Xanthos

Roman Amphitheater

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Another casualty of our absence was our batteries.  About a week before we arrived, David the fellow who was watching Talaria told us that our energy monitor was not working.  Well we found out why... the batteries were completely shot and would no longer hold a charge.  So batteries were the second item on our repair/replace list.  Since we decided to go with AGM batteries instead of lead acid batteries we had to replace our starter battery as well as the house bank.  Its not good to mix battery types as the charging requirements are different for different types of batteries - so starter battery and house bank should all be the same type of battery.  Since we had to go to the neighboring town to look for a starter battery we decided to make a day of it and do some sightseeing with our "Covid bubble" friends.  

Ruins of Xanthos

David thought the neighboring town of Gӧcek would be the best place to look for a starter battery.  Turns out he was correct as we managed to find the right starter battery there.  On the way back from Göcek we stopped to visit the ruins of Xanthos.  Xanthos was the capital city of ancient Lycia and the ruins are now a UNESCO World Heritage site.  The site represents several different cultures as after the Lycians, Xanthos was occupied by the Persians, Greeks and Romans.  The area did not become Turkish until after the fall of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century.  

Pillar Tomb

Lycia is known for their architecture and their unique tombs.   Lycians built hundreds of rock tombs carved out of the mountain.  There are over one thousand rock tombs that dot the landscape of what was once Lycia.  Pillar tombs are also found in the region as well as sarcophagi.  Sarcophagi are not unique to Lycia, but the Lycian sarcophagi are unique in both size and structure.  They are known to be larger than most sarcophagi and built up on pillars.  The Lycian sarcophagi are also uniquely embellished with carvings.

Sarcophagus

At the entrance to Xanthos there is a plaque describing the fate of the inhabitants when they were conquered by the Persians.  The small Lycian army met the Persians in an area north of the city but seeing that they were outnumbered they retreated.  Returning to Xanthos they then destroyed their own city and proceeded to kill their wives, children and slaves. Knowing they were outnumbered they then set out to "attack" the Persians certain that they would all die in the attack.  The entire population of Xanthos perished that day minus a few families that happened to be away at the time.  

Roman amphitheater

 The Persians held Xanthos for awhile but eventually they too were ousted.  Xanthos was conquered by Alexander the Great and later still by Brutus.  After Brutus, Xanthos was restored by Marc Antony.  So... quite a legacy.  

Xanthos

 The area is so vast which I suppose should not be surprising as it was the capital city.  It is remarkable how much remains although the most important pieces were carted off by the British long ago and are now museum pieces.  Would be nice to see the temples and tombs where they originated but I am sure it is easier to preserve them in a museum.  There is a "sister" site to Xanthos called Letoon which was the "sanctuary".  We are hoping to visit there soon so stay tuned!

 

The Land of Cats (and Dogs)

Another beautiful sunset

Our first week back on the boat was spent just trying to locate items.  Captain Andrea had re-arranged items for his trip so we were hunting and pecking till we located the previously re-located items.  Every day we would get up and walk to the marina which was fine as it was all downhill.  But in the afternoon we would have backpacks full of groceries and now had to climb uphill!  After that first week, our neighbor, who had been watching over Talaria for us, loaned us their scooter since they had just bought a new one.  Michael was one happy camper!

The scooter

As you can imagine, sixteen months of neglect left us with a maintenance/repair list that is quite long.  Item number one on the list is to put fresh anti-fouling paint on the bottom.  Boats bottoms are painted with special paint that keeps the growth of barnacles at bay - at least for a season or two.  The bottom first had to be sanded and cleaned.  Then one coat of primer was applied followed by two coats of anti-fouling paint.  The whole process took a little over a week.  This is now week four and the painting is completed.  Hoorah!  Talaria is scheduled to go back in the water on Friday - February 12th!

Putting the primer coat on

Needless to say we have been working on the boat so much that we really have not seen much of Kaş - we go from the apartment to the marina and back.  But we did notice that there is a very large population of cats here!  Kaş' approach to "pets" is unusual.  No-one owns the cats, they are communal pets.  Most everyone feeds them and leaves them water.  And some folks go so far as to build them little cat houses. They wander in and out of buildings and no-one seems to care. They will wander into your apartment too if you aren't watching!  Apparently, the prophet Muhammad liked cats, so the people of Kaş also like cats.  There are dogs also but they are significantly outnumbered by the cats.

New bottom paint

We are told that there is a fund that takes care of the animals needs.  People in the community monitor the cats (and dogs) and if one seems ill they scoop it up and take them to the vet.  The vet then treats the animal and gets paid via the "community fund".  The animals are routinely taken in and neutered or spayed.  The vet then clips off a corner of the cats ear to mark it as having been "fixed"- I am not sure how they mark the dogs.  Dogs just lounge around all over town as well and no-one cares so long as they are passive.  But one aggressive move gets them removed.  They have no tolerance for aggressive animals - no second chances.  The dogs seem to know the rule as they are the most passive dogs I have ever seen😊

Just a few of the many, many cats

 They have even tied their recycling program to the animals (or at least the dogs).  There is a clever little recycling bin that will release dog food when you put in items for recycling.  So the dogs get fed the more you recycle!  Now how clever is that!!  I haven't tried it yet but a friend and I are saving up our recycling so we can go check it out.  I will be sure to report back.

Kaş

Tomorrow we have a road trip planned to some nearby towns as we are on the hunt for a new starter battery.  Our batteries were another casualty of our sixteen month absence.  We have already purchased new batteries for the house bank but we need to replace the starter battery as well.  The paint and batteries are the small projects... much bigger ones are on the horizon.  Stay tuned!