Thursday 16 October

Today we did nothing but lie in sun, swim with snorkel, and eat. This is a perfect place – I stayed in the blue water half an hour without feeling a bit cold. This sea is so clear and full of very colourful fish – including one type – pale with a blue strip on head – who are very interested in this “big” fish, for if you quickly turn when swimming there’s a queue of them all behind you. Others have a green neon flash down their entire body. Just off the coast is the Kizkalesi (Maiden Castle) which the legend goes, was built by the ruling king of that time to save his only daughter from death. An old woman had foretold that the child would die from a snake bite thus the castle out at sea, but having placed the child “safely” in the castle a basket of grapes was given to the princess to eat and out popped a snake. Despite this the castle looks very impressive from shore.

 At night, we played chess for the first time this trip – very badly but you know what they say about practice.