Where the heck are we now?: Kayakoy Turkey

Kayakoy Turkey

We spent a couple of days in this little town of about 200 people in rural Turkey. Our accommodation was at a place called Villa Rhapsody which was situated in a beautiful garden with a pool and outside bar.

Some of the group walking through the village

In the middle of Kayakoy is a deserted medieval Ottoman Greek village called Levissi which was once home to 7000 people. After the Greek-Turkey war in 1919-1922 there was a forced migration in 1924 of all the ethnic Greek Christians from Turkey and all the Turkish Muslims from Greece. This was one of the world’s largest population swaps when over a million people were forced to leave their homes. As a result this village is now a ghost town as when the Christians left and the Muslims were given their homes they could not sustain the agricultural way of life and left the village to ruin.

These are just some of the houses on the hillside

After that the 2000 stone houses fell into disrepair or were plundered by people in the nearby villages. This place is very eerie as you walk through and think about how these people made their life there and all of a sudden had to leave for a strange land. When they arrived in Greece they could not speak the language and were spurned on their arrival as were many of the Turkish Muslims who came back to Turkey.

Remains of a fireplace in one of the houses

Another view

We hiked through the village and the only sign of life were a few people selling souvenirs and a few goats and chickens running around. We stopped at the shell of what once must have been a beautiful Greek Ottoman church as well as explored some of the ruins of the houses. The town was located on a hillside that overlooked the valley with wonderful views.

You can easily get a sense of how grand this church was before it was abandoned

After that some of us with Ozan hiked further up the hill and then did a few hours walking on the Lycian Way which is a very famous hiking trail that runs through this part of Turkey for many kms. The part we did was quite steep in places but gave commanding views of both the ghost village on one side and the sea on the other. When we got to the other side we came upon a beautiful sandy beach with some great cafes so we enjoyed a much deserved cold beer!

Our group at the top of the mountain

The beautiful sandy beach on the other side

Other than that this was a rest stop so that is what we did. Luckily we finished our hike before torrential rains, thunder and lightning hit. This storm went on for hours so there was no swimming in the pool but the storm did not stop a few from enjoying themselves. The owners told us that the weather in this part of the world is also changing as it is much colder and much wetter than in the past.

It's never to wet to have a drink

Oh yes, the first night we arrived we took a minibus into the nearby town of Fethiye for a fish supper at the fish market. We got to choose our fish fresh from a varied display and then have it cooked and served with salad and bread for an additional 5 l. We are not sure what we chose but it was a white fish perfectly grilled and served to perfection.

Trying to decide

So much to choose from

Speaking of food, our hosts were also great cooks and we enjoyed a number of meals there including Spaghetti Bolognese which Don declared was the best pasta he has ever eaten as well as smoked trout and a Moroccan stew with baked figs for dessert. Even though I am looking forward to some familiar food when I get home I will certainly remember the great food we have eaten on this trip.