Turkey day 7 - Paradise Island

This was our last day, but we weren't leaving until late so we checked out, left our luggage at the hotel and walked into town. We caught a Dolmus minibus down the coast to Paradise Island, which is actually a peninsula near the large marina about 10km from Marmaris. There was a yacht race going on in the bay.

We walked up a path towards the highest point on the island, and met a party of walkers who recommended a path that goes to a natural cave which has some historical interest - people used to live and shelter there in the past.

We walked to the other side of the island and had lunch overlooking the bay to the south.

Returning to the marina we caught the Dolmus back to Marmaris, where we had a last walk round. At the mosque a very helpful prayer-caller showed us round.

We had a last dinner at a local restaurant where we had Turkish pizza. Then we went back to the hotel where we sat in the bar until time for the coach.

The journey back was uneventful, but it was early morning before we arrived home.

Turkey day 6 - Pamukkale trip

It was an early start today, we went on a coach trip to Pamukkale, about 3 hours away.

We stopped for breakfast on the way - cheese, olives, eggs, bread, honey.

The next stop was a stone factory where they gave us a display of stone carving then tried to sell us their goods.

At Pamukkale there hot springs and terraces of carbonate minerals called Travertines - they were very spectacular if a little overrun by tourists.

On the plateau above is the Roman town of Hierapolis, we spent a lot of time walking round the ruins - houses, baths, theatre etc.

Then we were taken to a local restaurant for a buffet lunch, which was actually really good.

On the way back we stopped at a leather factory for a fashion show and sale, this was a bit tedious. We got back quite late, didn't have any dinner.

Turkey day 5 - walk to Icmeler

It was sunny again today. We decided to walk along the sea front to Icmeler, about 4 miles away. It's a lovely path, shaded by trees a lot.

At Icmeler we lay on the beach for as bit, then went for lunch at a bar recommended in Tripadviser, Romeo and Juliet. Scott had the all day breakfast, Shirley had a cheese omelet.

Then we walked back, having another lie on a beach on the way. In town we saw the Republic Day parade, everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves.

We went back to the hotel and got ready to go out to town. Dinner was in the Cadde restaurant - humus and cheese rolls, pide and shish kebab.

Turkey day 4 - boat cruise

Today we went on a boat excursion to Turtle Beach. We were picked up at the hotel by a minibus and taken to our boat at the marina - Neptun Express. We got on board and grabbed a couple of sunbeds on the top deck. It was warm and sunny.

First we sailed to Aquarium Bay, a blue bay where Scott went in to swim off the back of the boat.

Then we sailed down the coast towards Dalyan, having lunch on the way -  chicken pasta. When we got near Turtle Beach we decanted into smaller boats and landed at a pier. We had some time on the beach to swim and explore, but didn't see any turtles.

We got back in the boats and went for a cruise down the river. We saw some kingfishers on the reeds.

There are lots of ancient Lycian tombs in the cliffs above the river.

We were then taken for a mud bath and hot spring. The day was a little cooler then so this wasn't particularly pleasant, especially being hosed down with cold water before getting in the hot water.

We then sailed back to Marmaris where it was dark by the time we got back. We had a long walk around town looking for some takeaway food, eventually found a kebab place which gave us some free Turkish tea while we waited.

Turkey day 3 - Turunc walk

Today we had cornflakes for breakfast in the hotel. It was hot and sunny to start with.

We went down to the bay and eventually found a water taxi that would take us to Icmeler, where we could walk to Turunc.

The walk went up into the forested hills round the edge of the bay, the path being quite steep at times. We caught good glimpses of views through the trees at times.

We arrived at Turunc and had a drink in a bar, before finding out the last water taxi back didn't run this late in the season and we had missed the one before. By this time it had clouded over and was about to start raining. Fortunately the locals told us that the Dolmus minibuses still ran every hour, so we found the stop in the middle of town and waited. It was very cheap, only 7 lira.

We got ready to go out, and spoke to the travel rep about restaurants - she recommended Ney in the old town. We walked down there and luckily found it very quickly. We had mixed mezes then Turkish ravioli and aubergine kebab. It was very good and reasonably priced, though the wine we chose without looking at the winelist was very expensive.

Turkey day 2 - Armutalan walk

We had breakfast in our room, just toast and jam. Weather today was hot and sunny.

We went for a walk directly from the hotel, first to Armutalan then up into the forested hills behind. Saw lots of beehives, the locals obviously bring them up in the summer and just leave the hives at the side of the track. Marmaris pine honey is famous.

There were good views down to the bay at Marmaris.

We saw where there had been a forest fire just the weekend before we arrived.

Out of the forest we walked down into Beldibi, where there was a lot of local industry - workshops, garages etc. We bought some more supplies at the Kipa supermarket which is owned by Tesco.

We went back to the hotel for a rest then showered and changed. Went out into town and walked round the marina, stopping for a drink.

We then went to dinner at the Liman restaurant, where we had mixed mezes then mixed grill and chicken skewers.

Turkey day 1 - Marmaris

Having left Edinburgh airport on time the previous evening, we arrived at Dalaman airport in Turkey just after 1am. We found our way to the coach and set off for Marmaris, arriving at the apartment at Club Candan about 3am. There was a little rain but it was warm. We got our apartment and went to bed.

In the morning we got up late and did a little exploring.

We walked into the old town, it was cloudy but dry. We walked along Bar Street but everything was closed, too early in the day for that. We found a recommended restaurant, Meryem Ana, and chose our local food from the counter. It was very good and very cheap.

After lunch we went for a walk through the bazaar, round the town and then down to the seafront.

It started raining heavily and we had no jackets with us so we made our way back to the hotel, doing some shopping at a supermarket on the way. After our big lunch we weren't all that hungry so we had some drinks and snacks and stayed in for the evening.

North West day 8 - Home

After breakfast we started our journey home. We decided to go via the Culloden battlefield just outside Inverness to make use of our new NTS membership.

We got the guided tour headsets and had an interesting wander round the museum and battlefield.

After this we headed back down the road home.