We took too much stuff with us

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Stuff to take

We took too much stuff with us. You probably will, too. But you soon find that every gram counts when you're carrying it day after day.

Claire sent a box of stuff back home after a week, and I sent two boxes back after ten days. The Turkish system for sending stuff back is pretty good. You have to use a yellow box (sarı kutu) which the post office will sell you for a couple of lira. So don't bother to make a parcel beforehand, just take your stuff along.

We had radically different experiences at the post offices in Kalkan and Kaş. The man in Kalkan was very cheery and helpful and sent our stuff by surface mail (signed for on arrival) which was amazingly cheap. He had one leg. The man in Kaş was the only rude, grumpy, racist and generally miserable Turk we met anywhere on the route. He insisted there was no such service, it was completely impossible and the only option was air mail (much more expensive). All our packages by both routes got home safe and sound before we did -- in fact, the surface route was as quick as the air.

Moral one: make your decisions in Kalkan and post things from there.

Moral two: happiness is not dependent on the number of one's legs.

Anyway, to the stuff itself:

Sleeping bag. Sleepwalker 1 sleeping bag by Mountain Equipment, 1280g. Excellent product; warm enough (just) at 1250 metres in early May. The container bag split; we got Ramazan the tailor in Kalkan to fix it. He made it better than new then asked us to decide how much to pay him!

Sleeping mat. The Original Thermarest, 870g. Recommended -- a good tradeoff between springiness (just enough) and weight.

Bivvy bag. Outdoordesigns 2 star, 450g. This was a kind of intermediate bag in weight, quality and price: OK for a shower, not for a downpour (we were lucky and only had the former). We didn't take a tent.

Home for the night, upper Chimera

Cooking. Primus frying pan and double-handled cooking pot, 260 total. Just big enough to do the job, and nice and light. We also took a couple of cigarette lighters, some heavy-duty matches (useful) and a small meths burner someone gave me (no need for it -- it's easy to start a fire with pine cones, which you'll find in most places).

Cutlery. Small chopping knife, basic Swiss Army knife, two small metal teaspoons, and the plastic cutlery from the plane. We wished we had brought plastic boxes with a decent seal -- Turkish ones are very flimsy.

Sucuk, onions, chillis and bulghur wheat over an open fire, somewhere out there...

Drinking. A three-litre platypus each with tube, plus a reserve 1 litre platypus, and a large, light plastic mug, which was useful at mealtimes and also for forcing down as much water as possible at springs (the more you can drink, the less you have to carry). In summer and autumn you'll also need a billy can and string for getting water from wells.

Shirts/Jersey. Two T-shirts (200g each), one light wool jumper (300g). Actually I took more than this, but sent the rest home. None of these had collars; to keep the sun off my neck I used a light scarf, which I soaked in water whenever possible.

Trousers/underpants. One pair of light cotton long trousers (375g), one pair of shorts (240g), three pairs of light underpants.

Warm stuff. I found my cycling jacket (300g) and long trousers (320g) well worth taking along, mainly for cold nights out. Gloves and woolly hat (175g total) also sometimes useful. Goretex coat (350g) essential for rain. Thermal vest (200g) useful, thermal long johns were overkill.

Footwear. I bought some very light rubbery Beppi shoes in the tourist zone in Kaş and sent my heavy sandals home. Oh, and bring some walking boots.

Electrics: GPS (Garmin GPS 60, 210g), batteries (about 6, 25g each), MP3 player, small torch (100g), freestanding flashlight (230g), phone (150g; old Nokia, batteries hold charge very well, so left charger at home, borrowed a charger at a hotel along the way). See the "Geek stuff" page.

Hygiene and beauty: soap, toothbrush, shaver and stuff like that...wax earplugs also very useful.

Health: especially useful were germolene for mosquito bites and bee stings; knee strap; compeed plasters; water purifiers (iodine) and neutralizers.

Reading matter: Lycian Way book, "Rough Guide" Turkish phrase book, Lycia section (only!) of Lonely Planet Turkey; quarter-size printouts of other reading matter from the web (normal books are too heavy).

Miscellaneous: duct tape for repairs; nail scissors.

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