Fire coming out of vents high up on a rocky mountainside?! Amazing and spooky!
They've been flickering for thousands of years and when my sister saw these natural little bonfires a few years ago I knew I wanted to go there.
What great timing we had - a full moon helped light the way on a half-hour climb as we picked our way up a rough stony path. A bit precarious but no one in our group twisted an ankle. We're a tough lot, including our intrepid 85 year-old travel companion Linda. Some hikers used head lamps, we used our phones for light, Linda climbed mostly by moonlight.
Our adventurous tour guides Corinne and Natasha (VM Travel Adventures) had found the special little beach town of Çirali, Turkey that's home to the fumaroles. The non-stop escaping gases cause flames when they mix with oxygen. They're friendly and harmless, burning quietly on the mountainside and especially fun to visit at night.
Some visitors were prepared and brought sausages and marshmallows.
I loved the darkness under the Turkish moon and was in no hurry to go back down the mountain. Dave and I straggled behind the group and chatted with a Russian family who told us they were staying in Turkey "until the shit in their country was over".
If climbing mountains in the dark isn't your cup of tea there's the gorgeous Mediterranean to swim in, such pristine clarity. Then just a short walk down the beach is an ancient city to explore.
Yes ancient. The Lycian town of Olympos was here in the 4th century BC. If you haven't heard of that civilization it's because it only existed in this corner of Turkey.
Julius Caesar and his buddies captured Olympos in 78 BC and it became part of the Roman Empire. We wandered the stone remnants of houses, walls, arches, and churches on a quiet sunny afternoon. No need for a guide, there's a few panels to read as you hike around and enjoy the lovely kind of meandering tourism that I always like. No crowds or cruise ships here.
Some of our group settled in to paint watercolours.
Our accommodation in this beach town was appropriately called Canada House, a row of welcoming bungalows owned by a Canadian woman and her Turkish husband. Two young Kurdish men worked at the bar and helped me practise a few words in Turkish. Tesekkür ederim is a mouthful just to say "thank you".
Put this cute little town on your itinerary if you ever go to Turkey. It's not far from Antalya in the southwest corner of the country. The name Çirali sounds pleasantly like Cheer Alley.
