Coast to lake

We have arrived in Eğırdır which ıs an unpretentious town by one of the largest lakes in Turkey, set in the mountains.

On Saturday we drove to Kaş, whıch a very very pretty town on the southern coast facing the Greek İslands. You can see our hotel and the vıew from our terrace. It is stıll early in the season so it was lovely to while away the afternoon there. As is usual for this part of the coast there are Lycian tombs scattered around the town and an ancient Hellenistic theatre backing on to the seafront.

The people are so friendly and unhassling. We had lunch at a cafe at the edge of the harbour and when I went back on my own for a cup of tea which he made for me in an un Turkish way - a proper sized cup and with a slice of lemon, he wouldn't charge me for it. And this morning we stopped at a petrol station on the way here. Everyone was buying snacks - it was a 5 hour journey and I bought a small loaf of bread. With my very limited Turkish I was looking for a packet of butter or cheese to go with it and the assistant there sliced it in half for me and buttered it but said it was a gift for me.

The waiters in the place we had dinner at on Sat night were also incredibly nice to us. There was an important soccer match on and the whole town seemed to be watching it noisily.

Yesterday we drove to an even smaller and more picturesque village further along the coast - Uçagız. We spent the day cruising around the Mediterranean, stopping at islands to explore more ancient ruins. Out boat hosts cooked a lovely lunch for us on the boat, followed by dinner at their home in the evening.

The day was somewhat marred however by our camera falling overboard. I was going to jump in to retrieve but the captain said it was 6 metres and Justin said the camera would have sunk to the bottom. We tried to fish for it but no luck. So we have lost all the wonderful pics that Justin had taken so far. Hopefully we can get some pics from others in the group later but they won't be the same. The other bad news of the day is that I have developed a severe allergic reactıon to a plant I brushed against on the hike. Luckily Angela is a skin specialıst so I am receivıng good medical care.

Nevertheless we are continuing to have a very good time.