There are so many neat things to see in the world!

And we saw another one of them yesterday.

We had read about the constantly burning fires at Mount Chimaera. And they are located on the Lycian Way hiking route, so we made a plan to do the hour and a half drive down to that section of the trail where we could access the fires area from below. 

Not only was the hike scenic, but the drive was too...

Scenery along the way.

The fires are a popular picnic area for the locals. In fact, many people will drive to the parking area and do the hike up to the first level of fires where they will have a picnic and actually cook their food over the natural flames.

So at this point, accessing it from the bottom, you have to pay an entrance fee of 9 lira ($1.55 CAD, $1.20 USD) per person. 

And then you head uphill.

That section isn't very long though. It's only 1.0 km (.62 miles) to get to the first level of fires.

 But it gains 500', so it's a bit of a climb.

Yes, there are flames coming right up out of the ground!

At some of the sources, it looks like wind has blown out the flame and they just need to be re-lit. Others really do look like they have been burning forever. And the area has been popular for a LONG time, as is evidenced by the 2,000 year old church ruins nearby.

Here, you can see where one flame is burning, but there are three more that aren't.

It was quite windy yesterday and they may have blown out.

Church ruins.

Some of them are very small. 

You need to watch where you step!

We carried on up a steeper section to get to the second level. At that location there are some level spots where it's obvious that trail hikers set up camp and overnight here. Nicer views from the second level as well.

Heading higher.

To get to the second level is less than one km distance, but it gains another 500', so it is even steeper. 

Nice views.

You can't even see the flames at the second level.

At the second level, the amount of gas coming out of the ground is smaller, but I'm thinking it is at higher pressure. The flames at some of the openings are lit, and you can hear them, but you can't see the flame. This is where it would be better to visit at night.

There is a nice level campsite at this area for the Lycian Way hikers.

And more nice views.

And then we hiked back to the bottom. Considering it's a fairly short hike (although we could have gone longer on the trails), it's worth it just to see the flames, and of course there are some good views as well. There is also a parking area at the bottom where it would be no problem to overnight in a motorhome. That would be the best way to visit because the area to the flames is open 24 hours and it would be kind of cool to see them at night.

Again, we had some nice scenery for the drive back...

Around 8:00pm, there was a knock on our apartment door.

It was the girl from the apartment across the hall, holding a plate with a piece of cake on it. She had a big smile and said something in Turkish, and handed me the plate. I said thank you in Turkish (I don't know much more than that!) and she headed back into her apartment.

Very nice!

An after dinner treat.

Today we head downtown to the doctors office for our final eye appointment. It's a lockdown day, so there won't be much traffic at all. Then in the afternoon we'll do a 5 km (3 mile) power walk.

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