Climbing At Ay & Ejderha, Datça

Recently, we’ve been getting into a very nice morning routine that’s involved getting out of bed late, and moving out to the patio at the back of the house for some extended book reading, coffee drinking and general chatting. A very much recommended way for starting a day!

We’ve also made it out to the crags on the huge cliffs known as the ‘Indian Man’ for a spot of climbing!

Two years ago, we left thinking that this place would become one of Europe’s most popular climbing areas and we fully expected the cliffs to be over run with international climbers and the routes would be starting to get polished. Our predictions have not come true – we’ve not even seen any other climbers in the past few days, either at the cliffs or in town. On the plus side, we had the whole valley to ourselves and the rock remains as sharp and grippy as ever. If anything, some routes are starting to get a little overgrown!

In between climbs we sat at the base of the trees, looking at flowers, listening to the birds and the occasional breeze in the trees. Other than the odd passing bug buzzing past, the place was fantastically quiet and peaceful.

A damp start to this morning meant less sitting outside in the sun and more working on laptops and a visit to ‘The Coffee Grinder’ in town. A change in exchange rates have put prices way up since our last visit. It’s still cheaper than the UK, but nothing compared to last time we were here when then things were at least 50% less than back home.

The crags were dry by the afternoon, so we ventured back out to what seems to be our own private climbing valley! Before we finished, I tried a much harder route to see how it felt. The rock was so incredibly sharp that I seemed to be able to hold onto anything! However, I got psyched out by half way, so decided to retreat while I still could!