Bodrum

So after a 12 hour bus ride, my friend and I arrived in Bodrum around 830am. We walked down to the marina and ambled around for a bit.

Then, we found the castle which houses an underwater archeology museum. The actual museum was kind of puny, but the views from the top of the castle were great.

And of course, there was a mosque within the castle walls.

And the Aegean was as blue and clear as I remembered.

This is the other bay. The castle kind of splits the bay into two halves.

There were also many peacocks in the castle.

And the classic Turkish museum reenactment, complete with what seemed to be cardboard figures.

After the museum we found a place to stay, got some fruit and snacks, and headed to a village which apparently had a swimable beach. Lonely Planet is not always right....But, I can say that I climbed to the top of Tanvaş Island where the last remains of Mindos...remain.

I was planning on swimming to this spot until I found out how hard it was to get into the water (too many rocks and sea urchins).

We did find this terrific pup though who was fishing for like ten minutes.

Next to this guy cutting up some bait.

The next day we decided to go to a different village (one not listed in Lonely Planet), and it was much better, aside from the rain...

So we went back into town for lunch, and waited for the clouds to disappear, then went back. It was much better and warm enough for a cold dip in the sea.

Later we walked around the marina for a bit, found some dinner, then headed to the bus station for another 12 hour long bus ride.

Even though the journey was long and not the most fun, the destination was worth the trip. Especially since its off season and there were no tourists in sight.

This saturday I am heading back to Istanbul because my friend Chris is coming to visit me. He is studying in Austria this semester and has a two week break. So I will be in Istanbul for a few days, then back to Ankara for a few, then we have another group trip to Kapadokya. From there, I am going to Olimpos with my host sister and some friends. Then maybe a day or two in Antalya at my friends place... Turkey is quite a big country...