19 May, Ayvacik
Öğretmenevi Otel 76TL (breakfast included)

We took a minibus from Ayvacik to Assos/Behramkale through stunning mountain scenery … and back. I wrote in my 1984 diary: “I’m staying in a beaut place. “Delightfully laid back” as Tony Wheeler describes it. It is two kilometres from the village of Behramkale. Just a few buildings – three hotels and three restaurants – built at the base of some mountains that drop into the Aegean. All clustered around a tiny, peaceful harbour. Colourful fishing boats, lots of cats, dogs, ducks. And two nervous donkeys.” Both the town, which for three years from 348BC was home to Aristotle and which is topped with a Temple to Athena, and the harbour two steep km below, have changed considerably in the 30 years since I saw them last. But the harbour is still stunningly located opposite the island of Lesvos, the sea is still transparent and tempting, and the locals still friendly. In 1984 I spent two nights on the roof of a hotel, their rooms being beyond my budget; I think I identified the same hotel today, still being operated by the same family that ran it 30 years ago.

Behramkale harbour

Behramkale harbour

Behramkale harbour

Behramkale harbour

Behramkale harbour hotel