ROCKY CHANLLENGES AROUND IZMIR

Izmir has always been Anatolia's gate onto the Aegean and distant seas, and for most of us the city is associated first of all with its waterfront, gulf, and nearby seaside resorts like Çesme and Foça. However, in the mountains, hills and cliffs of the area around Izmir quite different destinations attract some people in search of more unusual activities.
With the rising popularity of outdoor sports, countless places to climb, hike, raft and cave have been discovered all over Turkey, but places in close proximity to major cities and therefore easily accessible are naturally the most popular, since this way it is possible to head into the wild every free weekend.One such place is Cihanbegendi Cave in a hill to the northeast of Gaziemir, which was formerly an outlying town but has now become a suburb of the expanding city. A 4 km walk through pine forest and shrub brings you to the hill marked Akçakaya on the map. The ruins here belong to a fort which in Hellenistic and Byzantine times guarded Smyrna from attack from the south.

All that remains are the foundations of the walls and a few cisterns. Cihanbegendi Cave lies in the hillside. Its entrance is five or six metres in height and its main gallery stretches 100 metres in a westerly direction.

For rock climbers by far the most interesting route is Yunt Falls at Aliaga. To reach the falls take the road north from Foça to Çanakkale and turn off at Yeni Sakran to the village of Türkmenler. From the turning it is another 22 kilometres. After Türkmenler you pass first through tobacco fields and then beautiful pine forest towards the mountain of Yunt Dagi. The mountain is noted for its lack of water, so the Yunt Falls are completely unexpected. The water drops 50 metres over a sheer cliff into a pool - an irresistible challenge for rock climbers. The cliff over which the stream pours is not suited to climbing up because it has a slippery coating of green weed. Instead climbers prefer to descend from the top.

The water is extremely cold even in summer, so although it seems pleasantly cool at first you quickly begin to shiver, and spray blown by the wind makes the descent even more difficult. When you reach the bottom you have to retreat into the cave beneath immediately, or you will be drenched.
If cliffs combined with sea attract you more than fresh water, then Çifitkale is the ideal place. Here you can follow up rock climbing with a refreshing dip in the blue Aegean. First head for Seferihisar, a town southwest of Izmir, then go due south for 9 kilometres and turn west towards the shore. Here you will see the tiny island of Çifitkale, the ancient Myonnesus. The island can be reached by wading along the 2500 year old ancient jetty wall which lies about half a metre beneath the surface of the water.
To climb the 50 metre rock wall here you should first set up a safety base on the summit using a top rope. As the climbers advance, the spare rope is taken up, so minimising the distance that they will fall in case of losing a foothold.

For free climbing the base is set up below, and the leader attaches the rope to safety points at regular intervals as he ascends. Having completed your climb, cool off with a swim in the sea.

Apart from these there are two rock walls used for training: Yamanlar cliffs north of Örnekköy and the cliffs at Isikkent near Bornova. So around Izmir you do not have to go far to find challenges set by nature, whether your aim is rock climbing or hiking.

* Esra Karayel is a writer

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