Approaching Kalkan
Kalkan is on a steep hill.
The village was abandoned in 1958 after an earthquake and has been recently re-developed as a holiday spot by an Istanbul entrepreneur. The village itself is "touristic but nice". On the outskirts are holiday villages and big hotels.
Kalkan is full of rooftop restaurants. We are on one near the top of the central tourist area. Quicksilver is in the midde of the picture, next to the gulet with the big blue awning.
Looking at the village of Kalkan from the harbour. The reverse of the previous photo.
Kalkan harbour has lots of trip boats and relatively few fishing boats.
But here's a fishing boat.
Kalkan harbour and village from the end of the breakwater.
Turkish breakfast, Turkish shirt, and wi-fi.
We took a bus trip to Patara, an ancient port silted up since it was used by the Greeks and Romans. This is what's left of the water, with no access to the sea in this part of the valley.
Here there is lots of active digging and some reconstruction, but little in the way of signage. A guidebook would have been useful.
The wetlands are now separated from the sea by dunes. We had sailed past the dunes the day before.
The ruins at Patara are extensive.
At left is a column-lined street, in the middle an amphitheatre.
This is one of four separate bath structures identified, the "harbour bath."
Triumphal arch, sarcophagus, with area of active digging behind.
The triumphal arch and a better view of the dig.
Arch in the "harbour bath" structure.
These baths still have some water!
Frogs in the "harbour bath."
Another frog in the "harbour bath."
One sarcophagus standing, with another's lid on the ground.
Interesting wall construction technique, with interior rubble.
These block walls were home to lizards.
The "main street" where they are attempting to reassemble broken columns.
They are using new bases and providing the occasional indication as to how things would have looked.
A heap, but not a trash heap.
They are reconstructing the Bouleuterion, the small theatre, where the leaders of the Lycian League (a group of cities) met. They are using traditional materials, but not traditional methods.
Pieces of stonework are laid out organized by type.
Carving of a warrior with sword, but missing his head.
Amphitheatre at Patara.
Overlooking the Patara site from the top of the amphitheatre.
A jigsaw puzzle of pieces of stonework.
The stage area of the amphitheatre at Patara. The hill beyond is the beginning of Yediburunlar (the seven capes), past which we had sailed from Fethiye.
The amphitheatre is pretty complete.
Sheep huddle in one of the few shady spots.
Plants in the hedgerows were covered in snails
More snails, this time on a caper plant.
The beach at Patara is said to be 19 kilometers long and claims to be the longest beach in Europe. The latter claim is odd, since it is in Asia! It reaches to the hills in the distance. This is looking west.
This view is looking east. Kalkan is a few miles beyond that headland.
The beach at Patara is a prime location for turtles to lay their eggs. This tripod marks a nest.
The green thatched structure is a cafe. The beach is a conservation area and people seemed to honour the rules.
In the fertile valley, there are acres and acres of greenhouses.
