I spotted this lonely locust on the ground near the beach in Olympos, Turkey.

The landscape around Olympos is truly amazing. If you are looking to get away from the daily grind and hurried pace of life, come stay in Olympos for a week or two in February.

Wild flowers are starting to show their colours.

Chris spotted this little fellow while we walked along the beach in Olympos. He was about 5 inches wide.

Turkish people put plants in whatever they can get their hands on.

The magnificent beach at Olympos. It’s a great location to find handsome men, like the lone-stallion featured in this photo.

The ancient ruins at Olympos straddle this river, which flows out into the ocean only meters from where Chris is taking some photographs.

Related posts:

1. Some snap shots
2. Cappadocia is Turkey’s version of Canada’s badlands without the dinosaur bones
3. Tree House Paradise

This softly bubbling brook runs through the forest-covered ruins of ancient Olympos. Yeah, it’s pretty here.

First of all, I want to reassure everyone that we were well away from the zone of last night’s earthquake. We didn’t feel so much as a tremor, although when I stomp up the steps of our rickety wooden treehouse after the types of huge and delicious dinners we get here, it can feel like a 1.0 on the Richter Scale.

Also, after the generous advice of our new friend Brenda here in Olympos, we set up a profile this morning on Couchsurfing.org, a world-wide online community for hosting travelers. The idea is brilliantly simple: travelers get beds and local insights, and hosts get to entertain house guests from new and interesting cultures.

There are thousands of users around the world willing to open their spare bedrooms and couches up to strangers based on their online profile and a simple, effective rating and referral system. Users create an online account and load it with info about themselves. They network online with other users, and through the referral system (similar to Facebook friends), hosts and couchsurfers can rate and evaluate each other.

We’ve decided to give it a shot. If you’re already a couchsurfer, please link up with us. We could use the referrals. You can see our profile here, and read more about it all here.

I was going to blog about our hike in Dilek National Park, but I think I’ll work on that and publish it tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few pretty pictures from Olympos.

Our new friends Ben and Pen, from Tazmania, Australia. They’re in the couchsurfing network. These two were ambitiously hiking a big chunk of the the 500 km Lykian Way. As of today, they finished. Congrats guys!

I stole a shot of them as they left Olympos.

The eternal flames of the Chimaera. We hiked up to it on our first night here. The ancients believed that these fires sprouting from the rocks were due to a giant fire-breathing creature Zeus trapped under the earth. Modern scientists believe it’s a type of methane gas that combusts when exposed to oxygen. Who knows? Maybe they’re both right. It bleeds silently from out of the mountainside. For scale, these are about the size of a medium campfire.

Sunset in the river valley that leads from our camp to the ruins, about 500m down the road.

Related posts:

1. Animals and Nature of Olympos, Turkey
2. Quick Update from Dikili
3. Tree House Paradise

Chris enjoying Turkish coffee at a cafe by the coast in Fethiye, Turkey.

Pen and Ben, our Australian buddies we first met on our tour of the Gallipoli battlefields, and then again, by chance, two weeks later in Olympos.

A tracker crosses the river, the only path for vehicles to get from our hotels side of the river to the other.

Chris preparing dinner with Petrit and Gloria, who we met in Selcuk and traveled with for two days.

Related posts:

1. Tree House Paradise
2. Animals and Nature of Olympos, Turkey
3. Earthquake Update and a Couchsurfer’s Plea

Our tree house, in all its glory. I just hope it doesn’t rain while we’re here because there is no glass or protection on the top of our door.

Chris and I are in Olympos. Yesterday, it took us 5.5 hours to get here by bus.

The hotels here are called tree houses because of their style of buildings. The entire area has a very relaxed, almost Caribbean feel. Little roofed wooden platforms line the river. In the high season they are all covered in rugs and cushions, but since it’s the slow season only two are equiped at our pension. I am sitting on one right now. A light breeze slowly moves my hair. The sun beams strongly on my white Canadian skin. The rhythmic, continuous flow of the river is peaceful. There are a few hammocks in the main courtyard. It didn’t take Chris too long to find them.

For 50 Turkish Lira (around $38.00) Chris and I get our own little “tree house” which is a wooden shack on stilts with a mattress, sheets, 2 pillows and 3 blankets. The bathrooms are communal. Included in the price is breakfast and dinner! Last night dinner was probably more food than we usually eat in two nights. It started with a lentil soup, followed by two different types of salads, and for the main course a heaping plate of couscous, and a chicken vegetable dish.

Chris looking very serious, even though he’s chillin’ by the river.

The pillow-covered platforms by the river. A lovely place to spend the day.

The communal sinks at our tree house hotel, Saban Pension. Ah, to get to know your neighbor.

Lemon and orange trees grow between all the shacks and tree houses here at Saban Pension. Visitors are free to eat as many as they like. I suppose when we’re desperate it’s a cheap option for lunch.

I think we all know what Chris is doing, and I think most of us are jealous.

Roosters are everywhere, just like cats.

Ben and Pen are in the back left corner. They are an Australian couple we met during our tour of the Gallipoli Battlefields and happened to meet again here in Olympos. It was a lovely surprise.

Upon arriving last night we were surprised and happy to run into a couple we met during our tour of the Gallipoli Battlefields almost two weeks ago. They are a lovely and friendly Australian couple who are currently ten days into a hike known as the Lycian Way. The hike is about 500 kilometers long, but it is not necessary to do the entire hike. Lots of people just do part of it as a day hike. During the hike there are some places to stay to take a break and to restock the food supply. That’s how we met them here. It’s one of their breaks.

I was excited to come back here where there is a mountain that burns fire, otherwise known as Chimaera. I saw the mountain 11 years ago when I came with my parents and two friends, Lindsay and Casey, but was excited to see it with my best friend/husband.

Just after arriving last night, we walked 1.5 hours one-way (3 hours total) with 4 other tourists, including Ben and Pen, up Mt. Etna — the mountain with the Chimaera flames. It was a lovely evening to be in such a mystical place with fire spewing from the mountain, the full moon and the ocean in the background. In another post we’ll put some photos and  video clips of the fire on the mountain. Find out what happened when Chris dumped a litre of water on the eternal flame...

Related posts:

1. Feeling Fantastic in Fethiye
2. Some snap shots
3. Earthquake Update and a Couchsurfer’s Plea