Relaxing in Olympos

New photos from Cappadocia
Pics from Olympos

Well since I have had such a stressful (not - travel is never really stressful, just is annoying when you don't get your own way sometimes) few days I have been relaxing in the detoxifying environment of Olympos - a beach village full of 'treehouses' (more like wooden bungalows).

I'm not a good one for sitting around at a beach for more than 5 minutes - I need surf and a ball of some sort otherwise I start to get bored. But I did manage (with Liam and Gaz - two Brisbane boys) to find a 20 metre cliff to jump off into the water. After we'd done a reconnaissance mission to the water below and checked for rocks we made the trek back around to the cliff and looked over the edge. The height of the jump hit home then - the water looked a LONG WAY down. So I threw my thongs over the edge just so I had to jump off to collect them. As I stood with my toes curled over the edge of the precipice and knees bent ready to leap I looked at the water and knew it is supposedly like cement when you jump from too high. By now my legs were shaking a bit - wondering just how badly things could go if I landed awkardly or there was a rock we hadn't missed - doubting our first scoping out of the area. With Liam and Gaz giggling nervously and muttering profanities I pushed off inbetween two thoughts - I was aiming for a pin drop - toes pointed hands above the head - about half way down I started leaning backwards and at impact I was half turned and at a 45 degree angle - slapping on my back, twisting my neck and bruising the whole side of my leg. After surfacing I quickly checked to see that my skin hadn't ripped open anywhere on my numbed leg (as I'd heard can happen from high dives). All was good so I stuck a two thumbs up out of the water and floated out of the way - waiting for the other two to wait on the edge for several minutes each before finally leaping off - Gazza finally jumping after pulling out half way through his push off, losing his balance and falling off the edge.

It was a great adrenalin rush that isn't the usual sort - usually the adrenalin hits during the activity - not while you standing still, aware of the hormone coursing through your body.

There are some lower rocks that we've been diving off and I've been having a great time during the day. The evenings highlight are the backgammon tournaments that have been taking place - the Turks are the reigning champs - but things go downhill after that as everyone starts drinking and looking for a member of the opposite sex to share the evening with. Which is usually when I quietly retire to bed.

I'll be taking the bus to Denizli tomorrow then jump onto the overnight train in Istanbul where I'll stay with a friend of Mum's for a couple of days and hopefully collecting the Iranian visa in the process.

I'll have a go at getting some photos up soon - some more from Goreme as well, but might be another couple of days.