Oludeniz
Trip Start
Feb 05, 2008
1
50
70
Trip End
Ongoing
Oludeniz,
Turkish Aegean Coast,
Turkey
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Turkey. Indeed the photographs give one the impression of a beautiful
Caribbean-like white sandy beach. Disappointingly it's a gravel/sandy
beach. Nice water but...
The beach wasn't the only thing that disappointed here. The place
is basically a tourist resort built entirely for plump working class
Brits who I guess want to get some sun and otherwise can't afford
Spain, although this was far from bargain pricing.
Fortunately the guy who was among the first to get anything going
back in the day, OBA Motel, still has some bungalows available.
Otherwise, the only other budget option was the Sugar Beach Club and
let's just say the guide book reviews are flattering. We got two
bungalows suitable for three people in each for 65 lira a night
including...you guessed it, a turkish breakfast. This is where the
Juanita drama continued to unfold. She just kinda tagged along. None
of us were inclined to ask her to piss off. Jake and Josh were
together, Jackie and Sean were together. There was no way in hell
I... Jake and Josh didn't want her in there room either. Sean and
Jackie being from Vancouver and laid back I guess, kindly volunteered
to take Juanita as a roommate and we took the last two bungalows.
Things were pretty calm until dinner.
We found a place called Phillip's not too far from the Motel where
the prices were reasonable, the staff was friendly and the food looked
good.
Our bungalow at OBA in Oludenez
This evening I was wearing a shirt I purchased in Vietnam, navyblue with the national yellow star on the front. I guess it looks like
some kind of football jersey from somewhere around eastern Turkey, not
far from the area where the PKK are located. The very friendly waiter
with an excellent command of the english language in an attempt to make
light conversation, made the observation. Oh-oh. Miss confrontation
determined quickly that this fellow was Kirdish. He made it quite
clear he loves his country, smiling the whole time. She responded with
something along the lines of 'obviously you don't value your
independence'. Yikes. The five of us made it clear through a
collective groan that we weren't comfortable with her remark. Keep in
mind, at this point in time, some germans had been kidnapped presumably
by the PKK while hiking in eastern Turkey and shootings at the US
embassy in Istanbul had taken the lives of four guards. Uhhh, maybe
this stuff is just a little sensitive. Our server tried to sidestep
the thing. And early in her 'discussion' she identified us as her
friends. Ummm, no.
Anyway, after dinner, she returned from the washroom and having not
let it go, proceeded to press him on the issues while standing near the
entrance to the restaurant. She was causing a scene. Surely potential
customers continued on. We were embarrassed. As I paid, I apologized
to the older fellow at the bar and tried to explain that she wasn't
really with us 'if you know what I mean', and he said, 'No, what do you
mean?' Ouch. The others apologized as well. The entire restaurant
staff was visibly upset with us. It was a mess. When we left, Jake
and I wanted to go for a walk to debrief. Oblivious, Juanita asked if
she could join us! Jake quickly said, 'Uh we're going to try and meet
some women actually'. Now that was funny. Jake and I enjoyed a wander
through town passing by bad karaoke bars full of sunburnt Brits
drinking seriously overpriced cocktails. Back at the OBA Josh had a
long chat with Jaunita.
Juanita left first thing the next morning before any of us were
up. Jake and I went back with some trepidation to Phillip's for
breakfast. Our waiter from the previous evening was there with his
trademark big smile. He quizzed us on how we knew her. We told him
the story and he explained she's not Turkish/Iranian, she's Armenian.
(As I write, I learned there was a terrorist bombing in Istanbul and
the PKK is suspected as responsible.)
As for Oludeniz, we'd all had our fill of lousy night life, the
crappy beach, overpriced shitty food and signs offering a real 'English
Breakfast' for 10 lira or more (!). Jackie, Sean and I moved on to
Fethiye, only a half hour up the road by bus and Josh and Jake went to
Dalte
