Turkey
Kabak
A cove reached by steep forest trail where tree houses perch above an empty Mediterranean beach.
The path drops steeply through pine forest and the sound arrives before the view — waves on shingle, birdsong layered over silence. Kabak reveals itself gradually: a deep cove on Turkey's Lycian Coast where wooden tree houses hide among the canopy and the beach below has no sunloungers, no umbrellas, no noise. Only the Mediterranean, wide and uninterrupted.
Kabak is a small bay south of Ölüdeniz, accessible only by a 45-minute forest trail from Faralya village or by boat. The valley's eco-lodges and tree-house camps operate on solar power and candlelight — there are no generators and no commercial beach facilities. The shingle beach sits at the base of steep wooded cliffs, and a hiking trail connects the valley to Yanartaş's eternal flames three hours away through pine forest. Kabak sits on the Lycian Way, Turkey's most celebrated long-distance trail, making it a natural stopover for through-hikers and a destination in its own right for those who want the coast without the crowds.
Solo
The kind of place that rewards arriving alone — communal dinners under the stars, books in hammocks, and days with no plan beyond the beach and the trail.
Couple
Candlelit tree houses above the Mediterranean, breakfasts of menemen and honey overlooking the bay, and nothing to do but swim and read. Romance without trying.
- The cove is accessible only via a 45-minute downhill forest trail from Faralya village, or by boat from Ölüdeniz.
- Eco-lodges and tree-house camps along the valley path operate entirely without generators — solar and candlelight only.
- The beach has no parasols, no sunloungers, and no commercial facilities — just shingle and the Mediterranean.
- The valley connects to Yanartaş's eternal flames via a 3-hour hiking trail through pine forest — one way to go.
Treehouse pension breakfasts of fresh bread, honey, olives, and menemen scrambled eggs above the bay.
Evening meals cooked communally — grilled vegetables, pilaf, and salad under the stars.
Jericoacoara
Brazil
Windswept dunes where the sun melts into the sea from a natural stone arch.
St Ives
England
Light so luminous it lured a century of painters to this harbour of turquoise shallows.
Tulpar-Köl
Kyrgyzstan
Alpine pools at 3,500 metres that mirror a 7,000-metre peak at dawn like shattered glass.
Philae Temple
Egypt
A temple rescued from rising waters, reassembled stone by stone on an island in the Nile.
Mount Ararat
Turkey
Turkey's highest peak rises alone from the plain, perpetually snow-capped and steeped in flood mythology.
Hasankeyf
Turkey
A 12,000-year-old Tigris settlement now partly drowned by a dam — cave dwellings and minarets half-submerged.
Cappadocia
Turkey
Hundreds of hot air balloons drift through a forest of stone pillars at dawn.
Ephesus
Turkey
Marble streets still grooved by Roman chariot wheels lead to a library that held 12,000 scrolls.