Of course we visited the Chimera last night, the eternal flames that come out of the mountain. After quite the hike to get there, it was neat to finally get a peak at the fires and as we grew nearer and nearer, we could feel the heat coming off of them. I can understand why they became the stuff of legends and myths, because without any understanding of the science behind it, it might be pretty spooky! Even now they are unable to fully understand the composition of the gas although they know it contains methane. The fires themselves are not impressive but the history of their eternal flames make them so. Otherwise you feel as though you are looking at a campfire and in fact there were some irritating tourists hanging out around one fire cracking shells, drinking beer, and playing music which sort of took away some of the mystique for me. I am glad to have seen the fires but all in all, not a highlight for me.
We enjoyed the beach for a few hours today and a lovely family staying at our pension lent us their snorkeling equipment so we could have a look at the fish. When we were first in the water we were both a little surprised (okay, freaked out) to have the little fish take a nibble at us and we both scurried out rather quickly. It feels better to be able to see the little nibblers rather than to just feel them!
To explore the village and to get to Olympos, we rented bikes and had fun trekking around on them. Mine was so frail and squeaky at first I thought I didn't have a knack for it anymore! We made our way to the ruins of Olympos which were really stunning in the fact that they felt rugged, and untouched. They are in the middle of some overgrowth of the forest and you really get an Indiana Jones sort of feeling when you are poking around. There was this beautiful river passing through that made the ruins seem extra picturesque and with the sun setting behind us, it was perfect. There were a few sarcophaguses laid out which were neat to see and a house with in tact mosaics lying on the floor which was the highlight for me. How interesting that people over 2000 years ago thought to decorate their homes with mosaics? Perhaps we are not as different now as we think!
We had a stroke of good luck to meet up with our German friends we met in Patara beach again. They took us to this amazing restaurant which creates more of an event than just serving supper by bring out so many mezes, salads, and a huge slab of warm bread to eat before the main event of trout served in a skillet with a light layer of cheese and olive oil. Absolutely delicious and I am intrigued by the fact that I seem to love fish in Turkey; I don't know if it is the type of fish or how they cook it, I just know that it is amazing!
We had an awesome time swapping stories and clinking glasses and I was really impressed when one of them stood up against our bill knowing that it was too much since they had been there before a few days ago. One irritation I have with Turkey is being charged "tourist prices", especially when you know someone is thinking about how much you will pay before they give you even a tea for example! Rule of thumb is to always always ask the price first and simply walk away if it is unfair. Unfortunately you can sometimes be caught unawares and be swindled as a consequence. Needless to say, our assertive friend got it all sorted out and we teased her about her mafia style ways!
Cirali has been really nice but I think I can speak for both Josh and I by saying that we are ready for a change and are really excited to head into Antalya tomorrow (although never excited for a bus ride!) and experience city life. They have a beautiful old town there to poke around in and explore and we are also hoping to stay in a old Ottoman house. A little shopping wouldn't hurt either although I have yet to share this opinion with Josh ;).
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