. But the word is awfully similar to the word "odeon" as in Odeon Theaters.
DeleteYou're right - odea is plural and the singular can either be odeum or odeon.
DeleteWe keep learning new things everyday!
DeleteI will never get tired of your photos of ruins! They speak to our history and our very existence! I LOVE YOUR TRAVELOGUES!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you CarlGeo! I am sure that we still have a couple more ruins to see before we are finished with Turkey. We never realized that there were so many ruins here and so much history, then again it was one of the few times that we booked a trip last minute like that with out doing a pile of research beforehand. I think our only other time doing that was when we went to Peru a year ago October, and we loved that trip too. :-)
DeleteBeautiful scenic views. Strange how many theaters you've come across in Turkey.
ReplyDeleteBe Safe and Enjoy your weekend.
It's about time.
I think that just about every ancient ruin/community had a theatre. Theatres/plays were an important part of the culture back then.
DeleteNever too many pictures of ruins and the goat shots are incredible, including the one with Ruth!
ReplyDeleteA joke from Jim Gaffigan: China was fascinating and exhausting. I brought my kids to The Great Wall, we saw the Terracotta Warriors, we walked through the Forbidden City, we rode in a ricksha, and when we were leaving I asked my five year old, I said, “What was your favorite part of China?” And he said, “I liked that time we saw the truck with the pigs on it.”
Glad to hear that you haven't tired of our ruins pictures either. Just like the ancient ruins in Mexico, each one is different in their own way, even though it is just a "pile of rocks", lol.
DeleteThose goats weren't afraid of us, most of the time they see us they run away but these ones were very curious, maybe they smelled our food. That one particular one seemed to love me.
I love that story about seeing all those amazing places in China but the child's favourite thing was the truck with the pigs! You just never know what is going through a young child's head. :-)
My friend took her daughter to see Niagara Falls and she said "It's just water."
ReplyDeleteKids have an entirely different outlook as to what is interesting to them compared to adults! Put that child in the tour boat at the bottom of the falls and they would think that was pretty cool. :-)
Delete