Turkey's Aegean Coast

After three wonderful, relaxing days in Selcuk with our Homeros family, we boarded the bus to Bodrum. We couldn't go to Turkey and not experience the coast. Our home for three nights was the Pension Gulec on a narrow side street about two blocks from the sea. We loved the area for its authentic Turkish feel. We ate our breakfasts in the garden of the pension and enjoyed homecooked meals from the restaurants in the neighbourhood. We spent one whole day exploring St. John's castle in the centre of town. It has an amazing display called "the Glass Wreck." It is the reconstruction of a merchant ship that was carrying glass products and recycled glass between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea that sunk about 1500 years ago and was recovered late in the 20th century after being found by sponge divers. It was well worth the extra 5 Turkish Lira it cost to view the display. The season has not started in Bodrum yet, but the anticipation is building and the preparations are underway.

Craig loved being back by the sea in the presence of so many boats and fishermen. As well as the ordinary fishing boats, Bodrum is known for its large, wooden sailing ships which must be worth millions. The marina is buzzing with activity as the ships are being made ready for their upcoming journeys.
We found Bodrum to be very touristic. The surrounding hillsides are covered with villas and new housing developments. The streets are filled with European holiday-makers. There are tons of opportunities for shopping and European hypermarkets (i.e. Metro and Kipa) are popping up all over the place. The bank machines even give you the option of choosing Euros, Pounds or Turkish Lira. An added complication to our lives...our camera finally died. The zoom lens hasn't worked since Australia, but we were hoping it would hang on until the end of our trip. What to do now? We asked at our hotel and Mehmet suggested one place. We knew it would cost us more than at home, but we needed to shop around. Lynda posted our dilemma on Trip Advisor's Bodrum forum and within hours we had the name of four other places to visit. We ended up going back to the first place Mehmet suggested, but at least we had an opportunity to shop around. At that point, we were happy to be in a such a touristic place. We don't know what we would have done if we had been on a tiny, Greek island.
Traveling is a process of exploration and discovery. We are glad we went to Bodrum, but three nights was enough for us. On Sunday morning, we returned to the otogar and hopped on a bus going to Kusadasi, another coastal town. Our original idea had been to take the ferry from Bodrum to Kos and begin our journey through the Greek islands from there, but we abandoned that plan after a little bit of research. Getting to Kos wasn't a problem (providing the weather cooperated), but getting off of Kos and onto the islands we wanted to see was going to be challenging. So we headed to Kusadasi where we could get a ferry to Samos. Once we were on Samos, we would have easy access to Naxos, Santorini and Crete.
We were picked up in Kusadasi by Sezgin, the owner of Sezgin's Hotel and Pension. It is favoured by the Lonely Planet guide book and with good reason. The rooms are large, the showers actually have shower doors and the beds are...oh so comfortable. Lynda could have slept there for a week. Kusadasi is synonymous with cruise ships which also means holiday-makers, but the atmosphere is very different than Bodrum. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the boardwalk was full of people so we meandered along with everyone else.

In Turkey, we had finally reached the point where we felt comfortable enough to talk to shop owners without feeling the pressure to make a purchase. Or so we thought! On our way back to the hotel, Craig began talking with a shop owner (of leather products) who invited us to have some cay with him. We sat for a while and had a very pleasant conversation. Just as we were getting ready to depart, Craig made the mistake of asking him about his leather jackets. The next thing you know, Lynda (how did that happen?) is trying on these beautiful, lamb skin jackets and absolutely loving them. After an hour of indecision and negotiations (it was a phenomenal deal), we walked out of the store without the jacket. "Why?" you ask. Ultimately, Lynda did not want to carry one more thing in her backpack. It's as simple as that. We had a delicious, barbequed fish dinner at Sezgin's that night with mussels for a starter, accompanied by bread, Greek salad, and rice pilaf. Our tablemates were three Canadian girls from the Vancouver area. One of them is currently teaching in Kuwait, one is a student in Istanbul and the other one is on holidays. It was a very pleasant evening and we enjoyed connecting with people from back home.

The next morning we were up early and off to the port to get the ferry to Samos. We have had such an amazing time in Turkey and we are sad to be leaving, especially because it has taken us so long to learn some key Turkish words and now we are going to be starting from scratch with Greek.
"Cheers" everyone, or for our Turkish friends "Serafe," and when we figure out the Greek word, we'll let you know.

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