Saturday 15 June

The nearest airport to Marmaris is Dalaman and the riverside town of Dalyan is pretty much on the way. So we opted to spend a night in Dalyan to visit the ruins of Kaunos and see the Lycian rock tombs that feature on so many tourist brochures.

A rowing boat ferry (with a very strong looking lady rower) got us a closer view of the tombs and to the start of gentle 2-3 km walk to the ancient ruined city of Kaunos.

This was yet another former port that had lost its relevance as the river silted up. This was another scenic site to explore but the mid-afternoon heat meant that we could not find the energy to climb to the very top, despite the promise of an amazing view. We had seen so many ancient ruins on this trip that we were becoming completely blasé.

After the walk back to Dalyan we obviously deserved a beer so settled into the lovely riverside bar where our lady rower had dropped us earlier. As we finished our drink a sudden squall send tablecloths flying and helped us make the decision to leave. The waiter hailed the ferrywomen who quickly rowed the short distance across the river.

Getting back was more problematic. She could not make any headway in a straight line directly across the river. Instead she had to row upstream, seeking as much shelter as possible from the strong wind, before taking a diagonal line across and avoiding the large tour boats who seemed to make no effort to avoid us. We made it eventually and she earned her money for that crossing.

A quirky vegetarian restaurant provided out last supper before our separate flights the next day. An early start for Nigel & Sue returning to Abu Dhabi via Istanbul. A more civilised start for Jonathan & Claire on a direct flight to Gatwick followed by 4 hours of traffic jams on the motorway. C’est la vie.