27/05/2026
I left the coast and came inland to Lake Bafa, which didn’t actually used to be a lake. Over time, silt from the Büyük Menderes River cut it off from the sea and slowly turned it into what you see today.
I’m by the village of Kapıkırı, right next to the ruins of Heraclea at Latmus, an ancient Greek city with massive defensive walls, temples, baths, tombs and a theatre, all scattered around these giant boulder-strewn mountains.
Some of the walls are over two thousand years old.
The mountains behind the lake are the ancient Latmos range, now called Beşparmak, and they’re full of Byzantine monasteries, hermit caves and even prehistoric rock paintings dating back around 8,000 years. Humans have been hanging around this place for an absurdly long time and I can see why 😁
There’s also a local myth that the moon goddess Selene fell in love with a shepherd called Endymion here and asked Zeus to keep him eternally asleep so she could visit him every night. Romantic until you think about it for more than three seconds.
This area feels ancient in a way that photos don’t really capture. Massive rocks, ruined fortresses, silent monasteries, olive trees everywhere and hardly any tourists.
Exactly my kind of place. Quiet, dramatic, slightly haunted-looking, basically me in lake form.
It’s hot, so I’m spending the morning on the lake and I’ll head out to explore the ruins this afternoon, if I don’t melt or fall asleep first.
