It's been a while because I've been busy with other stuff but I really don't have too much to say.
Left for Olympos last Thursday night and 11:45 and rode the bus for 8 or so hours to get down to our little bungalow place. The bus ride was kind of okay, of course bumpy at some places, but over all not too bad. I didn't get a little nervous however when we were about 45 minutes out from our destination twisting and turning down the hilly/mountainous area on a bus. But the view was great and the bus driver seemed to have control so it's ok.
Then we got to our place and had a breakfast similar to the one we had in Istanbul but better because the cheese was less strong, they had a Nutella-like spread for bread, hard boiled eggs, and water melon in addition to cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives. And it was only 5 TL while Istanbul's not so awesome breakfast was 9 the first day.
Qianqian and I were lucky and got the key to our bungalow right away so we were able to put our stuff down and head to the beach right away while the other guys went to the beach then had to go back to get situated then come back out to the beach.
The first swim was incredibly nice! A stream entered our little bay area which made the water near the beach a tiny bit cold but it was so refreshing on a hot day. And then when you swam out farther it was still comfortable because it was the temperature of a comfortable pool. So nice. Of course the salt water took a little getting use to for us Michiganders but it was nice.
Qianqian left the beach after I'd say 3 or 4 hours but I continued to stay in my spot until 3:00 or so. I would read a chapter of my book and then when it got too toasty I would sit or swim around in the water and repeat. I loved it because it was incredibly relaxing to just be by myself for a bit. I then decided to look for the boys and found them being their normal goofball selves. Eventually four of us decided to swim out to this giant rock formation thing that was probably 20-25 ft out of the water and jumped off. A ton of fun. Soon enough we were pooped and it was time to get back, shower, and wait for din din.
Dinner consisted of this super tasty chicken soup that we all enjoyed and I don't remember what else besides the bread. By 9:00 we hopped on a bus, hiked a mountain with steps that seemed like would never end and then got to an area where there were flames coming from the ground. I guess natural gas has seeped out of there for years causing those flames and it was pretty cool to see. But what I thought was even more cool was the clear starry night. It was still super hot but it was nice to just chill up there with my friends for a while before we headed back.
Our bungalow place had little huts to hang out in and we decided to drink a and chill a bit more there. Eventually everyone went to bed but Ryan, Ryan, Luke, and I weren't tired and just stayed up talking about random stuff and laughing a ton. Best topic of the night was describing fruit with personalities. For example, we decided that bananas are nice and other fruit are not as nice.
Best part of the night/morning was deciding to go down to see the sunrise on the sea. Incredibly beautiful and just a nice time in general. There was also a bride and groom there and he was taking pictures of her but then they asked me to take pictures of them. I told them I'm not a great photographer but I think they got some good shots. At some points I even told them to look at each other or I told him to pick her up. Their wedding wasn't that day though, I guess they were just going for the pretty pics.
The four of us then got back and decided to sleep in the huts and got a solid 2 hours at least of sleep. Eventually though the rooster won and I couldn't sleep any more.
Day two we just had breakfast which was then included, took a bus, hopped on a boat and the 15 of us plus Mehmet and three people from the international office had a boat to ourselves and it was beautiful. Wonderfully blue water, awesome scenic mountains/rocks and good company. We stopped four times to a shore so we could hop off, swim around and soak up the sun. Oodles and oodles of fun.
We then got back, had dinner, then I was super tired and recovering from the not as awesome food/all the apple juice I had earlier in the day and called it a night because I didn't want to be miserable on the bus the next day. Most of the other guys though went to some club and had a good time I guess.
Woke up the next morning, did the whole breakfast thing then it was 11:00 - when we were suppose to be on the bus and leave and who haven't we seen up yet? None other than Ryan and Luke. So I go to their bungalow and it took a while to get an answer after all the knocking to see a half-asleep Ryan, the cabinet turned around and corn pops ALL over their bungalow. I had a few questions and pretty much all they could say was, "I don't know what to say, and this place is haunted - there's a pig in our wall." I just went with it and told them it'd be a good idea to be ready in ten minutes.
Eventually the whole crew made it on the bus and we headed home. Made one stop at this little beach area that was kind of cool with some cool ruins because it use to be a port I believe but I just hung out.
On the way back we passed through Antalya and it looked beautiful. I would describe it as the Florida coast times 3.5. I'd like to go back there sometime.
By idk, 9:00 or so we were back and happy to be home.
In other news
- I finished the second Hunger Games book
- Found out that Turkish people have pretty much taken the same class every year throughout their childhood plus two classes in college: "Ataturk's principles and the history of the Turkish Republic." Or something like that. No wonder they're crazy about Turkey and Ataturk. They love Ataturk because they truly believe that without him, Turkey would not exist. I was pretty doubtful at first but after talking to a Turkish friend I think I believe it
- I've started a new daily could of how many times I see Ataturk (his face is everywhere):
- Monday: 4
- Tuesday: 6
- Wednesday: 4 so far
- Bought a watermelon today
- Had a delicious and fresh juice yesterday called Atom
- Decided to just stick around Eskisehir this weekend and probably take a day trip to Ankara (the capitol) on Friday or Saturday because I don't feel like going on a long bus ride nor arranging the whole transportation situation. Plus I want to explore Eskisehir more
- It's officially gotten hot here. 101 today, 102 tomorrow, 96 Friday, then it cools down to the low 90s
Once again I lied that I didn't have much to say...of course I did because I always have more to say than I think I do. Anyway, hope I didn't waste too much of your time and I hope you have a good rest of the day!
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