Let's Talk Turkey, Part 2

Olundeniz-Fethiye-Bodrum

We left early because we knew it would be a long ride to Bodrum, but neither of us could have imagined such a blunderous bus journey. In all fairness, I must say that the Turkish bus system is one of the best I’ve ever seen. It blows the American Greyhound out of the water and makes the Italians look like fools, but this bus trip was so outrageously muddled that I couldn’t stop shaking my head and laughing. We left on time, but as we drove away from the bus station I noticed that the roads were becoming more and more rugged. After a few complicated turns in what looked like a neighborhood, or bus driver took a sharp turn too quickly and slammed into a parked car. Everyone got out of the bus to watch the driver haggle with the car owner, while another employee handed out water to the passengers. About an hour later, they had paid the man off without having to report it to the police and we were on our way again. In addition to the regular stops to pick up people at random street corners or in the middle of a field, we had to stop at a body shop to change a tire and pull over on the side of the road to put more oil in the bus. I’ve never seen a company forget to maintain the bus before taking a trip. At the body shop, all the passengers filed out and were served tea (cay) while watching 4 men and a little boy service a bus. Once again, we were off and really ready to get there. This is when were stopped by the Turkish army 11 kilometers from Bodrum. An armed guard boarded the bus and took everyone’s identification papers and left the bus. It was so odd that we were stopped when so many other cars were aloud to go on. Another 30 minutes later, we were finally on our way to the town.

Exhausted and thrilled to be there, we began navigating our way to our pension, when were approached by Murat. He insisted that we stay at his hotel and gave us a ride and a much cheaper price, so we agreed and lugged our backpacks through the bustling market to his car. The market had a Turkish women wearing their headscarves and sitting on carpets selling apricots, pomegranates, figs, and watermelon. Another lady sold veggies, while the stand across from her had cages filled with ducklings, chirping chicks, sleepy rabbits and chickens crawling all over each other. While admiring this little world under the canvas covering, I lost sight of Murat and Mike and had to jog across the street behind them.

We dropped our bags and had a quick bite to eat before settling in for a nap. That night, we explored the bay of Bodrum. The city is on a port, chock full of wooden Turkish yachts which line the two bays and leave trails of lights on the water. Overlooking the bay, we ate shrimp in chile sauce and a tender octopus casserole on the terrace of a local seafood restaurant. The walk home was almost more crowded than the walk to dinner, as people were starting to head out to the bars and clubs.

It was supposed to be over 115 degrees the next day, so we tried to stay indoors as much as possible. We visited the Castle of St Peter and the Museum of Underwater Archeology, which is inside of the castle. It was really beautiful and featured harbor views of Bodrum and its yachts. My favorite was the English Tower, a tower with barred windows and stones etched with Old English lettering. It was the kind of room you imagine when you think of King Arthur: it had a huge table for feasting, walls covered in armor and animal heads, and the knights’ coats of arms on display. The Underwater Museum was also quite remarkable, featuring the largest ancient collection retrieved from underwater excavation. It was mainly ceramic pottery used to transport olive oil and wine throughout the Roman Empire. They also had small glass objects lit from underneath and a reconstructed stern of a transport boat in an old chapel.

Exploring the castle didn’t take too long, so we went to find wireless Internet connection and spent the rest of the day chilling out away from the heat until it was time to go to the Hamam. A car from Cleopatra’s picked us up at the hotel and brought us to the spa, where we were systematically put into the sauna, steam room and then massage room. We were exfoliated and bathed with a foam massage as well, topping it all off with a relaxing oil massage. I was in a daze as we were driven home.

That night, Mike and I ate at a restaurant where you buy your fish from the market next door and they prepare it for you. It was covered with stray cats and kittens who anxiously awaited the bones from your dinner or a small piece of fish.

Bodrum

I woke myself up really early, grabbed breakfast and then took a cab to the port to go diving with the Bodrum Snorkle and Dive center. The boat was packed with high maintenance French people, but I managed to find a spot next to a Norwegian couple who were very interesting and kind to me. Thomas and Sula had been diving all over the world together and ended up being in my dive group with a master named Jim. The reef was like a giant mountain that we swam around, seeing a school of barracuda, star fish, parrot fish, tiny bright blue fish and sponges. I hugged one of the black sponges! Though I had some trouble with my buoyancy, I had a really fun first dive.

We got out of the water and chatted until we came to the second site, where we had lunch. I went swimming and hung out with the French-speaking Turkish guy who was stuck dealing with the French customers who he was forever having to explain things to. Our second dive was a little bit strange. I couldn’t control my buoyancy because they gave me too much weight and then I ran out of air. I had to buddy breath with Ozgur, the dive leader, until he sent me up to the surface. When the Norwegians came back, we had ice cream and hung out for the rest of the day. I walked back to our hotel and took a nap.

Mike wasn’t around when I woke up, so I went for a jacket potato at my favorite sandwich shop. Then I ran into Mike and we went to the Italian café to use the internet, planned our move to Selcuk, and packed our stuff up.

Bodrum-Selcuk

The ride to Selcuk was wonderful because we took my favorite bus company, Kamil Koc. We arrived in Selcuk and found our hostel, Jimmy’s place. We were given a deluxe room with separate beds and a huge, clean bathroom for the price of a double. Jimmy instantly took a liking to us and brought us across the street to have doner kebab and ayran, the typical Turkish yogurt drink. After lunch, we went to a tea house and watched the old men play rummy cube. Jimmy bought us figs from a young boy in the tea house.

Turns out, Jimmy sells Turkish carpets from his hotel and he brought us into his shop to teach us about the history of Turkish carpets. After 2 hours of Turkish coffee and learning about the art form of carpet weaving, Mike and I were both sold on buying carpets from Jimmy. I bought 2 kilims, embroidered carpets made of silk on cotton. They were made by nomadic Turksih women from the Noah’s Arch region of Turkey, each of which tell a story about her family and her feelings.

We had barbeque with Jimmy, then Turkish coffee, then pistachios, then a bottle of wine. Jimmy’s brother, Capatian G, was parading around with his beautiful, new daughter, Hessia, or shooting the stray cats with water guns. I loved staying at Jimmy’s because the vibe there was so familiar and relaxed. I felt like these people had known me forever.
Jimmy brought me up on the roof, where we drank another bottle of wine and looked at the castle and the stars.

Ephesus- Selcuk- Istanbul

The bus arrived to take us to Ephesus right as I was finishing my tea. Our tour guide brought us to the city gates and then around the best preserved Roman city in the world. We saw the government centers and ancient board games carved into marble, the remnants of huge fountains and brothels, ancient communal toilets, and the amphitheater. I was most impressed by the city’s towering library, the front of which has great, carved Corinthian columns and statues of scholars that are surprisingly well preserved. The city was remarkable, despite the fact that only 20 percent of Ephesus has been excavated. As we left the city, local actors were reenacting a Roman show for the tourists from the cruise lines.

From there, we were brought to the site of the Temple of Artemis where only one column survives from what was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. We then saw a fashion show at a local leather wholesaler and a demonstration in ceramic pots at another showroom. We also visited the Selcuk museum, which housed a lot of artifacts from Ephesus. Seeing the museum made the fountains and buildings come to life more, as it held a lot of their statues. When the day came to an end, Mike and I returned to Jimmy's to hang out until it was time for our overnight bus depart for Istanbul.