first day at butterfly valley.

The bus ride was quite exhausting, many stops and a very uncomfortable seat resulting in little sleep and weird dreams. Arrived in Fethie, Jam explains me how to get to what might be my first stop along the coast. After a stop in an internet cafe, I give a try hitchhiking but as no one stops, i jump onto the first passing dolmus (dolmouch, small buses). It seems like as long as buses are running, you have little chances of getting a ride. The Bus drops me of on the famous Ölüdeniz beach. This area is full of English tourists, big beer belly (or jellow belly :), pinkish red face, shorts and sunglasses. Many invest in this region like they invest in Spain or in the French alps and buy ridiculously big and modern houses.

From there i walk on to the butterfly valley. As i dont have the guide book or a map, i miss the official lycian path and walk along the coastal road. I get a short ride from a slightly drunk, fast driving turk. The coastal view is beautiful, the place is calm, the air is warm and i feel on holiday again. The turquoise waters are calling me for a swim, the sun is still worm despite it is end of October.
I walk in the village sitting above the butterfly valley. Her the lycia markings can be clearly seen and a big billboard indicates the way down to the butterfly valley. I pass Georges pension ask for direction and am pointed to red dotted stones leading down a steep but safe path into the valley. Before engaging on the path, i have the pleasure to read the warnings, first one about prices, Accommodation is NOT free... Ohh shit i was expecting something not too pricey :) And the other sign warning about the path down, not dangerous but do not engage with kids or older people, leave your backpack... Well it turns out it is steep but very ok and parts are equipped with ropes to deescalate the steep cliff like rocks.
Once in the valley, passed the fence, i discover the messy gardens, not really what i would have expected from a hippy community as it was presented to me by micheal jackson in Sarajevo... Things are overgrown, no one has taken care of these parcels in a while. i follow th sounds of yelling men and get to the beach where i am welcomed by two huge barking dogs. Three girls sit there by the beach, a couple men are unloading stuff from a boat and pulling a zodiak out of the sea. After a rapid chat with the three Israeli girls, i figure out who is in charge and start chatting with him, starting by sending the greeting from our common friends Jam.
His name is Aple and he first tells me I should have to pay 25 lira a night including food but that because i am a friend of Jams he will charge me only 10. connexions connexions :) i shoot a couple pictures dip in my stinky feet that have not breathed for more almost 24 hours... I soon meet Ancy and Kieran from Norway and New Zeland. They have been around for a couple days, staying for free in exchange for some work. I join in when they start disassembling on off the wooden houses. Actually not the whole house, just the bottom floor. A sort of storage house closed by simple wood plates. Removing those plates and cleaning everything in there leaves a couple pillars and the top floor. This is no longer a building I am told. Because the reason we are doing this is the legal problems the people of butterfly valley are having. The Turkish government leases the ground of the butterfly valley to a group of people. Because the valley is a national park, these people have to respect some rules and are not entiteled to construct anything. But they need some sort of buildings to host the turists coming overnight, some to have a bar and restaurant for those coming by boat for the afternoon. So they build bungalow, which are all right and not considered as buildings. Same goes for the bar which is a tree house with no walls. But the kitchen was build with rocks and mortar so they teared it down to go by the law (to build an other one, that part i did not understand...).
Later, after a big and tasty dinner, we have long chats around the fire on the beach. I am tiered from the previous night and go to sleep early.