There is no doubt that Turkey has a rich history. Everyday there’s something new and amazing to learn about this country. However, not everything is great and glamorous. One of the darkest days in recent Turkish history has to do with exiling it’s minority Christian citizens (e.g., Armenians, Greeks) after the rise in Turkish Nationalism during WW1. This led to the deaths of millions of these Christians as well as uprooting of their lives. Turkey basically sent all the Christian Greeks to Greece, a country these people have never known. As an exchange, Greece sent their Muslin Turks to Turkey.

One of the towns that was previously inhabited by these Christian Greeks until 1923 is Karaköy, or previously known by the Greeks as Levissi. After the 2000 or so residents were sent away, the town was abandoned. The initial plan was to have the Muslim Turks relocate, but they refused when they heard it was a ghost town. Today, this town remains as it did almost 100 years ago.

The plan was to hike Butterfly Valley, so we opted not to spend too much time here. However, when we got to Butterfly Valley, we realized that the hike would be too treacherous.

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So we did the next best thing, sit on the beach.

At this point both of us agree that we’re starting to miss home just a tiny bit – the comfort, the food, and for Joe, driving his own car. One more month to go!

• Fethiye
• Hiking
• Travel
• Turkey