Fethiye to Kas

Today was a big day for us, as we had decided to go paragliding over the blue lagoon area. It was an early start, followed by a rather disconcerting drive up the mountain on a Land Rover. There were 9 of us on the seating out the back, 6 guides inside the truck and 3 more guides on the roof with all the parachutes etc. The road was dusty gravel and narrow most of the way, with steep cliffs on both sides.

Grace was feeling a little nervous as she is afraid of heights, but it all turned out to be easier than we thought. The parachute is filled with the breeze then once it’s in the air you only need to run a short distance, sometimes only a few steps, and you’re in the air! Then you can sit in your harness and enjoy the calm floating / flying in the air. Apparently we cruised at about 45km/h. The view from the air was amazing, and the way we just sort of floated in the air was a great experience. Near the bottom they had a bit of fun and did some spinning. We felt quite a lot of force while spinning, but it’s a weird sensation because you don’t have any solid objects nearby to judge your speed, only the feeling of blood rushing to your feet!

Our first stop today was the ruined city of Xanthos. It has an impressive Roman theatre, Lycian pillar tombs and some remains of mosaic floors. Again, the finest remains are in the British museum, but at least this has meant they have been kept safe.

Next was Patara beach, the longest beach in Turkey 18km long. Once again warm water, but very hot sun. After a swim we relaxed at the café for lunch. Patara is the birthplace of St Nicholas (Santa Claus).

We also stopped at a beach with the most amazing turquoise water. Deniz challenged us to walk the 100 or so steps down to the beach and write KUMUKA in the sand!

Finally, in Kas we jumped in the pool at the hotel as soon as we arrived. Such relief after the long hot day (and washed off the salt!).

We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant with a very friendly host. We had seafood again since it is fresh here. After dinner we did a little shopping around the markets in town.