First of all, sorry for this late blog post, we know a lot of you are interested and excited to catch up with what we have been doing. You probably have been checking every day since sunday to see if its been updated yet. Again we are truly sorry, but in our defense we have been very very very busy traveling, sleeping and etc. On sunday we went to see the eternal flame of Olympos, and on monday we tok the night bus from Antalya to Cappadocia. Therefore tuesday was spent sleeping, and pure old perfectionism (laziness) tok care of the rest. Second, you are probably wondering why this weeks post is in english, or why you don’t understand a word of what you just read. Unfortunately if you don’t understand i can’t do anything but recommend that you take a class in international english, or use google translate (yes i do realize the inconvenience if you don’t understand this either). Anyway the reason i´m writing it in english is so that my family members in Scotland might read and hopefully appreciate what we have been doing this past week, as much as we have. So with that in mind i would just like to say hello to my Gran and Mum, love you much XOXO.
Monday
After breakfast at 07:30 we went straight down to the PADI diving center. It was time for our first confined water dive. Before our dive we had a quick briefing in the different hand sines we would be using underwater. After we put our scuba gear together (connecting our regulator and BCD to our scuba tank) we could finally dive in. Since this was our first dive, and none of us had any experience, our total depth was only five meters. Manly this dive was practicing basic underwater skills like, reaching for you regulator or taking your mask off then putting it back on again to so clear it of water. We ate lunch at the diving instructors favorite restaurant, then at 14:00 it was back out to continue our diving. We kept on practicing our basic skills, it did get quite cold and boring after a while, but just the unnatural and (at first) uncomfortable feeling of breathing underwater kept us intrigued and excited. After our dives it was back to the PADI diving center for an educational video, then we went through our homework and ended with a quick quiz. 
Dinner (at 20:00) was eaten above a 3000 years old cistern, just wanted to throw that in here.
Tuesday
Same as monday, we got up at 07:30, went diving, ate lunch, then after another dive went back to the PADI dive center for more educational films and quizzes. But this time, instead of eating dinner after we finished our quizzes we where giving a piece of paper with Exam written on it. All of us tok our exam (with our memory filled with important facts, like for instance did you know that scuba is spelled S C U B A? Or that fish NEVER hold their breath). With great joy i can inform you that we all passed our exams, well all of us who participated. And we can now impress you with fancy words like equalization, buoyancy and tell you how much pressure you would feel at a depth of 10-20 or even 100 meters.
Wednesday
Today we all where a bit excited for our test results. After we knew all of us had passed we all let out a synchronized sigh of relief. Mostly because we knew that we didn’t have to watch another «everlasting» educational video. We finished our course with one last confined water dive, and two open water dives. We are now certified divers, with a depth limit of 18 meters. In the evening it was time for celebration and relaxation.
Thursday
Today we had some free time before an optional dive at 15:00. Those of us which had not jumped of a cliff with a paraglider yet got a chance to do so today. Me, John, Oscar, Martin L, Haakon and Bendick where the «unlucky» ones in Fethyie and therefore couldn’t wait to throw ourself of the highest mountain i Kas. The others went to a climbing park where they zipped lined among other stuff. Our Teacher Tor-erik and Martin M went on a special free diving course. In this special course they learned techniques that could help them improve their capability of holding their breath whilst swimming underwater. Martin was able to hold his breath for an amazing time of 5 min! After our free time it was time for our last dive in the crystal clear waters of Kas. Had a great time diving and would recommend it to anyone who isn’t afraid of getting a bit wet. This was also our last night in Kas, so we had a nice meal at the hotel. We set up a balance rope over the pool, and then tried to walk over it, failing miserably we started to throw each other in. Only Øyvind was able to walk across unscathed. We finished the night with a quiz, my team (sparkejentene) won with 23 points, it was close though two teams came in tied second with 22 points.
Friday
Today it was time to pack our bags and leave the beautiful village of Kas. Kas was the last place that we would be staying that lay by the ocean. After breakfast we packed our bags and got on the bus that would take us to Olympos. Before we arrived we stopped at a restaurant (Ulupinar) famous for it´s goat dish. Next stop was our hotel, or more precise our wooden tree huts. We were grouped in pairs and each of the groups got their own hut. To get to the huts we had to walk through a maze of orange trees (trees with oranges growing on them, not actual orange trees), chickens, geese and even goats and sheep, not to mention the numerous identical huts. This marked a new stage in our stay in Turkey, Tor-Erik said, the relaxing part of our holiday was now over and it was now time to get in shape for the climbing and down hill biking yet to come. He ordered us out on a jog followed up with a quick strength interval. With the sun burning at our necks, and the average temperature at about 150 degrees we pushed ourselves through the hardships and ended up as 18 puddles of steaming sweat. In the evening former student and assistant joined us to be our local handyman. He was flown in from Songdal and is going to stay with us for the rest of the trip. Having been climbing for the past two years, Åsmund came down to help us with technical difficulties such as setting up ropes and keeping an eye on the belayers.
Saturday
Today we really had to get up early and be ready to climb at approximately 07:30. It was a local festival going on and the small village was packed with Frenchmen, Americans, British and Australians, there where even some Danish. Anyway it was just as well we got to the climb site as early as we did, because only half an hour after we started climbing was the area packed with people eager to steal our spots. Having five different routes to climb meant that we could pick and chose after our abilities. All of these routes where one of the following difficulties 5 a-b-c, if that doesn´t tell you anything don’t fret cause i’m not quite sure either and i have been climbing them. The only thing i can tell you with good confidence is that a 6a route is distinctively harder than a 5a (and scarier). Dinner was served at the hotel. Many of us went early to bed but, with the local festival bussing, music was played until about 03:00 in the morning (at least!). This combined with a chilling temperature of 15 degrees made for a poor nights sleep.
Sunday
Most of us tired and distraught by the lack of sleep got up as eager as before to start the climbing before all the other tourists got up. It had also blown up a storm in the night and it was very windy indeed. Tying yourself in to a rope then climbing up knowing that the only thing securing you from certain death just moments ago almost got carried away by the wind is quite unsettling. Some of us had gotten a pit «loose» in our stomachs after the goat dish we where served at Ulupinar. This made for some hasty trips back to the bathroom in-between climbs. The routes today where a lot of the same ones as before, but after some short trips up and down, it was decided to put up some more challenging routes. We all got a feel for how it was like to actually rock climb outside. No cushiony pillows to take a fall, or easy marked hand holes to grab on to, just us, our rope, and the mountain side. After dinner our guide (Faruk) recommended that we go and see the eternal flame that was burning out of the mountain called Chimera. This flame, Faruk told us, was rumored to be the original olympic flame of ancient Greece. With our bags packed with marshmallows, the flame at our feet and the stars shining above our heads we could enjoy a very fine evening here in Turkey.
Den hærr bloggpåostn vart skreven av han Rooney(Ross) å John the viking. Mye tækniske problemæ førsinkæ publinseringæ, di tækninske probleman rammæ bildæ å tekst osv. Høre ryktæ om at dæ bi redigert ein hæfti videoblogg me masse sykkling t næste blogg så stay tuned!
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