This is part 4 of a 5-part series about my recent trip to Turkey. (Previously: the food of Turkey, Istanbul, and Ephesus/Pamukkale.)

Getting to Kaş was not easy.Three stifling bus rides and nearly 12 hours after we left Pamukkale, we found ourselves on the Turquoise Coast, in the quiet former fishing village of Kaş. But boy, was the view worth it.

I never would've put this part of Turkey on my itinerary, but I had friends rave about spending time there, and seeing my friend Camilla's pictures and account helped sealed the deal. And arriving there? Well, it felt like we'd won the lottery. We got in very late at night, and woke up the next morning, walked out of our hotel, and discovered that just about every corner had a view like this:

I've never been to coastal Italy or Greece, but I imagine the backdrops there aren't unlike the ones in Kaş: whitewashed buildings, cobalt blue waters, cobbled streets, and flowers so saturated they look like they've been put through a camera filter.

There's plenty to do in Kaş — kayak to the nearby sunken city of Kekova, explore the Blue Cave on the Greek island of Kastellorizo — but we mostly lazed around after being so tired from our intra-country travels. That's OK — it just gives us more of an excuse to come back.

We slept in every day, meandered downstairs, and enjoyed a long breakfast every day, surrounded by striped grey tabby cats who wanted a bit of our breakfast spread. And with egg yolks as vibrant and orange as the ones there, who could blame them?

It was incredibly hot. We drank lots of rosé while soaking in the waterfront breeze, and ate lots of simple meals, like balik ekmek (fish sandwiches) with cold bottles of Efes...

While drinking rosé near the water, we met a lovely woman named Fulya, who had gave up a fast-paced corporate life in Istanbul a few years before in favor of a slower, more peaceful life in Kaş. selling jewelry on the street in front of the restaurant. We talked about lots of things, including the state of the country today — and how the subject of whether Turkey belongs to Europe or Asia remains a heavily-debated topic, even among friends.

Camilla had recommended a restaurant that wound up being one of our favorites for dinner; we went there multiple times for the gracious service, raucous atmosphere, and consistently good food. After dinner, the same restaurant would fry up lokma, deep-fried balls of dough soaked in sugar water, so that when you bit into them, warm, honey-like syrup would come rushing out. Divine.