AMY GOES TO MARMARIS, TURKEY, PART THREE

– Icmeler – Icmeler beachside – cafe art – side walk – pastel drawing – shopping side – Turkish delight – rainbow pastel – beach view – sunbathers – chilli – beach walk – cliffside – boating it – anchor – Turkish statue – water cliff – cliff shine – Mediterranean – ocean blue – salted glasses –

The best part of my time in Marmaris, as I mentioned in my last post, was riding on a small sailboat across the city waters. The sun beating down on the pale exterior, salt water splashing our faces, a cool breeze whipping our hair… it was just so awesome. Although the transport was slow, the breathtaking views really made up for it. 

I even thought that I had gotten a bit of a tan, but when the Turkish waiters and shop assistants would compare their skin colour to mine (laughing..), I looked like a stick of chalk. However, a few weeks later, back in London, I was showing off my ‘tan’ when one of my friend’s retorted, “Yeah, you don’t look quite so blue!” so yes, I did get a, by my standards, pretty decent tan!

The hotel that we were staying at, High Life, was an awesome little place, and the staff were very… friendly: there was Phillis, who would hug us and kiss us whenever we met, slobbering us in sweat; Cobra, who others thought could be a bit rude, and would keep asking me what my problem was; Addy, who seemed way too young to be working 20 hours a day; Tony, the chef, as Turkish as could be. They tolerated us tourists well, even when I would stop to take photos of anything and everything. 

There was a hotel a few streets down from High Life called Blue Bay, and they would have nightly entertainment. My family and I went own there a few times, only to be confronted with Latin dancers, bellydancers, a Michael Jackson tribute act and LED dancing robots. It sounds cheesy, but… well, okay yes it was super cheesy. Even so, the atmosphere was awesome, and I took hundreds upon hundreds of photos of the bright colours and fast paced dancers. They had a small entrance lobby with a water fountain and what looked like marble models, and by the middle side of it all was a lifesized marble horse statue. Guys, it was fantastic.

However, although my time in Marmaris was mostly positive, from my experience I found that the Turkish sellers could quite happily edit the prices of their products, meaning that you can easily get conned. For example, I went to a small store to buy a few things, where they overcharged me by 20tl. I went back the next day to buy another pair of earrings, where the same seller, not realising he’d served me yesterday, charged me triple the price! It was pretty surreal, as I’ve never been conned, but apparently it’s a common thing – if any of you guys go to Turkey, be sure to double check the prices.