Shopping for a camera is like searching for a gf
Trip Start
Apr 21, 2008
1
123
225
Trip End
Apr 20, 2009
Bodrum,
Turkish Aegean Coast,
Turkey
Thursday, August 21, 2008
When I arrived in Bodrum, I was a bit disappointed. I expected a small seas side town but it was actually a medium sized town packed with tourists. The main road was very busy with cars and buses coming from opposite directions. I knew this would be a 1 day or 2 day stay.
I found my hostel easily. It really was a shit hole. One of the dirtiest places I have stayed at on this trip. It was so poorly maintained and the young guys unning it seemed like such dickheads. I still grabbed a dorm bed only because it was cheap. Immediately after I checked in, I looked around for another place to stay (for tomorrow). But everything was so expensive. The cheapest I found was 35 liras a night and I was paying only 15 lira for my current room. So I decided to just suck it up and stay at my hostel.
Before making my way to the beach, I went camera shopping. While camera shopping, I had this strange feeling. I realized that the feeling you get when you break a camera you really like is similr to someone breaking up with you. It takes some time to get over. And the reaction I had to losing my camera was the same after ending a relationship - gotta find another one asap in order to forget the old one. I really wanted to get another camera as soon as possible so I could forget about breaking my other one. It was the best solution to the situation I found myself in. So shopping for my camera today did make me forget about my old camera - just like when you hit the singles scene and look around for someone interesting. It was pretty exciting to see what was available. I was looking forward to buying my rebound camera. I saw some disposable cameras but I couldnt sink that low. I wanted something decent. I knew it would be difficult to find something as good as my other camera but I knew I could find something that could satisfy my needs for this trip. I went into a few shops and checked out the features. I knew I didnt want an ugly camera but it didnt have to be flashy looking either. It needed to have a solid body as I was afraid a cheap one would break easily. Internal features were just as important too. It is definitely not only about the looks of the camera. It needed to meet my optical/digital zoom, mega pixel and video requirements. Anyhow, whatever camera I decide to choose, I will make sure I am more careful with it. I don't want to make the same mistake as the last time.
Unfortunately, I couldnt find anything decent. Some of the cameras required me to spend to much money and I didnt think they were worth it as most of the shops had old models. I compared the prices of the cameras I found here to those at home (using Best Buy,s web site) and everything was double. Some of the models we didnt even sell anymore back home. We definitely have better deals back home. I was desperate for a camera but I knew I could probably find a better one in Fethiye, my next destination, as it is a bigger town. I decided to not make any rash decisions and wait it out abit. I didnt want to commit to something I really didnt want.
By mid afternoon I made my way to the beach. I found a spot under a beach umbrella as I didnt want to be stung by the heat that never seems to end here in Turkey. One thing that surprised me was seeing a Turkish women come out of the water topless. This country is 98% Muslim and you just dont see that kind of thing here. I soon realized that this woman was actually a transexual. You could tell by the structure of her face, shoulders and upper legs. She sat right in front of me. Of course my string of bad luck was continuing in Turkey. God forbid it be an attractive woman.
At 6 pm I went back to my hostel. I was feeling a bit down and was already thinking about leaving Bodrum tomorrow. But everything changed as soon as I walked into my dorm room. There were 6 other people in my room and each of them talked to me within the first 30 minutes I was there. Everyone was fantastic. First I met Vikas from Bangalore. When I told him I was going to India on this trip, he started writing down all the places I had to visit in the North. When I told him I was reading Shataram, a true story about an Auusie who escapes from jail and makes a home for himself in India, he whipped out a T-Shirt from his backpack that had a Cafe Leopold sign on it. This cafe is one of the main locations mentioned in the book. Anyhow, we hit it off. I later met his travelling buddy, Rasheed, who I found to be very interesting as well. He helped answer all my questions about India and the Indian culture. Things got better when a super attractove girl came up to me while I was talking to Kikas and introduced herself. Her name was Emine and she was from Paris but had a Turkish and Algerian background. I was more than happy to talk with her for about 15 minutes. I then had short chats with Emile (from Belgium)and Zion (from Algeria). The last person I met was the funniest guy - Quong from Vietnam. He was studying Hotel Management in Switzerland and was in Turkey for a short holiday. The guy kept swearing while he was talking to me. I dont know why this was funny but I did. It was just the way the words 'F!&k' and 'Shit' sounded with his Vietnames accent. He would say 'Egypt. F!&kin sheap. So F!&kin cheap. Yeah.' Also, 'Geneva. Shit! So expensive. Too f!&kin expensive. Shit'. It was hilarious see him get excited whenever he answered one of my questions. Later on in the evening I heard him talking to someone and referred me as the '1 year guy'. I thought that was funny. After meeting everyone, I decided to stay one more day.
After showering, I met up with Vikas, Rasheed, Emil and Zion for drinks at the bar downstairs. I invited an American girl who I noticed was getting harrased by old Turkish men one at a time. I could see she didnt like the attention. We all chatted for about an hour. I later joined Kikas and Rasheed for dinner. They told me all about living in India and the culture around arranged maraiges. I should have asked them if they could arrange something for me.
After dinner, I ran into Emile, Emine and Zion. They were getting ready to go out. I was really tied but I decided to join them anyway. We first hit a Tequila bar and had our fair share of Tequilas. Zion wasnt a drinker though so he really wanted to leave so he could go dancing. So we eventually made him happy and took off to the harbour where all the bars and clubs could be found. Some of the clubs were just massive and extravagant looking. They would have looked more in place in Las Vegas than Bodrum. We ended up picking a small bar (to avoid the crazy cover charges of the night clubs) and just danced for the rest of the night. AT 4 am, I was the first to suggest heading back to the hostel. Everyone was game. On the way back I ate mussles stuffed with ride, a turkish snack you find everywhere over here.
So I will stay one more day here even though there is not much to do.
Dino Vagabond
