WALKING AND RUINS IN BAFA
TUESDAY 15 – SATURDAY 19 MAY 2018
This is a short land-based walking holiday to perhaps the most exquisitely beautiful and ruin-haunted corner of southwest Turkey. It has been designed as a prequel to our ‘Walking and Ruins in the Gulf of Gököva’ gulet week, with which it dovetails, but is also available independently.
The Lake Bafa region, backed by the wondrous Beşparmak Mountains, is a place apart, especially in the spring when it is rich in birds and flowers. Our base is the simple but romantic and delightful Agora Pansiyon, a family-run establishment which stands square amidst the lakeside ruins of ancient Heraclea.
Our guides are travel writer Jeremy Seal and Yunus Özdemir, archaeologist and co-founder of the long-distance Carian Trail which passes through these mountains. They will provide unrivalled insights into the abundant archaeology – Byzantine monasteries, Hellenistic cities, painted Neolithic caves – and culture both in the course of the daily walks and as informal evening talks.
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Day 1/Tues May 15: Guests are met at Bodrum Airport for the 90-minute transfer to the Agora Pansiyon, where a light supper awaits.
Day 2/ Wed May 16: After breakfast we set out to explore Heraclea, the ancient city which is the startling setting for our hotel, before walking out into the otherworldly boulder-strewn slopes of the surrounding mountains. This four-hour walk takes in ruined medieval monasteries and the Carian-era remains of Eski Latmos, and we picnic en route.
Day 3/ Thurs May 17: After breakfast we take a minibus to visit the nearby ancient sites at Didyma, a monumental oracle temple, and the pure Greek remains at Priene. We lunch near the site before returning to the Agora for the afternoon. An early evening walk leads up the so-called Royal Road, an amazingly intact ancient path dating from the Persian period which is constructed from giant-sized cobbles.
Day 4/ Fri May 18: We transfer to the village of Kargicak for the two-hour walk through woods and fields to the ancient cult site of Labraunda. Then we drive to nearby Milas (ancient Mylasa), the local market town, for lunch and a visit to the newly excavated tomb site of Hecatomnus – father of the Mausolos whose legendary tomb at Halicarnassus (Bodrum), one of the Seven Wonders, gives us the word mausoleum.
Day 5/ Sat May 19: After an early walk we leave the Agora Pansiyon for the last time and transfer to the magnificent city site at Stratonikeia where restored Ottoman farmsteads and a mosque stand among the ruins of a great Hellenistic gymnasium. We then visit nearby Lagina, an ancient temple site set in lovely countryside, where we lunch before ending our tour at Bodrum.
Background on the Bafa region is available here.
Cost: £900 per person sharing a room, £1,000 per person in a single room. Includes all meals, guiding and tours, entry fees and outings, and airport transfers. Does not include flights, visas or alcohol.
Your holiday is fully bonded and administered by Heritage Group Travel (www.grouptravel.co.uk) in Bath. For a small charge Heritage can also assist with your flights.
The trip will only run with sufficient numbers; early indications of interest are much appreciated.
All initial enquiries, or requests for printable copies of this itinerary, to Jeremy Seal. (jeremy@somewherewonderful.com; 07757 703604, or 01225 329269).