A mini holiday

Our dear friend Mary has been planning a trip to Köyceğiz since the end of last year.  She arrived back in Turkey at the end of March and when her friend Isabelle from Paris came here on holiday, it seemed the right time to set off on our trip.  I'd given a neighbour a supply of cat food and she kindly agreed to feed the cats whilst we were away. 
On a bright sunny morning,  with our bags and cameras packed we set off in Mary's 'Duster' car.
I felt very comfortable and relaxed with Mary at the wheel.  She is a very capable driver,  very knowledgeable regarding rules of the road (unlike quite a lot of male drivers here!)  It wasn't long until we were out past all the heavy traffic on the Bodrum roads and heading for Mugla.
After a brief stop for tea and some photographs we were on our way again. 

The roads took us up high into the mountains.  As we gazed upon the views far below us, it felt like we were looking out from a plane window.  There were narrow roads and hair-pen bends and Mary navigated them beautifully. We even found a traditional Turkish village and a lady cooked delicious gozleme (very light dough filled with herbs and cheese and baked quickly over an open fire.)

 

We arrived in the evening at Lake Köyceğiz.  It was even more beautiful than I had imagined having already seen photographs of the lake and surrounding areas.  It was very quite with just a few restaurants open and we found a lovely hotel with little balconies which overlooked the lake.  After checking in,  we wasted no time.  We were out straight away with our cameras capturing the evening light on the lake.

 

We sat and chatted while we watched the beautiful sunset.  We enjoyed a delicious meal and got an early night.  We set our alarms for 6am and we were up and out the next morning to capture the sunrise.  It did not disappoint!

Someone else was up early too!

After an hour or so, we returned to our hotel to review our photos.  We had worked up a good appetite and enjoyed a delicious breakfast of eggs, cheese, tomatoes and olives.  We took a walk up to the town square where I bought some honey from a very large shop selling nothing but honey.  Every type of honey from every flower!
We packed ourselves into the car.  The surroundings of the lake as a whole and particularly the banks of its Dalyan sea connection are important nature reserves.  There was plenty to see as we drove along. The lake is fed by the Namnam and Yuvarlakçay rivers and a number of mountain brooks. At the south side, there is a NW - SE fault line, bordered by several sulfurous hot springs, amongst others Sultaniye Spa. We made our way there and soon we were relaxing in the very hot and very relaxing springs.

We stayed for two nights at the hotel.  On leaving they advised us to visit a waterfall in the woods just outside the town.  This proved to be quite an adventure.   Story and photos to follow soon!