Sept. 20 - Driving and Arriving
We were warmly welcomed by Habib and Fatima, the caretakers and shown to the guest house. But before I describe how lovely everything here is.........I must describe, hell no, just show the view from our terrace (and bed)!
A quick stroll through Akyaka and we were five Turkish towels richer (read, more to pack into that one suitcase) and on our way to stop number one, Marmaris. We knew this was a very popular beach resort but were still surprised when we parked and saw kilometers of sand, packed cheek to jowl with sunbeds and umbrellas.
Alongside there was a wide paved walkway for people and bikes and scooters. On the other side of the walk were hotels and restaurants, one after the other, a bit like what you might imagine as a Turkish Wildwood or Miami. Some were very modern and hip looking, others a bit tired but all were working the crowd with tempting two for one cocktails before lunch. Each restaurant seemed to 'own' the beach directly across and provided free sunbeds, umbrellas, wifi and outdoor showers as long as you sat and drank and ate, pretty good deal!
We stopped at the brand new 'Beachfront Hotel', yes that is the actual name, for a drink and I could not resist inquiring about the rooms. For 220 Turkish lira ($110), you get a room and meals and u limited drinks for two people, right on the beach.....and they serve seven meals a day, starting with breakfast and ending from11:30 to midnight with a soup buffet!
By 2:30 we were on our way to Sogut, a small seaside town on the Bozburun peninsula. The drive was easy on windy roads weaving in and out of the coastal coves. 
Our directions were perfect and after passing through the small village and one roadside donkey, we found the 'villa with the big Turkish flag' and rang the intercom.
Steve and I cannot believe how lucky we are to be nestled into this magnificent home for a week of sun and swimming. A Turkish breakfast everyday, a luxurious bathroom, a spacious bedroom with an entire room of closets and drawers but most spectacular a terrace to sit and read and take in the view whenever we wish.
And finally, in our very last week of travel, we have finally arrived somewhere there is no English and had our first experience piecing together English, an iPad translator program and hand gestures.....and we still screwed up royally! Before we arrived, we were told that Fatima would prepare us a Turkish breakfast each day and if we wanted, we could tell her what to get and she would be glad to cook a dinner meal as well.
After the pantomiming for locks, and A/C and TV controls along with a point it lesson on when to remove our shoes and which slippers to don for the interior hall and then in the apartment and separate ones for our terrace, we tried to have a 'discussion' about meals. At first, I thought Fatima was telling me she prepared a meal for us and what time would be good. I said 6pm, as we had skipped lunch and 8:00 for breakfast tomorrow, or so I thought. She looked confused, so I typed 18:00, thinking that was the problem. Still confused, we typed back and forth and finally we agreed on 6:00 downstairs on the terrace. Promptly at 6, Steve and I went down, carrying our shoes until we were outside but the terrace table was not set. We waited, but not wanting to be rude, and figuring we misunderstood, we decided to head out for dinner. Of course, at that point we also figured we had told Fatima to have our breakfast at 6A.M. So when we knocked on Habib's door to find out how to open the electric gate, Steve clearly communicated breakfast at 8 A.M.
Off to dinner we went, down the hill trying to remember all the twists and turns for when we had to return in the dark. Down at the water we found a choice of small fish restaurants, each with a dozen or so tables right on the water's edge. We picked one at random and sat. Our waitress, Gamza, spoke good English; she is in school to be an English teacher. We ordered beers, salad, grilled octopus and grilled fish. OMG, they were succulent and amazing. My octopus was perfect with the most garlicky lemony sauce I ever had and Steve's sea bass was moist with an equally tasty sauce. I may have to eat here every night. And all as we watched the sunset over a small island nearby with Symi, Greece just beyond.
When we got back, we called Don, our host, back at home in the US. Turns out we are not very good at communicating in Turkish, even with our translator. Fatima had prepared a lovely meal for us of soup and baked eggplant and beans for.......8 P.M.! I guess they couldn't figure out what the heck we were doing when we drove out at 6:30 and did not return. We felt awful but then a knock at our door and there was the lovely Fatima with a plate of melon for dessert. So I hope all is forgiven.
A long and wonderful day, especially as I have finally gotten to wash underwear - I am literally all out of clean everything, so much so that today in Marmaris, I had to buy two new shirts just to have something clean to wear! I guess it really is almost time to return home where we will spend at least a week doing stain removal and washing.
PS - Sign from Beach Bar in Marmaris....Shouldn't someone
who can speak English proof these things?????
Comments
Post a Comment