We had a great excursion in our own private mini bus on Saturday, visiting a bird sanctuary, a castle, a Roman City and the caves of Heaven and Hell.

First stop, the bird less sanctuary (wrong season for birds apparently) however we were entertained by local fishermen arriving through the reeds with their catch of blue claw crabs.

At our next stop we were given a guided tour of the castle, currently being restored, with great views over the city.

On to The Roman city complete with Temple of Zeus, entrance archways and amphitheatre.

A Mosque tower had been built within the ruins, a strange contrast to the Roman pillars.

Below right, rally leader Lo and his crew Mustafa posing as instructed !

…and Mark posing naturally !

At the Amphitheatre Lica tested the acoustics, treating us to a New Zealand song.

Final stop, the caves, where we had a lovely lunch of homemade wraps, meat cooked in tomatoes, onions and peppers and a salad, Fajitas Turkish style !

To work off the lunch we climbed down into the caves, first stop Hell.

Great rock formations but a little unsettling when the lights failed and plunged us into complete darkness.

Next stop Heaven, 444 steps down into a large canyon and on down into the cave where you can hear the fires of Hell next door( water rushing through the rocks)

Only 7 of us took the challenge and it was a hot climb back to the top.