Merhaba,
Morning Walk
Every morning I go out for a walk. In the past week I was lucky enough to have some company. Cyprus friends Sharman and Cliff were here as were Betty and David, friends from Malaysia who were in Israel while we were there, just in a different marina. Sometimes even Randal will walk, if we are going to the Thursday market or if we leave late in the morning and walk to town for a lunch time chicken doner at Aciktim. Well Sharman and Cliff have returned to Cyprus and Betty and David have gone off cruising, so for now, I’m on my own.
This morning I decided to explore the road running uphill just past the West Marine Store. I had plenty of uphills in Bodrum and enjoyed the exercise.
It’s a trudge from our boat at on dock A at the far end of the marina to the gate where the marina opens into town. There’s no shade and it seems as if there are as more cars, delivery trucks, and motorbikes than there are people walking; I’m always having to move for something. It’s a boring walk and I’ll be happy when we have our permanent berth closer to town, the small marina library, and the Migros grocery store. There are some upscale shops at the edge of the marina and it’s always fun to look in the windows, but I didn’t do that today. My goal was to find that hill and see where it went.
Our berth A 6.
See the big white cruise ship in the lower left corner. The dock near it, in shadow is A. It is no where near B C or D. We are near the right corner by the dolphins. We would like to be near C D E or F.
“Turkish Starbucks”
A new coffee shop opened just across from the entrance to the marina. Randal and I have been there three times. In Israel we got addicted to the wonderful, thick ice coffee blends. None to be found in Marmaris, but a close second, though way WAY more fattening is the ice coffee frappe served here. I had a caramel version and that was really good. Randal likes the chocolate. Our friend Gwen who has lived in Marmaris for years and Netsel for the past 5 or so, says this place won’t last: too expensive. So far it seems to be busier each time we visit, especially since people returning to their cruise ship docked just outside the marina (just across the dock from us) have to pass by.
I like walking along the canal past the small fishing boats.
I love outdoor stairways
We usually walk one street over passing by all of the marine shops. Today I took the road with few shops and more apartment buildings where you can see lots of plants and, if I’m lucky, Turkish carpets hanging to be aired.
Trellises are lovely and offer shade
Oil can planters
I love the oil cans used as planters and have one saved for my niece, the only one in the family who can keep plants alive.
Different regions of Turkey have different patterns and use different materials.
Some carpets are wool on wool, some wool on cotton, some silk, some cotton on cotton. The ones we have on DoraMac are wool on cotton.
Feeding the cats
I gave this man a “thumbs up” for his kindness to the cats. One of the marine supply shops, run by ladies, feeds them and also collects them to be neutered. When we were there the other day I gave her 20TL to help with the food. Lots and lots of stray cats, but they seem to get along as many shops in the old town put out food.
The forest comes down to town just behind this neighborhood: here is a small cemetery.
The road up the hill turned out to be very short, rats.
It ended at the main road that runs along the coast from town, past Netsel Marina and ending at Yacht Marina where we were last year. There are also two or three small resorts along the way, so there is a bit of traffic. Next November , when the population shrinks back down to 30,000 from its August high of 5 or 6 times that number, it should be nice for walking.
Path in the woods,
Across the Coast Road I saw this path in the woods.
Someone had established bee hives here.
I was a bit leery of anything that stings after my encounter with a crazy stinging thing the other morning. On the boat! I was just on my way out the door when something started stinging my thigh. And stinging and stinging! I ran back down into our saloon and yanked off my shorts and something small seemed to fall out. Not sure where it went, or what it was, but I had two huge welts growing on my thigh. Each blob looks like it has three tiny sting points. I figure something had flown into the boat, made itself comfortable in my shorts, and then got annoyed after I’d walked around for at least 10 minutes. Good thing it stung before I got out the door. And good thing I’m not allergic. I did end up taking some Benadryl and smearing some hydrocortisone on it. I hesitated to open a new box of hydrocortisone just for this occasion as things, once opened, don’t seem to get used again for years. But went I looked at the box it had Chinese writing and had expired in 2009. But it seems to be doing the trick.
Cactus with fruit
I’d seen these in the market but didn’t know what they were or what they looked like inside. Now I know and I’ll have to buy some…. Peaches are in season now and they are wonderful…even the fuzzy skin doesn’t bother me.
The blue tipped mosque reminds me of the lovely one in Konya.
Though this one has loud speakers, we rarely hear the prayers.
This canal just dries up and ends. Wonder what it will look like in the winter rainy season? We’ve been told that the mountains around Marmaris trap the rain so the winters are wet. Last year was the wettest in years in Cyprus. Hope this one isn’t the wettest in years in Marmaris!
Reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting with two “alone people” sharing one space.
An artist must own this shop!
A great place to buy fruit and veggies between Thursdays: it’s just a short walk from the marina.
Bar street; or the back side of bar street.
Gwen taught me that it’s the shadiest route from town to the marina. In the morning, before 10 am, shade covers the whole street. Along the waterfront there’s no shade at all which makes Gwen and many of the long time residents mad that the renovation of the area didn’t include shade trees.
Motorbikes whiz past here every day so this sign is only a suggestion.
Our motorbike story is this; the damn thing is now off Randal’s passport so when we fly home in September airport customs won’t stop him from leaving because he isn’t taking it with him or some nonsense like that. Don’t ask what that cost! And for now we could use it as we did in Bodrum, just around town and then in January we can hopefully get permission to use it for 6 months like we did last year while we were here; and register it and go everywhere. Problem is that where we are now berthed, we can’t get it off the boat. If we move the boat now, we won’t get a “sideways” spot which we are hoping we might get. We would have to be stern to as we were in Cyprus. In Israel we were along side. Thinking about it, Israeli marinas were certainly accommodating, if noisy. Anyway, in September we hope to have our permanent spot and then we can take the motorbike down.