markstravelblog2019

Tuesday October 2, 2019

MARMARIS, Turkey – Once you arrive in this country, you’re immediately hit with aggressive, “in-your-face” males who make every attempt to sweep you off your feet and into a sale which you should never take.

In the ports of Kusadasi and Marmaris, so far our two cities here, the barrage is never-ending and makes no difference whether you’re walking through the small streets or alleyways of the bazaar or along the waterfront. The approach is similar.

“Hello, my friend,” they all say in English. “And, where are you from?”

Once you make the mistake of answering, you’re done. They have a great gift of the gab and remain extremely aggressive. As they approach, you need to keep walking, say nothing and never make eye contact.

When we arrived Sunday night in Kusadasi, we had to find our hotel and ended up carrying our bags up and down steep, hilly streets. Once we entered a main street from the port, and sweating bullets, a shopkeeper stepped right in front and wanted to sell rugs.

“Not now,” I managed and added, “we have no room in our luggage.”

“That’s quite all right,” the man countered. “We ship anywhere in the world,” and handed me a business card.

That’s pretty much the norm here, but people in the hotels and restaurants are very nice, friendly and helpful. Quite a difference from the streets.

On Tuesday morning, we checked out of our hotel in Kusadasi and jumped into a cab. Leaving, we struck a great conversation with a woman from Pakistan, who was traveling with two daughters. Both the woman and her husband are doctors, she told us, and one daughter with whom I spoke is a dentist. They encouraged us to visit Pakistan and we assured them that country, with several more, remain on our bucket list.

We headed for another hotel to pick up a rental car. It’s from Enterprise, and we’ve dealt with them the past with no issues. The car is a black, 2019 Toyota Corolla Hybrid and drives great.

We followed the GPS out of Kusadasi and headed for the beach town of Antayla, on the southern coast. The distance is about 430 kilometers and roughly a 5 to 6-hour drive.

Instead, we stopped at Marmaris, on the southwest coast. A guy in a travel agency there helped us find a room for the night and it was $48 US. We know Turkey is inexpensive and the room was adequate. It was humid at night, and the air conditioner worked nicely, but the internet disappeared. I wrote the blog in Word and eventually posted the next morning. That’s when the wifi returned.

The first stop in Marmaris was the tourist information center and the woman there was helpful pointing out beaches and sites to visit. Told us she once lived in Kanas City and that was because her husband was associated with a university there. Her English was not the best, so we did not peruse her visit and reaction to being in the United States

Along the waterfront, we passed a Chinese restaurant and Waynette wanted to stop. We hit that on the way back and it wasn’t all that bad. Waynette had chicken and vegetables and I took chicken in black bean sauce.

In our hotel room, we have a small kitchen area with a table. It’s a perfect size to break out my laptop and write today’s blog. I use an international converter for the outlet and that’s worked in every location. As soon as I plugged in the cord, the air cond and lights went out.

“Great, a power failure,” I said.

Waynette said she would check at the front desk. In about 10 minutes, a guy returned with her, did something in the hallway and power was restored.

Entering our room, he pointed to an outlet uner the table and made it clear that does not work. Use another outlet, he said and communicated as best as possible. I then moved a table near a new outlet, that worked fine and completed today’s blog in Word.

Early start on Wednesday and it’s a beach day. We’re heading to Fethiye, promoted as one of the best beaches in Turkey. That’s on the southern coast and we’ll let you know.

PICTURES – Images from Marmaris, Turkey