Dear Readers,

Can you spell “virtually inaccessible”

The guide book says it is only accessible by a two mile strenuous hike, advising that the trail is rocky and uneven and goes steeply up the mountain to a height of over 4,000 feet. It also warns that there are very few signs and it is easy to get lost.

Dear readers, I don’t have to tell you that a hike of any sort is not something I do. A hike straight up a mountain for two miles is completely out of the question. And besides, the thermometer is reading 100 degrees. Even a gentle walk along a promenade would have to be considered carefully.

And yet………..

I failed to read the fine print!

What I did read told me that Termessos is one of Turkey’s most magnificent ancient ruins. Visited by very few people, there are beautiful buildings and innumerable tombs hidden in a pine and juniper forest

It sounded fascinating and rather fabulous. I wanted to go. I also read that it is built in a natural bowl 4000 feet up atop the Taurus mountains. How lovely! I failed to take in the fact that very few people went there and that there must be a reason for that. Worse still, I completely failed to notice that you couldn’t actually drive there!

No one is quite sure when Termessos was built. The first mention of it was in Homer’s Iliad. It wasn’t until the 4th century BC that its name was heard around the globe. And it was Alexander the Great who made that happen. He was out to conquer the world and was doing a pretty good job until he came upon Termessos, where a small group of warriors held the city against the might of Alexander. In a bit of a huff, Alexander the Great moved on to easier prey having christened Termessos, The Eagle’s Nest.

We drove from the bustling city of Antalya, until we saw the sign that read “Mount Güllük-Termessos National Park”. We paid a whopping $2.50 to enter and found ourselves on a narrow and winding road that continued up the mountain for 9 kilometres without a single barrier to prevent us from tipping over the edge and rolling back down to the main highway

Eventually we came to a car park. We assumed we had reached our destination. To one side we saw a wooden sign showing a map of the ruined city.

It was of course in Turkish, with no translation, so it was no help whatsoever. We guessed #1 was where we were but there was no mention of distances, let alone gradients! Nor was there any other sign to show us which way to go. In fact this wooden map was the only sign we would see for the next hour.

There was a path to our left. We decided that must be the way. The beginning of the trail looked perfectly user friendly.

So we set off for what we were still assuming would be a short walk. We climbed steadily and rather steeply over rocks and tree roots for 20 minutes until we came to a bench. We sat down and puffed and panted and drank water. We decided we must have come the wrong way and were about to go back down the trail when we saw two very serious looking young hikers coming down. They were wearing hiking shoes, using those ski pole type things and had knapsacks on their backs. This was our first warning that we were ill prepared for what was to come. We were in shorts and T-shirts and were carrying a bottle of water.

We asked them if we were on the right trail. They told us we were and that the ruins were amazing. I asked how much further we had to go assuming they would say something like “just round the next corner”. Instead they told us that we had about another 30 minutes of climbing to go.

I told them I would need an ambulance. They laughed and said we had to do it, it was well worth it.

Gordon posed for a nice photo which fails to show how steep the path really is.

After 40 minutes we came across the outer walls of the lower city. I take another photo of Gordon of which he is unaware. It shows what the trail has become and the toll the climb has taken. He is now a little bent over as he carefully studies where to put his feet next

The ancient city of Termessos thrived for many centuries. And why not? It’s defenses, both natural and man made, were impenetrable, even to the mighty army of Alexander the Great.
Soon the city had to expand. A lower city grew up outside the old city walls . This is the area we have reached. Here there are temples, bath houses, and cemeteries, but no signs so it is hard to know what we are looking at. But despite much of it being little more than rubble, the surroundings make it fabulous.

But our exploration has only just begun. We have to climb still further to reach the old city.

We see our first real sign which points to the left and labels what we see as “The Colonnade”, which sounds lovely, but looks like this

All we can see is a couple of broken columns covered in ivy. How does anyone know there was a street here, let alone a colonnade.

We only see one suggestion of any kind of ancient road

It leads up to an enormous wall which was part of what must have been a very impressive Council Hall

Tombs seem to be everywhere

And why wouldn’t they be? The citizens must have dropped like flies from the exertions needed to just get around town.

Even at this elevation, the temperature has reached 98 degrees. The sun is beating down on us and we are exhausted. But we are still nowhere near the summit, and that is where the true marvel of Termessos lies. We have no idea which way to go, other than straight up! We struggle upwards for another 15 minutes across rubble and tree roots. Suddenly the vista opens up, and there directly below us is a sight I will never forget.
It is truly breathtaking – in every sense of the word. The Fabulosity Meter, which has been struggling to keep up, makes an extraordinarily loud noise.

It is without doubt, the most impressive sight we have seen, since the likes of Petra and Machu Pichu. Not only because this was built 3,000 years ago on top of a mountain, but also because of the incredibly impressive views

It is FABULOUS!

We wander around the amphiteatre taking endless photos, mesmerized by what we see. There are maybe 8 people sharing this with us. And we note they are all at least half our age. We feel quite proud of our achievement.

It is thought that the city was ultimately abandoned when its aqueduct was destroyed in an earthquake cutting off the water supply. Since then the site has remained almost completely untouched. Very little has been done to protect or restore this ancient city. And nothing has been done to make the city more accessible to tourists. It is impossible to imagine how this was built all those centuries ago with nothing but hard work, muscle and ingenuity, while today no one has even worked out how to get tourists up there, let alone how to repair or excavate it.

The effort to get there nearly killed us, but we are so grateful to have had the place to ourselves. We could truly imagine what it must have been like 3000 years ago.

Alexander the Great couldn’t conquer the city – but we did!

Once back on board ship, we discover the Aussies have been taking their toll on the ship. We find discreet signs have been carefully positioned where they have been needed

Not even a please or thank you. Just an order!

It is the Piss-enger of the week!