The last destination of our mini tour de Turkey ended in Göreme, where we stayed to explore the splendor of Cappadocia. Cappadocia is an area in the center of Turkey famous for its landscape of fairy chimneys, underground cities, monasteries, and early Christian frescoes.  This place is overwhelming, to say the least.  Even standing on the edge of any unsuspecting rock cliff, you see thousands upon thousands of caves everywhere you look.  Hell, even all of the hotels and hostels are actually set in caves themselves.

Kris playing Backgammon with our new friend Stephanie in a hotel "room" aka cave

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Trying to do a whirlwind tour of the major sites in Southern Turkey in just nine days was ambitious to say the least. We tried to maximize our time and money by taking overnight buses and then hitting the sites as soon as we arrived. By the time we reached Olympos, we were pretty wiped. Imagine my pleasure when, after spending each day prior at busy, touristy (though amazing) sites, we slowly winded down a long dirt road, gradually getting further and further away from civilization. The town of Olympos is found in a valley on the Southern coast of Turkey, right on the Mediterranean Sea. It had suffered from some serious flooding just two weeks before, where people were evacuated, some of their famous treehouse hostels were destroyed, and over 50 cars were swept into the Mediterranean. So our timing was fortunate. We spent our days relaxing in Bayrum Guesthouse’s cozy lounge area staring up through the orange and pomegranate trees, floating in the Mediterranean and lying on the beach, and taking turns beating Jen in backgammon. None of us wanted to leave when it came time to do so. I think the three of us are still there in spirit.

Jen learning to swim. Seriously.

Our stretch of rocky, yet practically deserted beach.

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