poundster.com

Days 32-33: Needing a “time out” to relax (our dear readers will know only too well how much this trip has been taking its inevitable toll on us), we headed for the beach and found ourselves at Patara, about an hour west from Kas.

Accepting a lift from our friend at the hotel, Hussain, we approached the beach from a headland about a kilometre west of the main beachy area.

Damn, that sand was hot! This should have come as no surprise to us, as the mercury has been rising ever since we made it to Turkey, but even so the heat (and the sole-burning potential) of the dark yellow sand was unexpectedly painful.

I joined in a local beach volleyball game while Kate glamourously drank the ubiquitous local Efes beer from a stubby.

Patara village itself seems to have seen better days, previously supporting far more tourists than currently visit due to economic conditions, travel warnings and the rise of all-inclusive package tourism.

For a beach village devoted to tourism, we saw little of it - a mere handful of local restaurtants and gozleme purveyors who still dircted themselves towards foreigners.