Hotel Eviniz Adrasan

After the bus ride from Konya to Anatalya of about 5 hours, we waited at the junction for a minibus to Olympos, where we were to stay in a tree house. The place is just a short walk from the Roman ruins, and the Med. So, here we are, on ...

... people besides the two boats we were with were some like 55 year old low quality russian hookers and their clients for the night. an interesting sight. we had a fun group of people on our boat, about 15 of them and now most of us are staying at a really cool place in olympos, another beach town. chris managed not to get sunburnt and i am at a decent level of brown leather sofa.

I always find it an interesting experience when I grow my facial hair. For the second time in my life I have found myself "cultivating" a beard of sorts (having had a rebillious and somewhat scraggly teenage goatee in my early University days).

This time it has grown more from circumstance and laziness then design - the result of frenetic travel days merged into the lethargy of days relaxing on boats and ...

... madness, generally resulting in a bemused crowd standing around us, then taking photos and then imitating the moves so we felt we left our little mark on the local populace! Turkish dance, for men and women, seems to revolve around a mixture of Bollywood and Daniel O'Donnell in his prime so we couldnt have done much damage to be fair.
Have to say that this was probably the highlight of the Turkey trip although Olimpos itself was a very close second....

The next day we drove the (relatively) short distance to Olympos. The ancient city of Olympos was founded in the Hellenistic period and takes its name from nearby Mount Olympos (one of over 20 mountains by the same name from the Classical world). In the legends, according to Homer, Poseidon watched from the top of the mountains and saw Odysseus sailing away from Calypso's island, so called up a great storm that ...

... I took the bags to the bus while Len went to the WC and then I bought a bun and juice for the ride. We went along the sea side, up, down and around the mountains. It is very beautiful with lots of trees. We stop at a restaurant and this is where we wait for the bus to go down the mountain to the sea, this is a twisty road with lots of spring flowers along the edges. We are let off at Saban Treehouse pansion. We had chosen this one as it sounded life a quieter ...

... again in pitch darkness. Again, all credit to Patty: she had done the research, not only about the site and the environs, but about the need for flash-lights. If not we would still be on the mountain coming down...... It is not only sites like the chimaera that have made this an extraordinary trip so far. We have written previously about the warmth of the people and the delicious cuisine, but it is also the variability of the physical country that has really impressed all of us ...

While Geelong we e winning their first premiership in 44 years, we were setting off on a walk up to the lighthouse at Gelidonya. Dropped off some 4 km from the lighthouse , the first leg was straight forward, an easy walk up the hill through a pine forest. At the lighthouse there are spectacular views of the islands off the coast. 15 km to Adrasan, says the sign, and its just on noon. Easy! Plenty of time before dark. So off we headed. Well, talk about ...

... coast at the foot of Mt Olympos, named after the storied halls of the Greek gods, Olympos has its own share of legend. At the end of the pebble (woohoo, no sand!) beach, as you walk beside the warm sapphire waters of the Med, then up into the hills, lies a fabled monster and a modern wonder. The ancient Chimaera, where tongues of fire lick out from the rocky ground, giving rise to the tales of the legendary fire-breathing monster of Greek mythology, half-lion and ...

... On my return to my Pansiyon I took a shower to wash off the dust and slipped, badly wrenching some small muscle just below my left knee. Bike riding is now definitely off the agenda because even walking is quite painful and difficult. Hopefully it will sort itself out if I rest it a bit. Tuesday 25th October The knee feels a whole lot better after a nights rest but going to take it easy in any case. I will walk a few miles but nothing too ambitious. Far more painful than the ...