When we finally buy Turkish carpets, I hope it’s after many adventures learning about and searching for the perfect carpet. It won’t be perfect because of its size or price or even patterns and colors. It will be perfect because of the story of how we found it. During this story we found wonderful carpets that might be hard to beat, but it’s just too soon in the search. And the prices for each of the 4 pieces were more than we wanted to spend at this point in our search. We just don’t know enough yet to pay almost $400 for a rug just 26 inches by 41 inches, even if it was beautiful and fit well with the others we had chosen. We picked 4 separate rugs for the saloon and galley and the total best price of the day was almost $2,000. But all of that comes later in the story.
Last week we stopped to visit our friend Ibrahim who owns the Dost Hotel where we stayed while awaiting DoraMac’s arrival. We got to meet Grandma (of the lentil soup fame) and Grandpa, the original owner of the hotel. We told Ibrahim of our carpet trip to Turgut and he said we should go to Milas as the area is famous for its carpets. Milas is 160 kilometers or about 100 miles from Marmaris. We guessed that we could be there in about 3 hours with stopping to rest every so often and that we could do a trip back and forth in one day. The weather forecast for Wednesday and Thursday was for sunny weather here and in Milas. Watching the weather is as important for motorbike riding as it is for boating. To be on the safe side, in case we couldn’t make it back Wednesday, we took extra socks and underwear, tooth brush and tooth paste and but not much more. We didn’t make it back on Wednesday, but it wasn’t because of the weather; it was because of the carpets, the wonderful Turkish people we met, and just Turkey itself.
“Mom” Onurhan and Randal
Randal and I stopped for gasoline just outside Mugla. Another motorbike stopped at the same time and we all smiled as people. Randal was in charge of getting fuel and I was in charge of finding coffee. There was a small restaurant next to the gas station so I walked in and asked if we could get coffee. They spoke no English but understood coffee and said yes. I went back to get Randal and but then stopped to say hello to Onurhan and after receiving an enthusiastic hello asked if he and his mom wanted to join us for coffee. Onurhan is a 20 and a mechanical engineering student. His mom is a mechanical engineer who owns her own company and they live in Istanbul. Onurhan had spent his first year at university studying English and Italian. He says English is essential because his classes are taught in English. He took Italian because he likes things Italian and has an Italian motorcycle. They were traveling around Turkey and I think also plan to visit Italy. Onuran showed us his GPS for Turkish roads which is just like the one we have back home except his speaks Turkish though it can speak English or Italian or whatever. But at high speeds the wind drowns it out. Onuran also had a tiny mini-cam attached to his helmet. Cool !
An exchange of flags.
It was then time to go. They have a much faster bike and even with our head start they went flying past with a honk and a wave.
Then it was on to Milas. Now, I don’t know what we were thinking we’d find once we arrived in Milas; maybe a sign that said CARPETS FOR SALE plastered across the entrance to this city of 61,000. Nope. We rode around and rode around and explored and then stopped for lunch.
The outdoor restaurant across the way only had men sitting there so we came here.
Definitely homemade!
We had wedges of spinach cooked in phyllo dough.
Randal helping himself to more baklava.
Restaurant side of the street and “across the street.”
Women making food “treats” to sell at the charity bazaar we stopped to see and wished we hadn’t already eaten lunch. They were auctioning off a Milas carpet but it was the wrong color and size. When we asked about a carpet shop, no one understood us at all.
We got back on the motorbike and road again down the main road and finally found a carpet shop.
One of the 3 shops we found in Milas City.
Milas carpets are recognizable by their motif and use of color. The villages around Milas are a cottage industry for carpet making and women make them in their homes as we found out later in our journey. But we knew nothing when we arrived, just that Milas was associated with carpets. The young man running this shop was very nice but nothing either called our name or matched the sizes we needed. We made our way to the city center and found a sign for a tourist information center. It was about 2 pm and the center wouldn’t be open until 3 or 3:30 so we parked the bike and went off to explore Milas.
We found a tiny carpet shop but not “our carpet.”
We wandered the old part of this hillside city with its vine covered streets that would provide shade in the summer heat.
Turkish Demokrat Party. I can’t keep their politics straight yet.
Our third and last “in the city” carpet shop. We didn’t get carpets, but did get directions back to our motorbike! The directions got us part way, then someone gave us wrong directions, and then someone gave us the right directions.
The Tourist/Translation office was open but the owner hadn’t yet returned. “5 minutes” we were told by the assistant. We often hear that and 99% of the time it’s true; as it was this time. Less than 5 minutes passed and the owner Aziz Oner arrived. He was incredibly helpful and interested in our quest. He gave us a beautiful calendar with each month a different Milas carpet and information about its colors and design and also a small booklet about Milas and its history and sites to see. Had we been there on Friday he could have taken us around the area on a carpet tour. Maybe another time. After our conversation and glasses of Turkish tea, Randal and I were again on our way. It was 4 pm and though we could have made it back to Marmaris before dark at 8 pm, we chose to go on to Bodrum and spend the night. Have motorbike, will travel!