Sailing to Kekova, we passed the site of one of the world’s more extraordinary shipwrecks, in which a Late Bronze Age boat foundered – and in the process preserved an amazing cargo, including the unique gold scarab inscribed with the name of Nefertiti. We will see the finds in Bodrum at the end of the trip (see 3 October entry).
Among the other highlights of the day have been:
First, a visit to the island of Kekova, where you can see the often flooded ruins of old harbour installations. These date back to the second century AD, when a giant earthquake hit the region.
And, second, we took a smaller boat across to the small hamlet of Kaleköy, site of the classical town of Simena. There we made our way up to the top of the citadel, in a fair wind. The ruins show evidence of Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman occupation – it would be fascinating to have a time lapse film to view the panorama from the summit through the centuries and millennia.
Weirdly, as we walked around the citadel, a drone buzzed overhead – an extraordinary symbol of the way in which new types of technology are mutating all around us.
Where the craftsmen who created the gold scarab laboured to miniaturise script, we now labour to miniaturise electronic elements for the chips that help and power such aerial robots. and, talking of navigation, one of the other shipwrecked things I would love to see one day is the astounding Antikythera Mechanism.
Later in the afternoon, we spun off to explore the nearby tombs of the Lycian necropolis alone, including a floating tomb to one side of the settlement. On our way back, we stopped in for a stunningly delicious pomegranate juice at a café recommend by Andrew.
Then the gulet sailed on to Gokkaya Liman, where we moored for the night. Glorious stars.
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