Termessos (April 25)

Termessos is a ruin that is to the north west of Antalya. Ruined only by treasure hunters and earthquakes, some of the ruins remain intact, where as much of the stone and marble used to build the city was recycled for nearby Roman and Byzantine settlements. Alexander the Great actually encountered this city in his march towards the east. He couldn't take the city though, and Alexander, according to the histories, was forever furious by the mere presence of Termessos. Anyone who comes here though can see why.

Termessos is unlike many of the ruins situated in Turkiye in that it resembles more of Machu Pichu in Peru. Termessos was established high up in the mountains overlooking the Bay of Antalya, and the interior plains of Turkiye. The climb up the mountain would be tedious and trying to fight an army uphill would have been extremely costly. A small number of soldiers could easily defend this location against armies numbering in the thousands. What defeated this city however was much simpler: an earthquake that brought down the aquaduct.

Termessos is just impressive due to the glorious view that it provides. It definitely gives you an idea of the terrain of Turkiye. Also the hike around is glorious. There is no park security at the ruins so it is okay to sit down in the theater or to walk on them. You are really not destroying them because the large stone bricks support them are designed to support thousands of pounds. If only I was with a group that didn’t mind breaking a couple of rules. The cistern of the ruins was extremely impressive. However to get down into it, you need another person on top to be able to pull you up. I didn’t have to ask Kristina or Lessa to know that they weren’t going to do it. There was a sign that said to not enter, and they will follow it. However, a sign like that is for liability purposes, not for fear of damaging the ruins. I wanted to see more, but I didn’t have the support to do it, so I kept my mouth shut.

Sidenote: Back home everyone knows that I like to scare my mom a little in order for her to get used to the idea of me doing something similar but not as extreme. It is my effective way into making her and others open up to new ideas, and new things. It’s also entertaining to a certain extent (I hate to admit it). However, mom never likes it when I do it and thankfully she loves me or else she probably would have killed me a long time ago. There is no such love between my traveling comrades and me. They are my friends, yes, but they don’t put up with my manipulative tactics, and they don’t have the same patience for me as mom does. Therefore, every snarky, crude, joking, and outlandish thought that comes into my head every minute needs to be constrained because I don’t want to loose friends, and I especially didn’t want to loose any during Spring Break.


At one point though I tried getting into a cistern from a smaller opening. However I was having trouble fitting through it, and my friends were protesting the entire way (except for Lessa who was quite enjoying my futile attempts into entering). They were even kind enough to take the picture of me you see below. This would make a nice picture to send my mom for Mother’s Day come to think of it. Welcome to the Hamam.
Us goofing off in the Theater...See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Say No Evil.
I also did some interesting climbing. I saw an interesting set of ruins at the top of a cliff. I knew it would be dangerous to climb up, but that is only if I slipped. It was actually a very easy climb considering there were many places to put my hands and feet, and I was able to position myself in a matter where my back could wedge itself up on the side of the cliff, so that if I did slip, I could stop myself. When I got up there, I noticed that I was in what used to be a Lycan house. The house wasn’t the most interesting part. The view was.

Now it is on to Olimpos!