Patara

Today we flew from Istanbul to Dalaman. The flight was about 1 hour and then we took a bus ride to our hotel in Patara. 

The best part of the flight was the view. I could see mountains with snow which made me think of skiing!!! Turns out there is skiing in Turkey about 2 1/2 hours from Istanbul. I had no idea!!

I must admit I was a little sleepy on the ride as it was a couple of hours away from the airport. Every time I opened my eyes there was something new to see. 

There were many hot houses where produce is grown, there were small mosques with two minorets along the roadside, and a mountainous landscape in the distance. At times I felt like I was in the Canadian Rockies peering at snow on the treeless paths coming off the mountain!! 

I spent the remainder of the afternoon in the salt water pool instead of going into the sea. To be quite frank, the pool was pretty darn cold.  I hear that the sea might warmer in a month from now!! I may need to come back. 

Once again we had a lovely supper under the stars and could hear the evening g prayers echoing across the sea from the nearby town which happens to be built on a mountain slope.

We gathered in a small amphitheatre on the property where we met our guides for tomorrow’s hike on the Lycian Way. Now I have referred to this path as the Lyc(s)ian Way but the guide has told us that he prefers to use its Turkish name with the (c) sounding Lick-ian Way. Like licking a cold delicious popsicle. 

We also met two storytellers who will join us tomorrow.  They have asked each of us to gather one or two natural items that we might find as we walk the path. In all we must have the magical number of forty items for the special ritual we will conjure up together. 

Stay tuned for more excitement tomorrow!!! We will tell stories in the evening from the first of many ancient amphitheatres that we will visit.