Another Turkish port which research tells us does not have a lot for us to be interested in.
Like Kusadasi yesterday, Bodrum is for shoppers. Except, unlike Kusadas, the atmosphere is much more relaxed. You felt that you could go into a shop, look at stuff and not be mobbed quite so ferociously.
Another thing about Bodrum is the boats. Ken Lennox, a keen sailor, has told us that Bodrum is one of the key places for wooden boat building. Apparently they are called gulets, they can be made of steel or wood, they are everywhere in the bay, big, small, fun, or sleek, and they are beautfiul. Most of those in the bay are for tourists, taking passengers out for a few hours or a few days.
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| I couldn't resist these, they are the sterns of a couple of tourist gulets. |
And finally there is a fort. It isn't described as a fort per se, the call it an underwater archeological museum. The fort was built by the Knights of St John - who were constantly upgrading and improving it for 100 plus years before the Ottoman empire took it in the 1520's. As you go around, you see constant reminders of this in the form of shields and emblems carved into the stonework throughout the castle. I heard someone mention there are summat like 250 to them.
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| Veiw through the fort wall, the bay is full of these gulets. |
As I said before, the fort is now used as museum to display the items from in shipwrecks found in the Aegean Sea. One display shows a life size model of a ship from 1077 AD, and how it would have looked when it sank. We were quite impressed by it.
We were also quite impressed by the Carian princess display. They found a complete sarcophagus, undisturbed. The display shows a reconstruction of how the woman buried there would have looked, her treasures, and her bones. (Peter got that picture). They're pretty sure they know who she is - (a historic queen), but they can't prove it.
Looking out from the castle walls gave some brilliant views of the bay too,
Up and up through the twists and turns of the castle, we headed for the highest tower. The place was like a maze, and it took a lot longer to explore than we imagined. By the time we'd finished, and started heading for the exit, we were worn out. Any plans to head for the ampitheatre up the hill were quashed, and we took a slow stroll back to the ship.
The easier atmosphere of the shops made us consider buying Peter a couple of new shirts. This part of Turkiye is known for it's "genuine fakes". Labels such as Dior, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, Lacoste and so many others surrounded us. Turns out that genuine fakes are not as cheap as Primark. €35 a shirt was a little more than we planned, especially as Peter couldn't get a black one. The salesmen was dead cool about us walking out with nothing though.
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| These brightly coloured shapes are actually wind and solar powered lamps - used for the restaurant tables next to the bay. |
As we got to the marina near by, Peter decided it would be an excellent place to do a little bit of painting, and quickly produced two brilliant drawings of the boats in the marina. I also decided I wanted to buy some turkish delight, so we walked to town and back, again.
Finally back on the ship, it was good to relax in the cool air conditioned Living Room on Deck 5. (Ideal place for a cool beer or a coffee, with excellent chocolate chip cookies available too).
Tomorrow is a sea day which will be a bit of rest as far as I'm concerned.
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| A rather beautiful white peacock. There were two of these in the fort. Lovely. |
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