Day 43 to 44 - Marmaris

Our ferry to Greece (Rhodes Island) departs from Marmaris on the 19th of May at 5:30pm. Its roughly two hours away from Bodrum, and so we decided to make a day and night out of Marmaris, especially considering we had to head that way anyway. Our bus trip was great - except for realising, when on the bus already, that we left our Granny Goose travel pillows behind in our Bodrum hotel room. They were amazing, and I was deeply saddened that the one thing that made traveling so easy, was now gone. On well, Bruce's shoulder will have to do.

We arrived in Marmaris and headed towards our hotel, a bit sceptic. There were only two reviews for the hotel, it was so cheap for what it was and it got a whopping 10 out of 10? We started wondering if the hotel even existed, while dragging our 20kg backpacks along the promenade of beautiful Marmaris. To our amazement, a beautiful white and new looking hotel was perfectly located on the beach - with the name "Beach Front Hotel" written all over it. We checked in and they tightened white armbands to our wrists, which immediately entitled us to any food or drink item from the bar or restaurant. Yes, believe it - R200 pp for a beautiful sea facing room and ALL-INCLUSIVE! That includes beer, wine, and copious amounts of delicious food.

We lay on the beach on a lounger with drinks in our hand, we swam when it got too hot, and we did a bit of research on Rhodes Island. There was even wifi on the beach, as well as a lovely Turkish man who kept bringing us more drinks before we had even finished our last ones. This was paradise, and for the first time and most probably the only time on this trip - we felt so content not looking at the menu before ordering for more food or drinks. For the first time, we felt less like South Africans in Europe - and more like a British couple with pounds in our pocket.

Okay there is one downfall, if you stay for more than a week - be prepared for heavy cardio session upon your arrival back home. We were only there for one night, and our clothes felt tighter. But how do you possibly say no?

Without this sounding too much like a commercial for The Beach Front Hotel, if you are planning to go to Turkey - then definitely consider this one. We said our goodbyes the next day, and then walked with our bags for about 4km's in the afternoon heat (to save R50), to our Rhodes Island Ferry port.

Before we knew it, we were back in the Shengen Zone after a 1 hour ferry ride and holding up the whole line when throwing a dummy and pulling out South African passports at Passport Control. Its amazing, as soon as you flash your green mamba the man behind the desk and glass window always looks at you like you are playing some sort of joke on him. Like we're about to shout surprise, pull off our masks and show him the camera's! Oh well, they manage to always eventually work and we got a fat GREECE stamp to welcome us in. Secretly inside, we both knew that the count to our 90 day limit in the Shengen Zone had begun again.

Goodbye Turkey. We'll most definitely be back again one day!

Day 40 to 43 - Bodrum

Arriving in Bodrum:

We decided to go spend a few days in Bodrum, as we heard that its one of the most beautiful parts of Turkey. Our shuttle driver only picked us up at 11:20 and our bus was leaving at 11:30. I wish we had taken a video of our experience in this shuttle. He hooted aggressively, pushed everyone off the road and put his foot flat on the accelerator. This would probably look discrete in JHB traffic, but in Turkey, people drive 40km's/h. When we got to our bus, which was impatiently waiting for us - we screeched up to it, and we both flew out in a rush to get on. I ran straight on, and Bruce and the Shuttle Driver started putting our bags in the boot. But when i got on, the bus driver assumed it was just me and he started going. Leaving Bruce behind!

Eventually we were both on after shouting to stop the bus. The journey is supposed to take 2.5 hours, but it ended up taking 4 hours. The driver insisted on so many break stops. We arrived in Bodrum at around 4pm, and had to catch a Green Minibus that went directly to GUMBET! We arrived at our hotel "Can Hotel" shortly afterwards, and checked in. R600 for 3 nights, for both of us - including breakfast. It's most probably cheap because its in the bar and club street.

We immediately walked down the street, which led us to a beautiful long stretch of beach with different coloured lounges and umbrella's. If you eat at a restaurant, then you are allowed to make use of their lounges on the beach. We had lunch and played cards looking over Bodrum paradise.

That evening we walked back up the bar street to our hotel, and couldn't believe how busy it was. There are about 50 nightclubs - all three stories with fireworks, lighting, and loud music. It was one huge street party and it supposedly happens every single night of the week. Even on a Sunday. In high season, the bars and nightclubs are in so much competition with each other, that the staff perform rehearsed dances to get everyone's attention.

First full day in Bodrum:

We woke up and had breakfast around the pool. It was a beautiful day, so we decided that we were going to mission into Bodrum Centre and go explore the Castle. We came across so many markets, seafood restaurants, beautiful docked boats, and a backdrop of millions of white houses. My handbag broke so I needed to buy a new one. In Turkey, everything is "genuine fake" so if the bags are fake, they are still genuine leather. I therefore knew a new bag wouldn't be dirt cheap, but the most frustrating part is that you have to bargain. After finding a new bag, we went straight to the Bodrum Castle.

In summary, this castle was built by the knights of St John who came from Rhodes island. The castle is huge and is an adventure from the top of all it's towers, to the underground in the dungeon - where they held a man for a few years until he eventually escaped and took over the whole med sea becoming an infamous pirate!

After the Castle, we went to Bodrum Starbucks. This Starbucks most probably has the best location, than any other in the world. It is right on the sea front, looking over the whole of Bodrum. We eventually had Kebab Doners* for dinner and then made our way back to Gumbet on our green mamba minibus.

Second Full day in Bodrum:

Today we woke up exhausted as its very hard to sleep when fireworks are going off and your whole room is shaking from the music which plays until 6am in the morning. Even for us 'youngsters,' we found it difficult to handle. We had breakfast and then lay around the pool, even thinking of maybe going to have a sleep in the room. Thank goodness they wanted to make up the room, so we had no choice but to head out into town.

We walked down to the beach and lay on the loungers for a few hours, until the weather turned. We had English Breakfasts for lunch (we really miss our bacon and eggs), and then headed back to the hotel for a much needed afternoon nap.

For dinner we went to visit our friends at PAPA's and had their famous Chicken Pizza and Doner Kabab. We decided to have a walk down the party street and ended up having one cocktail. What was better than the Piña Colada, was the fact that I witnessed Bruce dancing with the staff - to Greece Lightening. Don't worry, I got it on video and I'll put it on the blog soon.

We got an early night as we had to get up bright and early to catch a bus to Marmaris.

* Kebab Doner - Chicken or Beef cut off the skewer, and then put into a wrap or panini, with salad.