Kayaköy Pansiyon

If you’re in Fethiye, this abandoned village is worth a visit. I’d take a minibus there. I tried walking to Kayaköy, but after a while the red and white signs and yellow arrows stopped. I ended up walking 13km instead of 9km, clearly in the wrong direction, and never found any ghost towns. Next time, I took a minibus. In November the village seemed abandoned even by tourists. I was there alone, walking the old paths between the dilapidated houses. An interesting place.

It’s a beautiful historical spot to visit, and you can get there easily on the Karakoy bus from hirasonu or ovacik every 30 minutes. A local met us with a free map of the area and a rough idea of where to start walking. The village sits on a steep hillside, and the climb is slippery, so wear sensible footwear. If walking is difficult for you, I wouldn’t recommend going too far, though the views make the visit worthwhile. There are also paths to Oludeniz and Ovacik for more adventurous walkers, but we didn’t use them.

Walking up the hill, you get striking views over the sea at Oludenis and the surrounding countryside. The village is deserted, but it feels as though the spirits of the Greeks who were deported are still here. It’s a quiet place, and worth visiting to reflect on what happened in the 1920s, when Greeks who had lived here for centuries were sent back to Greece. The Greeks did the same, of course. Somehow people keep finding excuses for division, hatred, and intolerance. I wish we could live in harmony with one another and with our environment. Make peace, not war.

I spent almost all of last summer here, and now I’m back with the family I’ve come to love as my own. Huge thanks to Cem, Hatice, Ayfer and Cenk. Love you! And don’t forget to try sea kayaking. Cenk also owns SeaKayakoy, by the way.