Yonca Duyan Mountain Biking Tour Guide

Yonca Duyan Tour Guide

Yonca Duyan was in her first year at Bougainville Travel when this photo was taken and she had already established a reputation for herself. She was the only woman tour guide working for BT and is a regular all around athlete. At the young age of 25 Yonca is already an experienced, knowledgeable, courteous and safe guide.

Yonca was born in France and moved back to Istanbul when she was eight years old. She is the youngest in her family with an older sister who lives in the USA and a brother who lives in Bursa. She studied Economics at Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir and later studied Foreign Trade at Anadolu University in Eskişehir. While at her university she joined a Sport Climbing Club and found her true vocation–outdoor guide and enthusiast! She says that her parents have always been very supportive of her outdoor activities.

Yonca has several years as a professional level rock climber and climbs whenever she has the opportunity. Her first professional adventure tour guide was in Olympos where she worked canyoning and sea kayaking. She started with BT this season and has worked steadily all summer long.

Even though she is the only woman outdoor adventure guide on the Bougainville Tourism team, Yonca has earned the respect and helpful assistance of the more experienced male guides. She says she has encountered no problems because she is a woman but occasionally an older customer will question her experience because she looks so young. However, she says that because she is enthusiastic and professional in her attitude, her customers soon overlook her age and see her experience. She likes to guide mountain bikers most of all but also enjoys sea kayaking. She does guide canyoning but the water is cold making it her least favorite activity to guide.

Yonca says she really loves her work and the outdoors. She is able to work in a profession she enjoys very much and both her on and off work times she is almost always in the outdoors. She also enjoys communicating with people from different countries and cultures and believes she is successful with her customers because she is helpful and has great confidence in her abilities. She stays in shape on off days by running or biking, doing pilates, and yoga.

Mountain Biking Tour Map

She occasionally leads groups of experienced mountain bikers on a week long mountain bike tour. This tour is quite extensive and covers over 300 km from Fethiye to Dalyan.

If you are interested in this year round adventure tour contact
Bougainville Travel in Kaş. Or you can find more for information about Mountain Biking trips and tours. Additionally there are many more MTB photos available on our Facebook page.

Day 1

Start Fethiye.

Day 2

Mountain Bikers on the trail

From Fethiye you transfer by vehicle to Tuzla Beli, approx. 1,440 m, starting our ride, mainly down hill, until you reach Kirazlı Yaylı, a farming area. The morning ride is approx. 21 km, and you take lunch at the trout farm at Çameli where you will see our meal in its natural environment! After lunch you cycle mostly downhill and flat roads to Gölhisar Lake, altitude approx. 990m.
Transfer to Acipayam (approx 50km). Total riding approx 55km.

Day 3

Pamukkale white cliffs

Transfer to shores of Salda Lake from where you cycle to Caravanserai in Çardak, passing the dam and Kuragöl Lake. You then have the opportunity to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site, Pamukkale (Cotton Castle). People have flocked here to bathe in the hot springs for centuries and benefit from their healing properties. The ancient Greek city of Hieropolis was built here for this purpose and today visitors can bathe in pools that still contain Greek and Roman architectural remains. An impressive natural phenomenon, the white outcrop of travertine stands 160m high, with water cascading down the natural terraces of carbonate minerals. Total riding for the day is approx. 57 km.

Day 4

Ancient Ephesus on the Lycian Trail

Transfer by vehicle to Bozdağ village from where you take a climb of approx. 5 km from where it’s downhill to Gölcük Lake for a lunch of Turkish pancakes (Gözleme) (alt. 1,050m). After lunch you carry on downhill all the way to Tire to meet our transfer to Selcuk. In the afternoon there is a visit to the famous site of Ephesus (entrance payable locally) – at its zenith in the 2nd Century, it had a population of 300,000 and was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. Her temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world until an arsonist destroyed it. Unfortunately, excavations at the temple have been prevented by the high local water table. The New Testament gives a stirring account of St. Paul’s attempt to preach Christianity in the theatre here, which seats around 24,000 people and is situated at the head of a main street of Ephesus, known as the ‘Arcadian’. This 550 m long and 11 m wide street of marble was built in about 400 BC, in honour of Emperor Arcadius, with a colonnade of shops on either side. A local guide is available to show you around. Though this guide is free, you will be expected to provide a tip for his/her services. See extra expenses for entry fee and tipping custom. Total riding for the day is approx. 57 km.

Day 5

35 minute transfer by vehicle to Söke where you start our day’s ride. The journey to Lake Bafa is on a generally good asphalt road. There are some uphill stretches which do not exceed 5km. There are opportunities to swim in the lake, take a boat trip on a small fishing boat around the islands in the lake and, time permitting, to visit local caves. Total riding for the day is approx 60km.

Day 6

Mountain Bikers at lunch on the trail

You begin with our longest transfer (2hrs) to Ula, from where you ride to Köyceğiz Lake, the route being mixed up and down hill through shaded pine forests, including our biggest climb of 7km, and lunch in a village house. you finish at Sultaniye and may have time for swimming in the Lake, before boarding the boat with our bikes and heading down the Dalyan River to the town of Dalyan. A final ride takes us the last short distance to our hotel. Total riding for the day is approx. 57 km.

Day 7

A free day for bathing on the beach, whitewater rafting, a Turkish bath or just relaxing by the pool.

Day 8

Transfer to Dalaman airport, flight to London.
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