Hike the paths of Datça and breathe invigorating sea air.
“What does a hiking enthusiast dream of doing?” I once asked a hiker friend of mine. “Wading in the Aegean’s blue-bead blue in the morning, and plunging into the Mediterranean foam at dusk,” he said. “How can that be?” I asked, astonished. “If you go to Datça you’ll understand!” he replied with a sly smile.
So I went to Datça, and I understood! I understood better as I was carrying my backpack along the paths of Resadiye Peninsula, which juts out into a flood of light. Even better when I met the sea’s blue eye to eye. “The trees of the Taurus never grow tall, that the Mediterranean may come into view without delay!” declares poet Sunay Akin. Even so, with the Aegean under one arm and the Mediterranean under the other, Datça was for me a maze of paths. Paths in every direction. To Palamutbükü and Murdala Bay, to Çati and Domuzbükü, to Gebekum and Gereme, to Kargi, Gökliman, and Hayitbükü, to everywhere, and everywhere they end at two seas. All paths in Datça end in rock cliffs and secluded coves.