We recently tried out one of the new excursions offered by Amanruya, Aman’s newest hotel on the Bodrum peninsula. In true Aman style, we headed not to Ephesus as that would be too obvious and crowded an ancient site. Instead, we went to Labranda in the hills high above Bodrum, where there is a temple dedicated to Zeus built in the 5th century BC with huge columns, Roman baths and sarcophagi and hardly any visitors.

We were able to clamber over rocks and perch on enormous boulders, looking out across the vast landscape to mountains and the sea. The only other people there were the local family with their goats and geese, who looked after the site. Aman laid up our picnic table with white napkins, cutlery, glasses and opened a drinks cabinet, from which a wide variety of cool drinks were magically produced. We sipped cold rose and ate lunch provided by the local family. It was delicious – home made bread, salads, a tasty aubergine dish and filo pastry pie.