I was treated to tea and a meal. Although I immediately indicated that I had already had breakfast... I still got four small cutlets, olives, jam and bread prepared by Mustafa's wife. After a while, other family members and neighbours joined the table. Unfortunately, no one spoke English, so I had to struggle with my modest Turkish vocabulary and smile a lot. Around noon, Mustafa gave the signal to leave. We went to the shore.

The speedboat crossing itself takes about half an hour and takes place in the narrowest and shallowest part of Eğirdir Lake. Although, well... Turkish geographers used a trick here that usually irritates me quite a bit. Namely, they artificially divided one lake into two and called the northern, smaller part Hoyran. I remember that in Patagonia it was the norm that one lake, through which the national border ran, had one name on the Chilean side and a completely different one on the Argentine side. It was quite strange, especially considering the fact that both nations speak the same language. But it was the boundary that came into business here, so I kind of understood that. In the case of Lake Eğirdir, however, this is completely unnecessary for me. On the other hand, in a few dozen or so years, two separate lakes may actually form here. The depth in this place is so small that for almost the entire journey you could see vegetation right under the water. The other shore was about 300-400 meters closer to what Mustafa knew from his youth. In short, year after year the water level in the lake decreases...

Today, for the first time since starting in Fethiye on September 13, I had to take a ride. And it's not because of lack of fitness or laziness. A lake just stood in the way.

Of course, this was no surprise to me. The crossing of Lake Eğirdir is a part of the marked route on the trail of St. Paul. There's nothing you can do about it. I mean, you can go around the lake in the literal sense, but it would mean an additional two days of walking, probably mainly on asphalt. Anyway, if this is how St. Paul travelled nearly 2,000 years ago, I wasn't going to argue with that. So we cross the lake! Mustafa, a man in his mid-fifties, was supposed to help me with this. Helping hikers to overcome this great water is what he does on regular basis, and if necessary, also offers accommodation and food at home.

Mustafa was not surprised by my arrival. Already during my stay in Eğirdir, Ibrahim phoned him about it, saying that in a few days a guy from Poland who would need a ride to the other side of the lake will come here. Of course, he did not know exactly what day and time I would reach him, because theoretically this route could be covered in two days at my pace, following the shortest route. In the version with a bypass of the Kaymaz mountain, it is already 3 days, and in the variant I chose with conquering Barla mountain, it was already 4 days and the morning of the fifth. It was shortly after 10 in the morning when a dog chained to the first outbuilding announced my arrival. After a while, a smiling host was walking towards me. He knew perfectly well who I was and what I was coming for.

You can't get by boat right up to the shore, so we covered the last hundred meters barefoot, getting stuck up to our knees in the muddy bottom, after which our feet looked like you can see in one of the photos 🙂 Fortunately, Mustafa got water into a large container on the way, so I could make them looking better.

We said goodbye on the shore. I paid 300 TL (about 16 EUR), then waved goodbye to the hosts and headed towards the village of Kemer, a kilometer away. It is a pity that the language barrier did not allow for freer conversation, because both Mustafa and his wife gave the impression of very positive and nice people with whom it would be nice to talk.

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