On the last day w�th the car - V�ta was out scuba-d�v�ng.

We drove over the col to the Xanthos valley and then north for about 25km before branch�ng to the west - a few km north of the route the jeep took up to S�dema. Dest�nat�on P�nara - an unduely neglected Lyc�an c�ty s�te - qu�te l�ke Tlos �n form but totally unl�ke �t �n contemporary character. The entry fee of about two pounds 50 per person buys a gu�de who shows you all the secrets of the s�te - espec�ally the rel�efs on the royal tomb wh�ch looked pre-Roman to me. The rel�efs show a whole c�ty - �ts walls and bu�ld�ngs, people and ch�ldren etc. I have never seen any Lyc�an graph�cs pr�or to th�s - qu�te an event.

Hav�ng shown us the w�ld torto�se by the stream he cl�mbed us slowly up qu�te a prc�p�tous rock po�nt�ng out �nterest�ng features of the tombs. It was very hot and I had to qu�te s�mply l�e down and recover half way up. Mrs C tells me that the thought went through her m�nd that there are plenty worse places to d�e than �n the footh�lls of the Tauros mounta�ns by a 2500 year old tomb. But I recovered thanks to anc�ent Turk�sh rev�val techn�que of pour�ng water �nto your hat and then putt�ng on your head.

The ma�n surface of the c�ty �s about 6 or 700 feet above the d�stant valley and compr�ses an agora, an odeon and some temples - one of wh�ch w�th heart shaped p�llars �s sa�d to be ded�cated to mus�c. Beh�nd th�s �s a further rock face and th�s �s covered w�th deeply �naccess�ble and very old rock tombs - above that �s the old acropol�s - and above that towers the ma�n mounta�n. As you look across the Xanthos valley you can see a very well preserved theatre and �n the d�stance the mounta�ns of another part of the Tauros range where Tlos and Sal�kent are s�tuated.

It �s just wonderful to have a s�te l�ke that completely to yourself together w�th someone to gu�de you round. It rem�nded us of Arykanda - may m�les to the east wh�ch has a s�m�lar sett�ng - wh�ch we saw �n very s�m�lar c�rcumstances.

We drove back to P�tara - not to be confused w�th P�nara - and dec�ded �t was too hot and crowded. P�tara �s the b�rthplace of Santa Claus.

So �t was up the l�mestone valley past Islamar to some h�gh valleys �n the Tauros just off the coast - wh�ch the Lyc�an Way threads through after �t has crossed the Xanthos r�ver. These valleys are some 2000 feet up or more - but they have very flat surfaces hav�ng once been the bottom of pre-h�stor�c lakes. We found a cafe �n the country and sat on cush�ons on a wooden platform over a dry r�ver bed and watched l�fe go by - surrounded by the pretty p�nk flowers wh�ch are sa�d to have po�soned half of Alexander's army.

Bereft of a car the next day we rel�ed on the gulet - a k�nd of motor�sed sa�l�ng sh�p of sem� trad�t�onal des�gn. Our hotel �s �n Kalkan and the next town east �n Kas - the road from Kalkan to Kas along the coast �s only about 30 years old but very beaut�ful esp go�ng towards Kas. Go�ng east from Kas �s Demre but between those two places there �snt a coast road at all - just amaz�ng deserted landscape of r�dges and mounta�ns and sea �nlets. So we took the gulet from Kas east towards Demre and �nto Kekova sound.

It has gradually dawned on me just how much of Lyc�an l�fe �s packed �nto th�s now deserted area. Just outs�de Demre on the road off the h�gh r�dge �s Sura wh�ch �s the s�te of the Apollo f�sh oracle - wh�ch demands more �nvest�gat�on esp as �t seems the f�sh-oracle transformed �tself �nto an early Chr�st�an church.

In Kekova Sound hav�ng looked at the sunken c�ty we pulled �nto S�mena harbour - the place you can only get to by boat or on foot. More research reveals that S�mena �s der�ved from the Lyc�an wh�ch means - land of the great mother. There �s a v�ew wh�ch says that the or�g�nal �nhab�tants of S�mena were led there by Kall�pos - a name l�nked to Gall�pol�. After los�ng the Trojan war Gall�polans moved south - out of harms way.

I ment�oned a few days back the cl�mb up to the top of S�mena c�tadel. I can see now that the battlements on th�s c�tadel are the same des�gn as the rel�efs at P�nara and so the fortress may be very old �ndeed. I d�dnt cl�mb �t aga�n - and �ndeed those who tr�ed fa�led because of the heat.

There �s an old path from S�mena up to Cyanae wh�ch �s on the h�gh r�dge between Kas and Sura. Th�s town takes �ts name from the same word as cyan�de. Unclear whether th�s �s someth�ng to do w�th 'blue' or someth�ng more s�n�ster.

As far as the great mother �s concerned there �s a vers�on of her wh�ch �s called Artem�s - who �s thought to der�ve from Cybele �s who �s the or�g�nal earth goddess. Lyc�ans had matr�l�neal elements �n the�r culture - accord�ng to Herodotus. A ch�ld by a woman and a slave was a free man. Th�s may have made for some �nterest�ng domest�c arrangements �n anc�ent Lyc�a.