Marmaris Hotels
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Marmaris
Entry 18 of 37 | show all | print this entry |
I spent four nights in Istanbul, the longest I've spent anywhere on my trip so far. The city is divided by water into three parts: to the east of the Bosphorus is the Asian part; west of it is the European side, further divided by the Golden Horn into the old city to the south and Beyoglu, the most modern area, to the north. The old city is where Byzantium was founded, and it is the location of most of the famous features of Istanbul: Topkapi Palace, the Aya Sofia, and the Blue Mosque. My hostel was also there.
When I was in Istanbul, it was the last days of Ramazan ('Ramadan' in most countries). There was a festive atmosphere, with a number of Turks from out of town visiting the city, street performers, and a busy (after sunset) fair of street food outside the Blue Mosque. Over the several days I was there, I purchased a new camera, visited some of the most well-known sights, and took a ferry north up the Bosphorus to the edge of the Black Sea for a day trip. The museum in Topkapi Palace had some rather remarkable items: countless pieces of jewelry with enormous diamonds, rubies, and emeralds (more than I would have thought existed in the entire world), Mohammed's very own sword and sandals, and John the Baptist's armored skull and forearm!
On Sunday I took an overnight bus to Selcuk, a small town about halfway down the Aegean coast but slightly inland. My one day there happened to be Bayram (Eid al-Fitr), one of the two biggest Islamic holidays of the year. A lot of shops were closed, and there were many people out in good clothes. Hands were kissed in greeting, and boys ran around firing cap guns. Other than these things, there wasn't much evidence that it was such a major holiday -- no public decorations, music, etc. Perhaps it is due to the secular nature of Turkish public life, or maybe it's just the traditional nature of the holiday.
Selcuk is adjacent to Ephesus, considered the greatest classical ruin site in the eastern Mediterranean. It really was spectacular, with the two most impressive features being the mostly-intact facade of the Library of Celsus and the Great Theater, by far the largest and most well-preserved ancient theater I've seen. It seats some 25,000 and is still occassionally used for big-name concerts. In between Ephesus and Selcuk lie the remains of the second stop on my tour of the Seven Ancient Wonders: The Temple of Artemis. All that's left are some scattered chunks of marble, and one massive column (reconstructed). All of these places are within walking distance of one another.
After one night in Selcuk I took a bus a little further down the coast to Bodrum, which I expected to resemble Selcuk. It did not! Selcuk is a scruffy little place with a decent number of pensions and hotels, but not what you would call tourism-oriented overall; Bodrum is a fully-developed seaside tourist resort. Miles of shoreline are lit up by an unbroken stream of touristy restaurants, nightclubs, and hotels. Two round bays are separated by a narrow peninsula capped by the Castle of St. Peter, built in the 15th century by the Knights Hospitaller.
The night I arrived, the young server at the restaurant where I ate dinner practiced reading English with the books I had with me. The next day (today), I visited what was left of the third Wonder, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. It was probably the most fun one so far. There was actually something left of the foundation of it, and there was a spooky underground passageway to a pre-Mausoleum tomb. I also had the whole place to myself for most of the time. After that I walked along the shore, which had a broad palm-lined path, and endless polished-wood sailboats anchored alongside. Due to the annual migrations of the tourist hordes, there were restaurants that had vegetable 'curry'. Even though it was curry sauce in the yellow, British, chip shop sense only, it was still a nice treat.
After less than 24 hours in Bodrum, I hopped on another 3-hour bus to Marmaris, near where the Turkish coast makes a sharp turn to the east. It's a town similar in character to Bodrum, although not as beautiful. My hostel is located right inside the covered bazaar, which is much more like an American mall than a traditional covered bazaar. Tomorrow I'm taking a ferry day-trip back to Greece -- to the isle of Rhodes, where the Colossus (Wonder #4) once stood.
Incidentally, Marmaris was where a tourist-targeted bombing was done by radical Kurdish separatists two months ago. I just looked it up and it appears that only hours ago the police arrested (elsewhere in Turkey) the person suspected to have been behind it. Good news! No one should worry about me here, though -- nowhere is 100% safe, and this place is as safe as any.
I have a few photos from Turkey up, but they are few since uploading is so slow -- not the highlights, but just a sample of a sample. I've slightly modified the album names, so I will update this blog's link to the root album. And here it is as well:
http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n293/finrod3791/2006-atw/
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