Donuz

Day 8: July 11, 2009 – Saturday

Like every other good vacation, so did this had to come to an end…

Friday evening, we packed our bags, and finished the rest of our packing on Saturday morning and took off.

We did not leave soon in the morning. Bought fresh, homemade bagels from the bagel house in the morning and had breakfast by the sea. After which we walked a bit around the streets of Bodrum and the Marina.

Saturday is also the day of the Turgutreis Bazaar. In fact there is a bazaar everyday in a different place when you are in Bodrum.

Tuesdays, there is the clothes bazaar in Bodrum town center set near the bus and minibus main station. Thursdays and Fridays, the fruit and vegetable bazaar is set out in the same place. Thursdays, there is also another bazaar in Akyarlar –much smaller and crowded.

As we had missed the Bodrum bazaars, we decided to go to the Turgutreis Bazaar before taking off. Newspaper authors note that there is no open market anywhere in the world that is as lively and as charismatic as the Turgutreis Bazaar. I may be able to say the same… But, in a different way. I have been to open bazaars mostly in different parts of Italy. While, so similar in their nature to the open bazaars in Turkey, I have never seen the liveliness of the Turkish bazaars anywhere else. The sellers shout, make jokes; the people bargain, try on clothes, eat food inside the bazaar. Going to the bazaar in Turkey is not a morning activity, it is a day long activity that requires full commitment.

The Turgutreis bazaar was interestingly filled with foreigners, but not tourists exactly. All from Holland, England or Poland who had moved to Bodrum to live there were there to shop. We did not spend the whole day unlike the trend. We had to move fast and get on the road at a decent hour. And, so we left the bazaar around noon time and finally took off for Istanbul.

Day 7: July 10, 2009 – Friday

The best of all days! We rented a very small fisherman boat for the day and traveled to rare and beautiful, clear bays.

We met with Captain Ibrahim, the owner of the boat, the day, on which we had been to the Kargicikbuku bay for fish and potatoes. He had taken us initially from the port of Seagarden to Kargicikbuku.

Renting a boat for a day was always on our minds, since the beginning of our vacation. However, we were unsure if we would be able to find a fair price. The trouble was that the ships you find in the Marina of Bodrum town center are usually big boats –with a capacity to hold 30 to 50 or maybe even more people. These boats usually take you and various other people –whom you may or may not know- out for the day at 25 TRY per person. They take you out to at least 5 commercial, yet beautiful beaches and offer you lunch on schnitzels and pasta. There are advantages and disadvantages to go on board in this fashion. The advantages are straightforward: The deal is more than fair –it’s cheap. Yet, the disadvantage is that you get to spend to the day with a bunch of other people that you do not know. That may not be comfy. We wanted something cozier and we did not care to see the commercial beaches especially. All we wanted was to enjoy the atmosphere of a boat, see clear waters, swim and eat fish on the boat. And, that was the deal we got from Captain Ibrahim.

The Captain and his wife took us from the port of Seagarden at 10 A.M. in the morning. We traveled for about an hour in the direction of Gokova until we reached the four cousin bays –or so they are called: Sineklibuk –translated as the mosquito bay, because of the number of mosquitoes there-, Adali Yali –the bay with the island, because of the small island like protrusion there-, Narlibuk –the bay with pomegranate- and the other, whose name I cannot recall. We went to Adali Yali. We were there by 11 A.M. We delved into the sea right away. The water was so clear, the underwater was so rich. Swimming for almost half hour, we got back on the boat. I immediately fell asleep while I was trying to dry and warm up under the sun. The gentle rocking of the boat made me feel as if I was in a hammock. By around 1 P.M. Captain Ibrahim and his wife started cooking fish for us: Fried gilt-head bream or sparus aurata with salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, lettuce and olives). Although I am not much of lunching person, I ate like a pig since the meal was so delicious.

Around 2 P.M. we left Adaliyali and headed for one of the commercial bays: Aquarium. The way to the Aquarium was on the reverse direction we had come. Therefore, the way back was harder as we were now facing the wind, instead of having it at our back. To me it was so much fun rocking all the way to Aquarium, but I must admit, there were a couple of times when I got pretty wet from the waves hitting on our boat.

Aquarium was yet another very beautiful beach, but it was very crowded with bigger boats doing a daily trip. We spent around 2 and a half hours here, swimming, sleeping and swimming again. Later our Captain and his wife offered as traditional Turkish black tea and cookies. I got pretty nostalgic, because it has been awhile since I actually did a tea-time. Living in a big city makes proper tea times almost impossible nowadays.

We returned back to the port of Seagarden around 5.30 P.M. We were due to have pizza again at Sunger Pizza –the same place we had dined on Saturday. We were going this time, so that I could eat pizza as well. The last time I was already pretty full from the meals we had during our journey. Yet, I was full again this time! Thanks to the courtesy of our Captain and his wife J So, I left Sunger Pizza for the next time I will be in Bodrum…

Day 6: July 09, 2009 – Thursday

As part of my usual daily routine and now that I was back in good physical health, I went jogging in the morning and did a quick round of yoga early in the morning. Soon after breakfast and a bit after a handful debate on whether to go to Turkbuku and get a little social elitical or not, we landed for Akyarlar, Turgutreis –where my childhood had passed.

I must admit that I was a little aversive and apprehensive having heard very bad things about Akyarlar’s new face and the developments in the small bay. Not knowing what to expect we hit the road. About a 15 or 20 minutes drive later and long after passing the Bitez turn, we saw the signs for Bagla and Akyarlar –both of which used to be very very nice bays with few people. We took the turn and I docked my head up from the window to get a sight.

Almost everything had changed… Everywhere had gotten more crowded with people and white houses. The terrible part of these white houses is that they are not even the typical Bodrum houses. Made out of special stones (slate) and surrounded by ivy, Bodrum houses have a unique, bewildering look that none of these new building had.

One of the most lively beaches of all time had vanished –overtaken in other words by Magic Life Hotels or Resorts. Other nice beaches, where once nothing had existed had become sophisticated beach clubs with a certain entrance fee.

I am not particularly angry at any company or establishment that has taken over these beaches. I only felt misery, nostalgia or sadness that the experiences of my past were indeed buried in the past. Even if I would go to any of these beach clubs, it would never feel the same.

Despite my nostalgia, there was a goodness in the change as well. These new establishments are more likely to preserve these beaches as the beaches should be preserved. And, that is a good thing.

We did end up going to one of the beach clubs along the way, the Aspat Beach. With a go-cart area, a game room, a massage center, a vast area for sunbathing, hammocks and –what I guess- a stage for beach parties, Aspat was a fair beach club at a fair price.

After what was a fair day, we left the beach for dinner near Turgutreis. As things had changed, it was not so easy to find, the one place that should have been so easy to find –as it is located right on the side of the road- : Kadir Reis’in Yeri, a fisherman’s restaurant. As we were so bad at locating it –for anyone wanting to go, it is right next to this new place, the Golden Beach- we ended up going to Turgutreis first. Which in itself was not so bad afterall. It had also been a long while since I had last visited Turgutreis and it was one of my mom’s tiny requests that I should look for table clothes in Turgutreis. And, so I did…

After an hour of wondering around in Turgutreis, we went back on the road to find Kadir’s Restaurant. This time we did…

Located on the left side of the road, as you are driving from Turgutreis in the direction of Akyarlar, and next to the Golden Beach Club. In the past, they only had this tiny place on the left side, such that you would be overlooking the sea from the other side of the road. Along with the changes that have come and gone, they have extended their service area to the right side of road as well –laying one or two dozens of plastic tables and plastic chairs right next to the sea. Kadir’s Place offers relatively few cold appetizers when compared to the other fish restaurants, but he offers the best that I have eaten: Stuffed courgette / zucchini flowers, beetroot pickles, purslane served with garlic and yogurt, and fave. Normally, if I am seated at the table in a fish restaurant and there is only a handful of people, we skip the fish and settle down for cold and warm appetizers along with raki (Turkish Ouzo) or wine only. Yet, this time I wanted to eat fish as well, so we skipped the warm appetizers and ordered stewed bass –and it was stewed so well with garlic, tomato, pepper and various grasses and vegetables! I ended up drinking the sauce as if it were soup…

So we ended the day at that… Satisfied with the food, with the bill and happily full in the stomach.

P.S. My mom’s second request was that I eat ‘lokma’ –special desert that is most abundantly found in Bodrum, made from fried flour or consider them better as fried cakes served with syrup. Well, that I had to skip, as I was so very full…

Day 5: July 08, 2009 –Wednesday

Back now to the part, where I had skipped because I was sick. On Wednesday, we went back to the same beach, we’d been to on Monday –except that I had no energy to dwell on that on that day. The part of Bodrum peninsula we’d been to is called Yaliciftlik and it has by far the best beaches ever. There are bare beaches without any kind of establishment, where you stroll down with your car and lay down on the bare beach, bring your own food and etc. Other beaches are either owned entirely by a resort or are portioned out into little sections by different motels.

We went to the beaches of Seagarden Happimag Resort. Once again, as luck was on our side, we had a relative, who was a member to Happimag and so we could enter the establishment. The beach is so very nice! Cold and fresh water, of which you can see the bottom looking from the top. Before delving into the water right away –which was we had done on Monday even with my stomach ache- we went to the water sports area and did two consecutive rounds of wakeboard and water ski each. (Ironically, at Seagarden water sports are pretty low cost compared to other resorts and beach clubs). On flat water, such that of Seagarden, the experience was overwhelming.

Later we headed for lunch, which to be truthful is not that spectacular. Self service, grilled meat, pizza, lasagna, salad bar, and fruit sections and maybe a bit more –I am not a big eater at noon times, so don’t regard so much on this part.

At around 6.30 P.M. we got romantic and ordered a bottle of Kavaklidere Lal Rose wine. By sunset I was already dizzy and smiley.

For dinner, we went to the next beach, Kargicikbuku upon the advise of a family friend we had stumbled upon during our vacation. Apparently, there were 3 or 4 fishermen cooking fresh fish and serving that with grilled potatoes and salad only. One of the fishermen takes you with his boat from the port of Seagarden and takes you their beach, which is only 10 minutes away. Waiting to be heading for a restaurant or something of that kind, we were dazzled to see 3 wooden and old long tables set side by side along the coast and an open grill behind the tables where these guys actually cook the fish. I was kind of embarrassed when we were on the boat that I was still in my beachwear, but I relaxed to see that people who were already seated at the long tables were not even in their beachwear: they were in their bathing suits! Hence, the place was such a relaxed and jovial place. The food was very simple, yet very delicious for 25 TRY per person including a bottle of very bad wine.