Off-Season Ölüdeniz
Fethiye, Turkey

Taylor had all of his gear backed up, and was ready to depart when we learned that Engin might be doing some swimming in the ocean today. We didn't really know what he had planned, but it was the first stunning day any of us have seen in months, and Taylor decided to ditch his onward travel to spend another night with us. He loved our conversational rapport, and the gorgeous weather was certainly enough to push it back with his upcoming host.

Taylor speculates that the lack of communication from our host, which he thinks is typical of Turkish men, is a way to assert their control. Evasive when you ask what's up or what the plan is (as Engin does—"it's ok!" or "don't worry about it"). He's also had to deal with guys craving his sister as they've traveled together—a rather common thing that both have had to deal with, even with CS hosts (though Engin had always been problem-free in this respect).

Sisters Filiz and Ozlem with Taylor and Engin

We met up with a pair of Turkish sisters, also on CS. They remembered that I'd written to the pair (individually), but never responded—naughty, naughty. Comfortably squeezed into Engin's SUV (five plus the girl's dog), we took a big day trip out to and around the local tourist beach town of Ölüdeniz.

The beaches in this part of Turkey surge from May and beyond, and even though the water is a lovely shade of blue it's still much too cold for me to swim in. Paragliding is a very popular sport in the area, with lots in the sky today (despite it being the middle of the low season for tourism).

Butterfly Valley

Brits are a big part of the tourist crowd here, and Fethiye boasts a rather large British expat community (some 3,000+ people living there permanently).

Not far from up the coast from Ölüdeniz we puttered around on the ridge of Butterfly Valley, a popular tourist destination that's supposedly host to some 136 types of butterflies. It's only accessible by boat or steep trail from the sleepy village above. The girls turned out to be a lot of fun, and I was quite happy they came along.

Ugh… I've been going through some serious beach withdrawal these past few months—this was a nice taste, but I need warmer weather to go with it. I can't wait to get some color on my pale skin. I miss beach and summer.

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