After a relaxing day where I tended to the pictures in Flickr and Beate tended to goof off and swim, we caught the ferry from Datca to Bodrum across the bay.
Despite the high winds of the last 2 days the crossing was very easy. The small ferry with 5 cars and 2 bikes made good time although almost colliding with a passing yacht with, it seems no one at the helm and failing to respond to repeated urgent tootings from the ferry.
The ferry pilot an elderly deeply tanned thin gentleman, the type who you would expect to be at the controls of an old fishing boat, did an admirable job of berthing the boat in the crowded Bodrum harbor. He sailed towards the small space, literally only meters wider than the ferry, and dropped his anchor, the ferry now tethered swung round 180 degrees off the anchor and he just backed it in like parking the car. I had never seen such a confident act of berthing before especially with the incredibly close proximity of the other expensive private yachts, there was barely space to put the fender protectors down between the boats.
Anyway we were initially entranced by Bodrum, narrow streets of Greek style white buildings and a relaxed atmosphere. Then we found the main street, a chaotic mess of shouting storekeepers, harried tourists being harvested by tourist shops with goods for sale in euros at lira prices (ie: twice what you expect).
Rules of thumb when buying in Turkey...
1. Don't purchase from shops that don't show their prices. This is particularly true for food stores, they literally size you up for the highest amount they can score from you. (If you do follow rule 4)
2. Don't respond to hello's and enticements from shopkeepers asking you to stop. If you say nothing they don't know what language you speak and are forced to try multiple times in different languages whilst you scurry past.
3. Avoid the above shops from a matter of principle. Why reinforce their annoying behavior?
4. Always ask the price first. That has to be the principle rule, and be prepared to walk away without guilt, a difficult action for a kiwi, who feels obligated after expressing interest.
We spent part of the afternoon visiting the Bodrum castle. A beautiful Crusader fortress built by the Knights of Saint John. Just after they finished what is the strongest fortress in the Mediterranean, they were kicked out of their main base Rhodes by Suleiman the Magnificent (who had marshaled his 700 ships and soldiers in Marmaris in preparation for the Rhodes battle) and the Crusaders gave the fortress up to the Arabs without a fight.
After that it was used primarily as a storage facility as the Ottoman empire went far beyond its boundaries. It may have survived totally intact, seemingly never been in battle, until the unsavory French, having ensured that the British were no longer there and they could therefore win, attacked it in 1915 with a warship. Following their national character they were whipped by the Turks and withdrew suffering heavy losses and prisoners.
The bored knights in the castle, whilst awaiting the enemy who never arrived scratched their names in the walls.
Nothing can be more fascinating than ancient graffiti. Just imagine these knights, in their knightly regalia looking out this same window with the same view wishing for someone to fight.
I took some great photos and hope to have them up soon. Tomorrow we are off on the bikes again following the coast north. We are not sure of our next stop but think it may be an abandoned city outside of Milis.