Wednesday 5 June – Friday 7 June

Eventually we had to drag ourselves away from the peace and tranquillity of Lake Bafra and head to the bustling resort town of Bodrum. Another two-night stay.

Our modern apartment was a major contrast to the previous nights converted farmhouse but it was conveniently close to town and to the famous Bodrum windmills with their commanding views over the town and adjacent bay.

With just one full day to occupy we opted to begin with a hike to the ancient Lelegian* city of Pedasa – a ruined fortress city overlooking Bodrum.

* No I didn’t know either! Apparently the Leleges were an aboriginal people of the Aegean region, before the Greeks arrived.

After a relatively short uphill walk we were rewarded with expansive views and more ruins.

It seems to be difficult to avoid tripping over ancient ruins in this part of the world. We were definitely reaching cultural overload. Even the temptation of an underwater archaeological museum could not lure us into Bodrum Castle and we ended the day in a waterfront bar.

We confronted the waiter about the bill shown below. We were sure that our drinks should have been less than 365TL. He just laughed and explained that this was the wi-fi code.

He did a great deal of laughing and had a number of stories to tell – in very broken English. We were sure that they would have been very funny if only we could have made out what he was saying!

The small glass that Jonathan is holding is the result of Jonathan’s complaint that Nigel had got more beer in his glass.