Kekova and a Hard Day in the Saddle

The day started out with strong headwinds and an 11 km climb out of Kas. Not much of a warm up. After climbing out of the Kas the mountain passes begun. There were 3 passes in route to Kekova. They turned a bit inland but the scenery was still beautiful. It was fun descending into the various towns along the way.

The descents were also fast with many switchbacks. The only thing that took the enjoyment out of the descents was knowing we would have to climb them on the way back. The day took much more out of us than we thought. This also made it hard for us to take pictures. We were either on a steep climb or a fast, winding descent.

We stopped in a town 2 km from Kekova and talked with the local villagers and kids. Brian bought ice pops for all the school kids which made us a big hit. The final 2 km was up a very steep climb with 4 switchbacks and a sharp descent.

In Kekova (Sunken City), we stopped for cay and Turkish coffee along the water. We plan to come back to Kekova by boat on our next rest day (Friday). Rustem wants to take a boat trip and barbeque. Something to look forward to.

Tomorrow we are riding to the Dead Sea. This will result in a 2-day ride since it is 130 km each way. The roads are fairly flat so the pace should be a bit higher giving our legs a bit of a break.