February 24th- 28th

We went on three-day car tour with Jane and Walt on Callisto. We drove to
Gocek to visit the marina, and then on to our first major stop, the ruins of
Kaunos.  It was very difficult to find, but between Walt (our navigator) and
Rudy (our driver) we found it without a problem.  This area dates back to
the 6th century B.C. in the Lycian era.  These people were a fierce
sea-going people known for their exceptional bravery, pride, self-respect,
and their determination to defend their independence at all costs. Two
centuries later the city was fortified to become an important center during
the Hellenistic and Roman periods.  Here we saw a Roman Theatre, a
Corinthian Temple, Roman Baths, a Nymphaeum, and ancient rock-cut tombs in
the side of the mountain. (Walt and I climbed all the way up to the top of
the hill to go into one of the tombs!!) We went through many small towns and
villages and stopped at Fethiye for a movie, dinner and a bed!!!   At
dinner, a large group of people was celebrating with dancing and singing. 
They invited the four of us to dance with them as they danced their folk and
modern day dance.  They were so happy that we participated.they treated us
as important quests at their party!!!

The next morning we visited the Lycian ruins, tombs and the Amphitheatre,
which was alongside the road where excavation started in 1994.  The Knight's
Castle was high on top of a hill with beautiful snow-capped mountains behind
it.

Kaya, our next stop, is a Ghost Town with hundreds of houses with most roofs
crumbled from the quakes of 1950 and 1957, standing along rock paths.   We
visited a church, which had frescoes of biblical scenes and was intact, but
had a sign stating not to stay too long in case the roof should fall!!  We
parked the car near some Lycian Tombs. We walked up a steep path to these
fine monuments of the dead, the most magnificent of which is the Temple Tomb
of Amyntas, a Lycian notable.  In the town we passed a sarcophagus in the
middle of the road.  The local people won't consider moving the sarcophagus
out of the way, claiming that if it were to move even slightly, "the whole
world would shake".  We had a huge glass of freshly squeezed orange juice
and moved on to Pinara.

Pinara (meaning something round) sits on a hill where the original city was
founded. A cliff rose high in the air in front of us as we drove up and
around the mountain.  The towering mass is covered in rectangular openings,
thought to be either tombs or food storage spaces.  Experienced rock
climbers can now only reach these and it's hard to fathom how they were ever
cut in the first place!!  Since it had rained heavily, we decided the rocks
were too wet to climb!!!

Since it started to rain again, we by-passed some sights and decided to see
them on our return trip.   It stopped raining around Patara.  We drove to
the site and saw a Roman gateway, almost completely intact.  We walked to
the baths complex, with numerous arches and five square windows, and the
foundations of a basilica next to a shady palm grove.  We could see the city
walls in many areas and came upon the theatre just below the acropolis hill.
   After walking through the site, we decided to move on to Kas.
Kas, which means something curved or eyebrow, has a vertical backdrop of
500-meter high cliffs sprinkled with rock tombs.  We had lunch near the
waterfront and looked into the shops.  Then we were off to Kale for dinner
and a bed!!!

The next morning we visited Myra, which was unique because some of the tombs
are ground level making them very accessible.  The Lycian's buried their
dead high up so that they were more easily transported to heaven.  These
tombs are carved directly into rock cliffs. They are large and intricate and
must have taken years to complete. There are some photos on our photo page.
Some of these tombs have flat or sloping roofs carved to imitate wooden
beams from the wooden temples.  You can see traces of color in the stone
(The Painted Tomb) and the magnificence of the sculpture showing the
exceptional taste and artistic sense of the Lycian's.  Of course, there was
an amphitheatre and the steps leading to them were about 20 feet under the
top layer of the grounds.  Next we went to visit the church of St. Nicholas.
  They say it was here that the original Santa Claus worked in the 4th
century.  The Church recognizes St. Nicholas as a genuine historical figure,
the first Bishop of Myra and  a man of good deeds.  The Turks call him Noel
Baba.Father Christmas.

We now headed to the sites we had by-passed the day before.  Upon entering
Xanthos, we saw the Arch of Vespasian and adjoining Hellenistic gateway.  We
saw the Harpy Tomb, sarcophagus and the Xanthian Obelisk.  This also has
been called the Inscribed Pillar because it covered on all four sides by the
longest known Lycian inscription, which has yet to be deciphered. It
contains 250 lines of script including twelve lines of Greek verse.  We then
went to our last stop, Letoon.

Letoon is named after the goddess Leto, mother of both Artemis and Apollo
and the mistress of Zeus.   The ruins had the foundations of three temples,
the main one dedicated to Leto, and the others to Artemis and Apollo.  There
was also a nymphaion, a kind of public bath that is partially submerged in
water and today is the home of many turtles.

We arrived at the marina just as the sun was setting.  It was a great tour
and we were exhausted from all the culture and knowledge we had acquired. 
The one thing we all have decided to do is to visit the British Art Museum
where most of the Turkish artifacts are stored!!!

*Pictures have been added to the web site