Between Akyaka and
Muğla there is not only a new fast highway used by all buses and trucks, but also an old road through the pass. Now the main traffic has been taken over by the new four-lane section, so the old mountain road has become much quieter and resembles a panoramic route for its own.
The road passes through the village of Gökova, where you can see ancient
Carian tombs carved into the rock, and Yeşilova, where you need to turn left towards Ula. The serpentine rises from sea level to the Ula plateau, gaining almost 700–800 meters in height, with a series of steep hairpin turns and viewpoints. With each loop, wider views of Gökova Bay, the mouth of the
Azmak River, and Akyaka open up — from above it seems like you are looking at a map.
The surface is a normal asphalt road, but it is already more winding than the new highway, with sharp turns and a noticeable slope, so it is worth driving without haste, especially if you are not used to mountain serpentine roads. As a reward — almost no cars and the feeling that you are ascending from the sea valley into the mountainous inner world of Muğla along the old "real" path.
The town is known for its traditional houses: white walls, red tiled roofs, wooden bay windows, and carved ceilings, one or two stories high, and a mandatory garden. There are more than two hundred such historical houses here, most of them from the early 20th century. Here you can also find the abandoned house of
Nail Çakırhan — the author of Akyaka's authentic architecture. Ula is also called the city of bicycles — according to local sources, there are thousands of them, and residents actually ride them everywhere.
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