AYSUN BOLAT: We were the mysteries djinns!

The weather is hot; oh so hot! And so humid. Everything is as so new to me, especially this weather that welcomed me as soon as I got off the plane. And, like every new thing, it is very exciting, too.

After surviving the heat of the first night in the crowded centre of Antalya, our journey started with a lively morning. I didn’t have any expectations about the next day, I was there just to be in nature and contribute to cultural preservation. Thinking about this was enough to give me an excited feeling.

Tell us your stories under these red pines Lycia!

I guess the most remembered stories are those experienced in difficult and unexpected times. Although the restrictions are much less now, people are still somehow worried about using trails during the pandemic. But for me, making this journey makes more sense when I imagine the history of humanity, which has survived on these trails even during hard times.

The first day was the most difficult one for me because my body, which wasn’t used to the sweating heat of Antalya, was a little stunned. But no pain Rocky! On the first day, we worked on the alternative route starting from Üçsöğüt Yayla and continuing from Gedeller to Sarısu, one of Antalya’s main bus stops. And we were lucky that we ran into an ancient Greek inscription on the route that hadn’t been registered before. For the next two days, we completed the Üçsöğüt-Elmayanı route, whose thorny bushes created their own map on my body. While walking on these routes, then on the Çıralı-Tekirova route, I always looked for and found the majestic Tahtalı Mountain far above us. All our work was witnessed by the mountain, which looked down on our sweaty bodies.

Looking at Tahtali Mountain

When we returned from the route and reached Mahmut’s camping area, the most enjoyable part started. Here everyone is cooking despite the tiredness, then eating while looking down on the ferris wheel of Antalya, a far off view point, shining in the distance; and finally being among the mountains and sleeping in the open air while looking at the stars … This is more than just a start! In the evenings, the feeling of being a part of something beautiful and the feeling of home made us forget all the tiredness … But paints and cutters were ready to hit the road in the morning …

Sometimes we marked it so as not to make us say ‘we would never take this road!’

One day we had a break, with sea, sand, sun and settling in Çıralı. In the following days, we started the Çıralı-Tekirova route, where unfortunately there is no water source;  this situation will cause a problem in high temperatures. But what a route, what beautiful landscapes. Our tiredness in the waters of Maden Bay and surprise boat trip to take us home, arranged by Onat … The evenings closing with the ‘’Saboteist’’ card game brought by Berkay, who was addicted, and sweetly recruited us to take part despite our tiredness. It is good to be in Çıralı.

What I feel while walking is sometimes complex, sometimes the indescribable joy I get with the beauty laid out in front of me with the scenery, the happiness of walking, sometimes the tiredness of difficult roads and sometimes a deep ache in my feet … This mixture is such that looking back now, I say I’m glad. Now, who knows, how many feet we don’t know, who will find their directions in our tracks as they walk on those roads. We were like an invisible jinn who appeared on the paths to guide travellers to their destination. Lycian demons. One of the moments that I understood this most was when we met a Russian couple in Maden Bay. We explained to the couple, who were walking the route, tired and dehydrated in the heat, about the rest of their path. And while we were making the rest of the markings, we continued to focus on how people could walk these roads more easily with that fatigue. And this is how we bonded with thousands of people who will walk on each of the cultural routes.

The moment our dreams of buying a boat started …

After returning from a journey, the path become more meaningful; the bond to the time and places spent becomes stronger and stronger. It was the same for me. Leaving persistent traces to protect the paths also marked them in my memory. With the effort given to the routes, the footprints we left, my dear red and white colors, which I have not let go, we have contributed to the connection of the roads with the past. Geography; mountains, streams, rocks, valleys, plateaus, hills; all of them contain their own natural and cultural history. With this experience, I understood this once again. It is also a great effect that Mahmut Abi tells the stories of the place names we passed by and watched the scenery. For example Tiger Trap; words, stories, history and these roads that keep them alive … Walking these roads means not forgetting the stories that pass through the roads.

And Lycian Jinn …

Now I feel full of the bonds I have built in ways. Everything was as it was meant to be and lived and it was beautiful I have many more stories to tell, but that’s all for now. Thank you Culture Routes Society, inspired and will continue to be Kate, Mahmut big brother with plenty of stories, Onat with endless solutions and understanding, Berkay who never misses details, Ezgi whose energy and joy never ends, and the beautiful people we meet on the way, everyone who helped. It is about to meet all of you and all the people we haven’t met, who will walk on these roads, and of course all other creatures on the roads!

Aysun Bolat

2020