Olympos, Turkey

Hi everyone. I am in Turkey on the Southern Mediteranean coast in a tiny place called Olympos which is the legendary home of the god of fire. Since you all heard from me last I have been in Greece mainly on an island in the Ionian Sea called Corfu which was very beautiful and nice. It is slow season around these parts and everything is uncrowded and cheap. Weather is perfect about 22=25c or 80=85f in the daytime and it cools down to about 12c or 50f at night. It hasnt rained here for about 4 months and its sure not going to today. The sky is as blue as the sea and not a cloud to be seen. I just got back from swimming in the Mediteranean. The water is crystal clear and it only takes a coupel of seconds to get used to the temperature. You can stay in the water for an hour at a time without discomfort.I am staying in a tree house (I swear) it costs 7 US dollars a night and it includes breakfast and Dinner. It is a 10 minute walk to the sea with Roman ruins on the right and a gentle little stream on the left, I might just stick around here for a little while like 5 days or a week. It is too nice to leave.This is the legendary home of the god of fire. On top of the nearest mountain (this place is in a beautiful wooded valley)There is a natural phenomenon where some mysterious type of gas comes up through crevices in the earths surface and ignites when it comes in contact with the atmosphere. This has been going on for a couple of thousand years. So the ancients built a big temple to the god they called Vulcan and worshiped him. Makes sense to me. I will go there tonight and perhaps sacrifice a male goat to appease the god and ask for luck, I will sharpen my saber as soon as I click off...So I have been to Edirne in Turkey and went to the grand Moscque which is supposed to be the most beautiful in the world. It was truly magnificent inside and out. Took a turkish bath. What an incomparable experience. They give you a sauna and you pour hot water over yourself (to cool off!) and they then give you a massage and crack your back and then they soap you up from the top of your head to the bottoms of your feet and rinse you off with hot water and repeat the whole process again. Unbelievabley great feeling. I was a little homophobic at first but its completely non sexual and too great to describe with words. After two washes he soaps you up yet a third time and this time puts on a course mitten and scrubs your skin, Holy Caroly I never felt so clean in my whole life!!! Then you dry up and get dressed and they give you this lovely lemony cologne water and send you off into the night.Went to Istanbul for 3 days and saw all the incredible architectural sites and had a ramadan breakfast at half past 7 at night in the shadow of the blue mosque with the immam chanting in arabic while we ate lamb kebabs and had pea soup. I love my life, truly I do.Then went to Selcuk and visited the ancient ruins of Ephesus where Saint Paul once preached in the amphitheater that seats 30,000 people. This is right near the tomb of Mary the mother or Jesus and John the apostle, thousands of christian pilgrims come here every year. The ruins are among the best in all of turkey and are truly awesome. Next day went to a little village called Siringe which is famous for its WINE oh yes I still like a little wine now and then... This village however is famous for fruit wines. We tasted about 12 flavors includeing apple peach strawberry kiwi pineapple blueberry eldeberry and quince. All sweet and yummy we bought 3 bottles and took them back to the resort we were staying at ( Me, Nick the american guy I have been traveling with for 3 weeks now and Laurel a really Nice Canadien woman social worker who is 39 and about 2 meters tall) and we drank them and watched movies. Good fun.Next went to Fethiye on the Mediteranean and snorkeled and went out on a boat trip on a big Yacht all day and sunbathed and swam. Life sucks, what can I say?So now you are all up to date I am in Olympos. Will keep all of you informed. Please write back any/all of you. I love to hear from you.Nothing but Love,Rambling Robert the world traveler