Zim & Chris' Turkish (Mis)Adventure

The next chapter of our journey was to be a 500 km walk along the Mediterranean coast. This month long walk was one of the Sunday Times' top ten walks. In our trademark style there was little to no planning involved before we set out armed only with an axe. Being the first time either of us had owned an axe we were giddy at the thought of being hunter-gatherers and getting back to our roots. (More gathering and less hunting as neither of us has the stomach for murder.) After buying one small bag of instant soups, tea bags, and bread we began our walk from the predominantly English town, Ölüdeniz, which at this time of year is nothing more than a beach-front ghost town.

Room wıth a view - The lagoon at Ölüdeniz

As we entered the forest the sun was beginning to set and so we made ''camp'' on the headland overlooking the lagoon in the bay. To say that we were unprepared is an understatement. After making a fire and destroying a few trees we camped for the night on a bed of ferns using a tiny piece of plastic that we had found on the way as a (useless) wind break. Before we attempted to sleep we stoked the fire and drank some beers we brought for our first night in our new home, the wilderness. We were not asleep for very long when we were woken by the drizzle which we ignored for a few hours in the hope that it would pass. Soon drizzle turned into rain and rain into a thunderstorm. We quickly packed up our things and started back towards the town. Walking in the dark and rain made it hard to find the path and of course we were lost in no time. To make matters worse we stumbled across a wild boar. With axe in hand we continued to find our way back to the path. When we eventually made it back to the town we tried in vain to find a place for the night, but with nothing open we started along the road to the next town (10 km away). Thankfully we were picked up by a drunk bar owner who spent the whole ride complaining about drunk drivers.
Two hours after leaving our camp we were finally back in a warm and dry place to sleep. This was a valuable learning experience for all of us. We have decided to stay in this town buying the essential supplies we neglected to buy prior to our first ill fated trip. (Sleeping bag, tent/rain proofing, food and water, a map and most importantly an egg producing chicken!)

WARNING:
The events above have been conducted by professionals (ha) and under no circumstances should you try to recreate the events in your own home.