Who knew?!!… We were so focused on ensuring we had all our plans in place for our esteemed and beloved friends (Beth, Jesse and Mike) that we hadn’t even thought much about our Turkey plans thereafter. So a quick look in the guide book and we thought we would head south to the Mediterranean, specifically  Olympos.

So off we went on a 10 hour overnight bus ride from Goreme. What a fantastic surprise. We prebooked at one of the many “tree house”, sorta’ backpacker type places. The price was right (about $80 Cdn per day included breakfast and dinner), so didn’t really expect much. Again, what a lovely surprise. We are probably about 500M walk from the Olympos ruins, and the mediterranean beach! 

The room is awesome, basic and clean, the bungalows are in the middle of a lemon and orange orchard in full bloom. You walk down the path to your room, and the smell of the blossoms is almost overwhelming, and the entire place is buzzing with bees! (Really comforting I am sure to poor Kev, with his bee allergies!)  The common areas are full of young back packers, lounging on platforms of pillows, smoking hookahs, bonfires in the evening, and the energy is wonderful, just like the hostels in Aussie-NZealand.  And it is maybe ¼ full so we are able to spread out, lounge at our leisure. Hmmm, our” good luck” just never ends………

During the afternoon we make our way down the path to view the ruins of Olympos, and then continue just a few more metres to the beach. The water is just as you would expect of any Mediterranean beach… GORGEOUS, blue, and crystal clear. The only drawback is that the water is freezing, even for us Canucks!  But we all brave it even if just for a minute. (Sorry, Beth! My beach bunny friend… I hate to say it but it is SO hot on the beach we have to go in to cool off!) 

Blissful! Tomorrow we leave for another place where we have heard, gulp,…, that the beaches are fantastic. Who knew!? Not me, I swear. (Sorry Beth, Mike and Jesse).