Like literally lost in Xanthos. This is quite the thriller but it's closer to the end of the story, so hang tight.

We started out this morning on our longish drive from beautiful Antalya to Fethiye - the scenic route. After a late morning walk on Konyaalti beach, we continued down the road to see the Olympos ruins. These ruins have been around since 300BC. It made me appreciate the work of archeologists - how they have to paint a picture from a pile of rocks. There was a significant amount of ongoing maintenance so we had to do some hopping and jumping to see it all - I almost slipped three times but made it out without any injuries and with some pretty cool photos.

On our way out, we spotted a rock in the middle of the road. Lo and behold, it turned out to be a turtle. Turns out they are faster than I thought as it raced across the street.

After grabbing a quick lunch (finally tried Doner) at Bey Doner in Kumluca, we headed to Kas to grab a coffee and baklava. I wish I had a picture of the baklava but I ate it so fast that I can only share the box 🤣.

Our next two destinations were checking out Lycian ruins - Patara and Xanthos - the latter of which is a UNESCO heritage site. Turns out Patara is closed for some renovations so we drove through there before going to Xanthos.

Google told us that both sites were open till 8pm. However, on reaching Xanthos, a friendly worker said that they close at noon lately. He did tell us to go ahead and check out the site anyway - without any crowds. This seemed like a great idea and we had the entire site to ourselves. We enjoyed the walk at sunset until we accidentally got off the beaten path and got completely lost. Soon we were wading through foliage with the sky getting dark. We finally found our way with the assistance of our phone flashlights and made it back to the car safe - phew - where little puppies came out to greet us. I did get some pictures before the utter panic though.

Words said most by Harneet: "I would like for you to pick up your pace." Words said most by Rouella: "I would like to have stayed on path and would like to avoid spraining my leg."

Safe in the car again, we started the last leg of today's journey and made it to Fethiye where I finally tried Balek Ekmek (a fish sandwich) at Ailem Kafe restaurant.

Tomorrow our Fethiye journey will continue. Until then - sweet dreams to me!