Up early enough to watch the sun rise over the lake, a white ball in a cloudless sky. It's going to be hot. Grateful for Ozzie's shower and the restaurant toilets to start the day. Stopped to buy fruit from two proud gents on side of road, gave us a sweet apricot to try (found later we were overcharged by approx triple - they see foreigners coming every time!! Have to go back to asking prices up front...) Sign for goats, pigs, deer on road. More bad smells - fish meal, then a chemical factory. Drivers’ school, car spaces to back into made from timber.
We anticipated Bodrum would be crowded and getting to Castle on waterfront difficult, but were totally unprepared for the luxury of the town, palatial resorts, up-market shopping, and million dollar yachts.
Yep - not a scrap of space to be found down on waterfront so went back to main road above town and pulled into McDonald's carpark. They agreed we could park there for a couple of hours, so we got a taxi into town (drove like maniac in traffic - must be used to being abused whilst meter ticks over).Bodrum, or St Peter's Castle (commenced building 1402) was unique in that it was designed by a German then manned and maintained by the different nationalities inside Knights Hospitaller, with a French Tower, an English Tower etc. There are seven gates and complex twists to ensure enemy remained as exposed as possible. The castle has different knights' coats of arms and crests embedded in walls, and carved graffiti of the times.
GirlRob particularly enjoyed walking the ramparts - just like movies of archers firing from small slits with wide backs, and running space between with protective twists and turns.
The entire site is a "museum" of underwater antiquities displayed in grounds, castle and halls throughout, including a wooden ship from early 1400s (and retrieved cargo including copper tin and glass ingots, pottery, seals and jewellery), a Glass Hall, brass bells and amphora exhibits. Some parts were closed off for lunch when we were there.
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| Snake Tower - Father of Medicine, symbol of reincarnation |
The entire site is a "museum" of underwater antiquities displayed in grounds, castle and halls throughout, including a wooden ship from early 1400s (and retrieved cargo including copper tin and glass ingots, pottery, seals and jewellery), a Glass Hall, brass bells and amphora exhibits. Some parts were closed off for lunch when we were there.
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| 7th century Byzantine ship Yassiada |
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| Replica of shipwrecked Uluburun trading ship |
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| What did they think would happen to metal mesh armour by the sea?? |
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| Does the trapdoor still work, we wondered... |
Hot and sweaty we picked up Ozzie and drove on to find a campsite. Although still 25kms from Marmaris we chose the first as it looked inviting in its bush setting by the sea.
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| The loos have held up well over the centuries... |
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| 5th Century Byzantine mosaic |
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| Wanderoos did their bit to restore statuary to its former glory... |
Had savoury scrambled eggs for dinner, and got talking to chap originally from Denmark who'd been living in Turkey for five years ("sunshine, cheap living, good economy") but had decided to move back to their island as they didn't like the changed politics, and were being crowded out by rapid building of apartments. He told us that post offices sold the vehicle toll cards we were looking for, that the acronym was PTT in Turkish, and what the store's colours were...
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