On Sunday, November 28 I got to see a sea monster.
It was a great creature that was made of up of multiple animal parts: upon the body of a lioness with a tail that ended in a snake's head, the head of a goat arose on her back at the center of her spine. And it breathed fire so I’m assuming there was part dragon in there also. The chimera or chimaera, spell it how you will, is immortal and even though it is buried under a cliff that fell onto it, it still breathes fire through the rock and lives to cause more chaos and destruction!
Or so Greek mythology says…
What I went to see was along the Lycian Way, the hikes we have been taking in the mountains were along these paths, and were vents in the rock that produced methane gas which was on fire. Apparently there is an Earth leak of gases coming from this area of rock and the fires remain lit regardless of the elements or silly humans trying to put them out. There are over a dozen of these vents with fires still burn, however there are less than were recorded in ancient history.
For 3.5TL you can climb the steep steps that lead up to the chimera and see the fire. Then for free you can continue on up and down and around a road to have lunch at the same trout restaurant we ate at before, Havuzbasi Restaurant. Dad wanted to do at least one hike while he was here and this one came with a cool attraction so he signed us up for it. It’s better visited at night and there are signs of camping all around the area, but during the day we were still able to see flames and could hike without a flashlight.
These are the “steps” we climbed to reach the Chimera. I think we all agreed it would’ve been a lot easier with just a path or trail rather than the steps.
These are water bottle wrappers. There was a small camp site right here and I suppose one person started it and then everyone else caught on and decided to do it too?
Dad is the King of the Mountain! He tamed the beast and this is his victory stance.
This is a Roman bath that was constructed on the site. It was a brilliant place for one… it was a built in water heater and sauna.
I wish I had had a marshmallow. Dad kept telling me to get closer, but this is the closest I was willing to get. You see me eyes? It was hot.
This was climbing up to the site too. We could’ve grilled him, but I liked to think he was on vacation too and was just hanging out on the Lycian Way.
Getting to this summit was not an easy feat. We were all sweaty and tired by the time we reached it. Korin put a rock at the top and Bridget went and took one off… the same one and then put it back.
Apparently we weren’t the only ones on a mission to see the Chimera. This had to have been some sort of travel group because there was a mix of Turkish and German people and they looked like tourists.
You can see the mist in the background here. Everything was damp and slippery. Don’t step on the rocks because they are slick, but watch the slippery mud too… right.
I think we all fell at least once. It was a really good time though and I loved the group of people that were hiking so it was really enjoyable.
There was a river we had to cross which wasn’t too deep yet. Everyone was trying to find different ways across but after Dad and I had slipped on enough rocks we both decided to take off our shoes and socks and hike up our jeans.
Korin got a photo of me actually in the water but I haven’t gotten it yet. So this is my afterwards with everything back on claiming that rock mine! The water was super cold, but felt really good and my pants got wet… oops.
This was the same restaurant I had the trout at, but this time I got the chicken. I was happy I did too because apparently the trout was dry. For dessert this time though they gave us pomegranate and spoons. It’s too bitter for me so I just took a photo and left it at that.
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