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Cirali, Olympos and the Chimaera
Our next stop was a two hour drive, southwest down the Mediterranean coast to the small town of Cirali.
Another favorite, Cirali featured very low-key beach living, with an ancient ruin, Olympos, at one end of the
beach, and an eternal flame of mythical reputation, the Chimaera, at the other. Here are a few pictures.
We stayed an extra day (two total) at our unassuming pansiyon in Cirali which gave us a little beach time.
Breakfast at the Yavuz Pansiyon was typical Turkish fare. On this particular morning they added some Borek, a fried pastry stuffed with feta.
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We had about a dozen of these guys as breakfast companions. The eggs were fresh. This was taken from the table as we ate breakfast.
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Here is what the pansiyon looked like. Not bad for $17/night, breakfast included!
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The necropolis at Olympos. The ruins here were interesting but nothing special. They were essentially on the beach which distinguished them from anything else we saw.
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This picture is looking toward the ruins which are just around the near point, about 1/2 mile down.
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Also while in Cirali, we walked up a 1 mile trail to the Cimaera after dark, , so no photos. We had to use our flashlight over a fairly rough but well trod trail. When we arrived, a few other groups of people were there, sitting around the flames (apparently natural gas venting to the surface is what burns?). There are several small vents with large campfire size flames, nice and bright, clean burning and toasty to sit around. In mythology, there was a dragon or other fire breathing beast here that some great hero slew.
Cirali is also a stop on the backpackers route around Turkey. There were lots of college aged kids around staying nearby - part of the area had sort of a hippy commune look to it, very friendly but a little grubby around the edges. However, our spot suffered from none of that.
After our two days in Cirali we headed north, inland to see the ruins of Arycanda and Aphrodisias.
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