So, what have we been doing other than me moaning about the Red Sox? Yesterday our day went like this. Early in the morning I walked over to B’Sheret on Juliet dock to ask Linda and Michael to help us take our motorbike off the flybridge. I had to walk there because our cell phones stopped working. When we’d originally gotten our Turkish SIM card in Istanbul we’d explained that we would be staying for several months so knew we needed to register our foreign (as in ‘not purchased in Turkey)phones. We mentioned that several times. The clerk took our passports and made copies, had us sign forms, took our 76 TL (Turkish lira) and told us our phones were registered and would be activated in two hours. We were in a “high end” mall a long taxi ride from our hotels in Sultanahmet so when the phones didn’t work after two hours and we were no longer at the mall…. The following day we took them to a small Turkcell street vendor in Sultanahmet and he activated them, sort of. Every time we turned them off and then on, the PIN had to be entered which shouldn’t happen. We were leaving Istanbul when we realized this so in Izmir we found a Turkcell street shop where finally someone who spoke English AND understood the problem fixed them for us. All was fine until a few days ago when the SIM card stopped working. The message on the face of the phone said it was no longer registered which is the absolutely only Turkcell message that actually comes in English. So that’s why I walked to get Linda and Michael who came and helped and we got the bike down with no mishaps. But the weather was iffy so Randal and I decided to take the dolmus (minibus) to town to collect the paperwork for the motorbike registration and insurance from Soner our agent and then take our passports to the Turkcell shop to get the phones straightened out. Linda and Michael were going to town too and Linda said she’d come to Turkcell with us to point out the woman who’d helped her to do, what, so far, seems to be a real phone registration. The truth is that Linda hasn’t had her phone long enough to really test to see if it is registered. Cruising friends on Songster and BeBe both had their SIM cards stop working after about a month and Linda has only had hers since our arrival in Marmaris late in April. The Turkcell office was busy since everyone has to buy time, get SIM cards, register phones, and dongle sim cards and so we were pointed to a line that was the wrong line but it turned out ok for us and not the guy who thought he’d be next but he took it well. The folks at this Turkcell shop seem to know more about what they are doing. Let’s hope so anyway. Even though we’d been given no receipt for the original SIM cards ( Turks don’t do receipts) the Turkcell shop manager could tell from our cards what we’d paid or believed us and so just charged 5 TL per phone to register them. The paperwork took about 30 minutes but hopefully it’s all straightened out. If not, at least this time we have paperwork to prove it. We were told it would take 2 days to a week for the phones to work but this morning they are working and I called Randal to test it out, so Yippee!!

This is the Turkcell mascot whatever it’s supposed to be; but it’s cute.

Randal needed fortification to deal with our forthcoming Turkcell trial so he and Michael bought ice cream. Linda and I drooled over the breads and simit in the bread cabinet that you see everywhere, but we’d just had lunch so weren’t tempted. We’re wearing jackets and jeans because it was overcast and breezy so felt almost cold to us though lots of locals had on only shorts and t-shirts.

Randal also needed a treat after our earlier visit to Soner, our agent, to deal with the motorbike registration. We’d not needed to do any extra paperwork for the motorbike in Sri Lanka, India, or Male, but we never took the bike from the boat. Here, because we want to actually use it, we should have done something originally when DoraMac was checked in. Because we hadn’t done that, Randal and I had to be checked out and into Turkey again along with the bike. And a day ago we also had to have the customs agent and customs official come to the boat to glance up at it on the flybridge at the bike and have Randal read the serial number and license number down to them. (This was an additional fee that we hadn’t expected…since we had to pay both men.) We also had to buy Turkish insurance though our Malaysian insurance hadn’t expired. I guess Malaysian insurance doesn’t cover one when one is in Turkey! We are insured for 6 months and then we have to take the bike out of Turkey and start the paperwork mess all over again depending on where we actually are in 6 months, but the bike definitely has to be checked out as it’s marked on Randal’s passport. So it was a problem solved with a bit of patience and a bunch of lira….and if it can at least be solved with lira, I can live with it. To celebrate we actually took the bike out late yesterday afternoon for a ride up the mountain behind the marina. I didn’t take photos then because shortly after we set out it started to rain so we returned to the boat. But the sun is half shining so we’ll take the bike to town for our dentist appointment, or it was! Weather seems quite changeable this time of year here in Turkey.

Randal and I had walked the mountain road last week.

Looking back at the marina you might be able to make out Doramac in the center of the photo on the dock with two small white unoccupied sailboats tied to the dock in front. We are on the very outside of the marina but it is quite nice and there’s lots more privacy though less social interaction since we have no next door neighbors.

We walked past 3 of these stone enclosures all in a row though we have no clue what they were used for.

After visiting Soner we ate lunch at Aciktim, our chicken wrap place where we were served last because we weren’t on a “lunch hour” and others were so that’s how it worked. Usually we’re there before the working lunch hour so it’s no problem. I guess it’s ok but they didn’t tell us what was happening; just kept walking past us to other people with “our food.” Then we went to the Turkcell office. It was going to be quite a wait since everyone has to register phones and dongle sim cards and so we got in line that was the wrong line but it turned out ok for us and not the guy who thought he’d be next but he took it well. We took about 30 minutes but hopefully it’s all straightened out and this time we have paperwork to prove it. Linda and Michael had gone off to do their chores so Randal and I went off to do ours after we finished at Turkcell. We started at the small meat/fish market. We looked at one stall where the fish looked quite fresh and the shop keeper came out to see what we wanted. He picked a lovely red snapper about 16 inches long and cost $37 for the entire fish that once filleted would have left us with enough fish for just 2 meals. For that money we could eat in the marina restaurant and have someone else do the cooking. Beef sirloin at the meat stall cost $8 per pound! But we need to eat more fish so we went to the Tansas market and ended up buying some frozen fish for about $6 per meal. I cooked some last night and it wasn’t very good. No taste really so I’ll turn it into fishcakes or something. Who would have thought that fish would be expensive here in Marmaris right on the Med. We just don’t eat enough fish so I wanted to buy some. We’ll have to go to plan B. I’ll ask at the ladies coffee tomorrow morning where anyone buys fish. They do a ladies coffee at 11 am every Friday.

Between the fish market and the Tansas supermarket we went to find the dentist “that everyone uses.” He is around the corner from Tansas but we needed help to find his office. A man on the street looked at our card and then pointed across and then down the street. We started off and looked hesitant so he crossed the street and walked us to it. Nice people here. We met the dentist and he is quite cheerful as people say. He was actually the person who took our names and made the appointment (this afternoon at 2 pm for teeth cleaning.) After making the appointment we went to Tansas where I double-checked and did find decaf coffee that none of the store staff or other shoppers could find but now that I know what to look for, I can find.

We took the bus back, put away the groceries, got our big bike helmets and went off for our rain shortened ride.

Here are some photos from other days in town.

This is the narrow street where we eat doner wraps sitting in the sunlit chairs. This guy is selling bread from the huge wagon on the front of his bicycle.

Around the corner from the Thursday fruit, cheese and veggie market were plant vendors. Just outside the photo on the left are several greenhouses.

Randal got a shave in Old Town Marmaris from Alis Barber who must post a sign in lots of languages for all of the visitors to Marmaris.

Some days I buy the English Language Turkish paper and some days I buy the International Herald Tribune because it takes several days for me to actually read most of a new paper.

Shade is essential during the hot months so there are trellises everywhere covered with “green.”

Old Town Marmaris street scenes which later in the summer will probably be filled with visitors.