About 4 yrs ago in the December never having driven anywhere in Turkey or even been outside of Calis/Fethiye decided to hire a car(small renault 1200cc)and see some of the local area.I had read about the valley /village of Uzumlu and the ruins at Cadianda so decided to drive up there to have a look.Weather beautiful in Calis still shorts & t shirts during the day but cold at night.Drove to Uzumlu loved the place ,drove through the village until the road became a track and started to rise above the valley.Then saw a sign for Cadianda pointing up what I can only describe as a goat track but like a fool drove up and up as the track got steeper the cliff got higher and the track rougher with boulders etc.I got so far that I couldnt turn back and as the track narrowed even more I was confident that I would find a passing place or somewhere I could turn around as it was evident that there had been rains up there and parts of the track were now completely washed away.Got to a small stream which I had to cross by placing boulders under the wheels to even the track out,it was now only just over a cars width wide and crumbling at the edges beneath us.My wife and daughter had started to panic by this point and my son had this sort of nervous laugh that he'd never displayed before.Ever good in a crisis I remained calm ,reassured them and ploughed on till we came to a wide turn in the road and a sign saying Cadianda 1km,but the road beyond was completely blocked by a landslide.I was able to turn the car round at this point and as I tried to cross the small stream mentioned earlier somehow managed to dislodge the boulders and were now perched precariously with 3 wheels off the deck and the car pivotting like a top.Managed to get the family out safely and tried in vain to dislodge the car.At this point up the mountain with shorts and t shirt on I realised how different the climate is down in Calis at midday as opposed to up a mountain 3 hrs later as it was starting to get dark !So I said no probs I 'll phone a friend who has a 4x4 who will come and get us,yes you've guessed it no signal.Eventually after panic attack from daughter,tears from wife,more laughter from son we managed to pile some rocks up and drive over.As we drove about 50yards we were met by a couple trying the same route in a Peugeot estate who narrowly missed going over the edge as the passed us.Anyway we got down safely went straight to ALO24 and had some of the best tomato soup ever to calm the nerves.It was pretty harrowing and although good in a crisis I must say there were points when I was touching cloth !Typical Englishman abroad,invincible,unprepared etc.Wont try to drive there again but would like to go back as it was absolutely stunning.
