Kate Clow first came to Turkey in 1989 to sell computer systems. In 1992 she moved to Antalya and, out of sheer interest, began researching the ancient roads that connected the cities of Greek and Roman times.
Readers have written to us several times and asked for information about the most famous of the Turkish hiking trails, the Lycian Trail.
The sun was shining from the sky, despite the sub-zero temperatures, and once again we were after a hike, so we quickly packed our backpacks, warm tea and some provisions and set off for the Böselstein circular trail above Bad Bibra.
Once again it was time. Our dear friend and hiking guide Ömer had invited us to another excursion through the coastal Taurus Mountains near Manavgat above the Oymarpinar dam.
In our article about the porcelain centre of Kahla, we had already mentioned the many hiking trails and cycle paths that connect different destinations in beautiful surroundings, so we had chosen the way up to the Leuchtenburg with a visit to the local museum as our destination of that day.
After our tour to the Ottoman bridge Ura e Mesit, we had continued along the river for a few kilometers and had quickly reached a valley between the foothills of the Albanian Alps, which in recent years have increasingly established themselves as an attraction for mountain hikers.
The sun was shining due to the cloudless sky and the bitter cold, and in some places there were still wafts of fog drifting in the light wind on the Finne in Burgenland county, so dress warmly and get out there.
During our stay at Camping Vrachos in Kastraki at Meteora monasteries we also had the idea of a first exploration to the Pindos mountain range in Ioannina, especially to "explore" the famous Vikos Gorge.
We had heard several times about the GR 2013 long-distance hiking trail, a 365 km long hiking trail that took us through the landscape of Provence to the metropolitan region of the southern French port city of Marseille.
During our stay in Lohmen we had already undertaken a few hikes in the area, now we wanted to go to the megalithic tomb and the mound of Groß Upahl, also in the hope of finding more well-kept or more easily recognizable megalithic tombs here.
In the mid-1990s, bulldozers were levelling the area for the construction of the Lohmen rehabilitation clinic when a Bronze Age settlement was discovered.
Once we were gripped by the fever of collecting stamps to receive the Harz hiking badge, this was simultaneously linked to research and subsequently visiting other highlights in the Harz.
After a few hiking tours, it was now time to relax a little and even enjoy the pleasure of "daily" life: we wanted to participate in one of the well known rafting tours on Cetina river. We probably do not need to tell anyone of our readers what is going to happen during this so much popularized recreational sport, if, at all, the customer / us usually uses wild water of different levels of difficulty.
We had already made an appointment several times to meet with Ömer for a canoe tour on the Oymapinar reservoir, at the so-called "Green Canyon", but something always came up.
From our location Camper Stop Hotel Baron, we, headed by Florian, went from Tirana a few kilometers into the direction of Elbasan.
A few years ago, we had already searched for a path through the Wadden Sea to visit the Minsener Oog bird sanctuary. At the time we were with some friends from the south of Germany who wanted to get to know the mudflats for the first time and thus the healthy effect of the mud and the fresh sea breeze (click here for the article from that time).
Today we took the bus to the Vieux Port in Marseille for the first time, which turned out to be the best option as the terminus of bus line 82 is just a few meters from our accommodation.
As part of our project "Cultural journey along the Roman road system", the topic of mountain hiking is for us, in addition to attractive sports, outdoor and leisure activities for everyone, which can be carried out without large investments in equipment or local facilities, also an important topic that is meaning of the project could be successfully implemented elsewhere.
Once again, the time had come - Ömer had invited people to hike a section of the Seljuk caravan route across the Taurus Mountains. Despite his many years of experience, which he had gained during the various routes through the Taurus between Manavgat and Akseki, the planned section was a first ascent for him too.
Why look into the distance, …. although you can also take an interesting hike through a gorge relatively close by.