By Gaynor. Byzantine, Constantinople, Istanbul. One city, two continents, three names, and 15 million people. And what feels like an additional 15 million tourists! After arriving in the late afternoon and heading straight out onto the Galata bridge which crosses the Golden Horn, our first impressions of Istanbul were overwhelming. There was just so much … Continue reading Exploring Istanbul
By Jonathan. Our three month journey, which is taking us between the two capital cities of the Roman empire, is coming to a close. The general shape of our route was set by the start and end points, Rome and Istanbul, and the desire to see more of Sicily and climb on the island of … Continue reading Climbing near Izmir, Turkey
By Gaynor. I had never heard of Pamukkale until we started planning for this trip. In fact. I knew very little about what there was in Turkey to see and do other than the main headline of Istanbul. But flicking through the guidebook one day I saw an incredible image of turquoise water cascading down … Continue reading Exploring Pamukkale
By Gaynor. We arrived in Izmir on the western coast of Turkey after 4 hours driving through the rain soaked country. The entire west coast seemed to be under rain clouds on the day we traveled. We are staying in Izmir to go climbing at Kaynaklar, a climbing area just to the east of Izmir … Continue reading Climbing in Kaynaklar – The Drama of Day 1
By Jonathan. After Kalymnos, our next climbing stop was the Datca peninsula in Western Turkey. As the crow flies, Datca is less than 70 km from Kalymnos. The short distance belies Datca's inaccessibility with the journey by ferry and car taking two days. As a result we ended up spending a night on the island … Continue reading Climbing in Datca, Turkey
By Jonathan. Articles about sport climbing don't often describe failure. In part, this could be because the basic premise of sport climbing is that if you work a route for long enough you will eventually do it. A premise that obviously doesn't apply if what motivates you is on-sighting routes. In this mode, success and … Continue reading You Lose Some, You Win Some
For our last week on Kalymnos we were joined by our friends Penny and Mark. This was Penny's first climbing holiday, and we are delighted that she agreed to write a guest blog for us, giving her perspective on the week in Kalymnos. Penny and Mark climbing at Summertime It was with some trepidation that … Continue reading Climbing on Kalymnos: A Beginners Perspective
By Jonathan. Whilst Kalymnos is a world renowned destination for sport climbing it is an otherwise relatively obscure place. It has a rugged beauty but few of the historical or hedonistic attractions that tempt people to many of the other Greek islands. We were therefore a little surprised by how much the character of Masouri … Continue reading Climbing on Kalymnos: Reflections
By: Gaynor After nearly 10 days of watching beautiful sunsets over the island of Telendos, just off the coast of Kalymnos, we decided it was time to investigate further. Part of the long distance Kalymnos Trail circles around the island in a 10km sector that takes the walker past some of the major climbing crags … Continue reading Surviving our Rest Day – the epic walk around Telendos
By: Gaynor Sevasti is a village in northern Greece which has a population of around 650. It is also the name of a route on the Iannis sector in Kalymnos. A route that was a milestone for Jon during this trip. We first saw Sevasti the day after we arrived in Kalymnos. It had rained … Continue reading The Story of Sevasti
Ordinary Climbers 