Yesterday I had a nice day off for washing clothes, stocking up on food and just relaxing my muscles for a bit. Took the same hotel I had stayed at a few days back. Still off-season, so still the same cheap price and even the same room again.

This morning I got up early to take the first dolmus of the day - which turned out to be the bus which half the town takes to school or work in Mugla every day. But actually, I just needed a ride for those few kilometers up to the main road, where I planned to wait for a passing small bus bringing me to Marmaris. Since I'm a lucky guy, it didn't take long until a long-distance bus came by and even stopped! I didn't even flag it down, they only stop in major towns anyway... but somebody wanted to be dropped off here, so I took the chance and asked whether they'd take me. Of course, they said - the bus was mostly empty anyway. So I ended up getting a quick ride to Marmaris, since the bus driver wasn't keen on losing a single second on the street, cutting turns like a madman. Or like a Turk maybe, seems to be common here.

Arriving at the bus station, it wasn't hard to find one of the frequent dolmus buses to Icmeler, which is another very touristy town just beside Marmaris, basically grown into Marmaris already. After going along the long and ugly street along the beach, filled with hotels and souvenir shops, the bus could happily escape the heavy traffic and continue to Icmeler, where it kept going back and forth through town until I lost every sense of orientation. Good thing I had to get off at the bus station anyway, which is supposed to be the final destination...

At some point I was the only person left in the bus, the driver looked at me questioningly. So in the end there is no dolmus station... I tried to explain where I actually planned to go (the guidebook mentioned some certain bank near the presumed dolmus station) and the driver nodded, so it seems like he knows. On the way to wherever he was planning to go I happily spotted a sign of the hiking path, so I let myself be dropped off there and thanked the nice driver. If anybody reads this with the intention of hiking there as well - I have no idea how to get there, seriously.

Just following the path between some houses, I easily found the trail along the hillside, leading me uphill and finally around the corner, so at least some of the ugly hotels disappeared. The trail got more and more overgrown, it didn't seem like a lot of people were hiking here, but I managed (having to take off my backpack every now and then). Then quickly down through dense pine forest and I found myself in front of the 'Center for Applied and Theoretical Physics' in Turunc. Nice location for having summer schools or so, but I doubt that the sky will be very clear at night for using the telescope they seem to have.

Through the town it's just a straight boring road. Pit-stop at the bakery, and then I hurried on to reach the shadowy forest at the other side of the valley, from where it got uphill to a nice flower field, then downhill again. Near the big Kumlubükü beach are some ruins of the ancient city Amos - some climbing involved and it was quite hot already. Still, I dare the trip and find a small theater and some other stuff. Nobody else here of course, hotels and restaurants at the beach were all closed down still.

Since there are not really any nice campsites or fresh water available, I decide to continue hiking for some longer. First along the beach (walking around some cows enjoying the sun) and then back into the pine forest once more. The view was really amazing though, even the peak of Ulu Dag (near the Lycian Way) was visible!

In the end I finally reached the old church Gerbe Kilise, and quickly after it a spring with a nice campsite nearby. The evening was warm, the waves napping on the rocks below, a dark starry sky - an awesome end to a day of only limitedly awesome hiking :D