Yes. Our experience of Kas warranted a Van Damme reference.
We were hit with options — too many options — of where on the coast to stay between Pamukkale and Antalya where we’d board the infamous overnight bus to Cappadocia. Olympos and stay in a tree house? Bodrum? Cirali? Fethiye?
Still not sure of why we chose Kas, but the lazy coastal town allowed us to slow down our pace a bit. Aside from the coast, there weren’t too many touristic sites in the town. It only took us a couple of hours to find the Lycian caves and rock tombs and the amphitheater.
The best parts about our time in Kas were the serendipitous events and sights that we stumbled upon during our non-directional walks. It’s so liberating to have spent hours walking around an area without a long list of things we had to see.
It was on this leisurely stroll that we breathed in the fresh Mediterranean sea air for the first time, did a quick workout on the oblique machines in a public park, witnessed some local boys play a really well organized game of football in the middle of a public square where more than one oblivious passerby became an asset to the defense, and soon after joined the rest of the town at a tea cafe to watch a live football match on TV.
Our short stay in Kas added to our love of Turkey. Just a week ago, we were immersed in the crowded streets of Istanbul. A bus ride away stood Pamukkale and the ruins of Ephesus. Now, we had our first taste of coastal life. Our dynamic journey through this country has us totally enamored.
