We "fuel" up at the hotel in the morning, before heading out to Dalyan to see if we can catch a river boat tour.
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We rolled into the town of Dalyan, found a decent parking spot, and lo and behold a local "agent" guided us to the boat tour dock. After some haggling, and some talk that we might just take the water taxi like many do, we received a discounted private tour with a fine captain.
Above the river's sheer cliffs are the weathered façades of Lycian tombs cut from rock, circa 400 BC .
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The route heads downstream with some very nice scenery.
Somewheres beyond the reeds and between the rocky notch are the ruins Kaunos, a city of ancient Caria and now in Anatolia, a few kilometres west of the modern town of Dalyan.
We land and walk ashore.
Our actual private boat - the captain ties it up and tells us to go explore the ruined city, take our time, he'll be here when we return.
It's about a twenty minute walk to the entrance.
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"Kaunos was an important sea port, dating back to the 10th century BC. Because of the formation of İztuzu Beach at the mouth of the river and the silting of the former Bay of Dalyan (from approx. 200 BC onwards), Kaunos is now located about 8 km from the coast. The city had two ports, the southern port at the southeast of Küçük Kale and the inner port at its northwest. The southern port was used from the foundation of the city till roughly the end of the Hellenistic era (30 B.C.), after which it became inaccessible due to its drying out. The inner or trade port could be closed by chains. The latter was used till the late days of Kaunos, but due to the silting of the delta and the ports, Kaunos had by then long lost its important function as a trade port. After the capture of Caria by Turkish tribes, and the serious malaria epidemic of the 15th century AD, Kaunos was completely abandoned. In 1966, Prof. Baki Öğün started the excavations of ancient Kaunos. "
 |  A helpful lizard guides us towards the amphitheater. |
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Since Kaunos' "rediscovery" in the 1960s, restorations slowly continue to the present day.
We look down onto the silted up bay and harbor.
 |  Astronomical observation platform... |
 | Not much left to take a bath with....  |
"Keep on Truckin'"...
Back on our boat, we continue downstream...
Below, we're the blue dot, headed to Turtle Beach (the white/green flag)...
The public water taxi - how the others travel...
On arrival at Turtle Beach, guess what, we see a sea turtle, being fed crab parts by the tourists.
 |  We're instructed to not lay down between the short poles and the white rope line - that's where the turtles could have laid their egg nests. |
I'm king of the river, the sultanate of turtledom, all hail to the river master, his Lord Highness Blue Shirt...
More water taxi serfs surf on by...bowing to Blue Shirt....
Princess Purple Shirt squelches a small chuckle about it all...
Just before returning to port, we're treated to even better views of the Lycian rock tombs...
Back in Dalyan, an awesome river tour comes to a close.
Now we head back on the road for a longish (about 120 miles) trek eastward to our lodging/fishing town.
About to pass through Marmaris along the way...
 |  Leaving Marmaris, we see some early scooter training....and then climb back up into the higher elevations above. |
 Mesudiye, a paradise of a place, and our lodging spot for a couple days... |  |
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There's not many choices of places to eat on this beach - pretty much just a handful of rustic hotel restaurants - luckily ours seems to have a good chef doing up our grub...
 |  ...along with a couple new "EFES" offerings we hadn't tried yet. |
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