AUGUST PHOTO SERIES – DAY 13 – Gümbet

Posted on August 13, 2017 by livingtheturkishdream

A few years ago we went for a mini-break to Gümbet in Bodrum. Bodrum I really liked, but Gümbet honestly I found awful. It just seemed dirty, the beach was tiny and cramped full of sunbeds, bar street was full of booming music with men dancing on bars and bars only letting women in… it was just weird and definitely not our thing at all, but it must appeal to someone! However, Gümbet does look really pretty with its whitewashed buildings, something that is seen everywhere in Bodrum, reflecting its Greek influence. The photo above was taken from the hotel we stayed in – palm trees, beautiful blue sea, boats, green hills and white washed buildings. Despite not liking the area ourselves, we did still find it beautiful by day.. it’s just at nighttime it became a little too wild for us. That’s part of the beauty of Turkey – something for everyone’s taste!
❤

Bodrum Day 3. Views, boxes full of chicks and a broken down bus..

Posted on October 2, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

We spent our last few hours in Bodrum much the same as the previous two days, stuffing our faces with food and taking photos..

Breakfast was as good as ever. P.S, who doesn’t love hotel freebies?

After breakfast we wandered up to the roof terrace of the hotel where we had amazing 360oc panoramic views of Gumbet. The blue sky with a few clouds, boats on the sea and white buildings on the hillside make a great backdrop. It looked like a postcard.

I love how all the buildings in Bodrum and surrounding areas are white. It definitely adds something to the place, it makes it look so traditional and beautiful.

We sat by the pool for 10minutes and had a game of table tennis, then packed up our things and went to Bodrum. We had to check out at 12.00 but our bus back to Fethiye wasn’t til 14.30 so we had 2 hours to kill.
We wandered around Bodrum market, it was a lot bigger than the Fethiye ones. They also had some interesting things for sale… one man was sitting outside with a cage of rabbits, two boxes of baby chicks and several huge chickens/cockerels. So random.

Who wouldn’t be cheered up by a box of fluffy chicks though!? So cute.

Finally it was time to board the bus, it took over 5 and a half hours to get home, the silly old bus broke down for 45 minutes!

Overall, we had a fab time. We weren’t so keen on Gumbet, but the hotel we stayed in was lovely and Bodrum town was beautiful. It made a nice change from Fethiye and it was good to spend 2 days away together. It all seems a million miles away now I’m stuck back in England though. ):

Bodrum Day 2. Castle, boats & starbucks.

Posted on October 2, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

Not so impressed with Gumbet, on Thursday we decided to go to Bodrum town. I absolutely LOVED IT. Perhaps even as much as I love Fethiye!

After the previous nights dinner, expectations were high for breakfast, we weren’t disappointed though. A huge buffet table greeted us, boiled eggs, omelette, tomato, cucumber, cheese, salami, chicken, fruit, honey, jam, biscuits, olives, chips, bread..and of course bottomless glasses of cay/Turkish tea.

After breakfast we got the dolmus to Bodrum and walked through the main town towards the marina. It was beautiful, all undercover and hundreds of little boutiques and shops selling everything from paintings to jewellery, clothes, bags, food.. I found these cute cushions with paintings of Bodrum on, clever.

The harbour/marina was lovely, such a pretty backdrop with the bright blue skies and hundreds of boats. We walked along the harbour and found the castle. So pretty and impressive too, especially at night when it’s all lit up.

We walked along to the castle for a better look, I wanted to go inside but we decided the 20tl each fee was too expensive, instead we walked around the cafe in the castle grounds and found the little photobooth offering photos dressed up as a Sultan. This was great fun and we ended up spending 40tl on photos, we could have just paid the castle entry fee after all. Oh well. It was a lovely place.

While we were having these funny photos taken, I spotted a lady walking around with a coffee cup that looked suspiciously like Starbucks. I made it our mission to find it and had Berkay asking 4 different people for directions. We eventually found the Starbucks and sat in their little garden with our Frappuccinos. Yummy. So refreshing in the heat! We paid 20tl for two though, ouch. We really were living like tourists for these 2 days!

The view from Starbucks was lovely, crystal clear water and a little path at the side where you could walk up to the castle. We followed the path and the views were amazing from the top. We had a little mini photoshoot as always, and made our way back down.

It was 4pm by this point and we really wanted to go back to the hotel for a swim before it got too late, as we knew the pool would be cold again. We got the dolmus back to Gumbet and had a swim and another game of volleyball, we had the pool to ourselves again and had some fun taking some underwater photos with my special iPod case.
So cheesy.

Then it was time to get ready for dinner again, I wore a new dress I bought in Bodrum. I hate clothes shopping, I can never find anything that looks right on me, but I loved this dress.

Dinner was amazing again, this time it was vegetable soup, mized meze, manti, salad, bread, steak with mushrooms and cake for dessert. Mmm.

After dinner we walked all the way to a mini themepark, it was a long walk, 30-40 minutes there and another 30-40minutes back again. It was lovely and cool so it was a nice evening walk. We purchased tickets for 2 rides, a giant pirate ship, which was the scariest, steepest pirate ship ride i’d ever been on, and another ride that span you around.. I thought I might see my dinner again haha!

After the rides, we walked back to Gumbet and met Berkay’s brothers in bar street. We went to a bar and paid 50tl for 4 beers and a vodka and coke, OUCH. Bodrum is not cheap, it’s the most expensive place i’ve visited in Turkey, even in the non touristy parts, water, crisps, bread..everything in the shops is more expensive. I’m glad we don’t live there.

Bodrum Day 1. Hotel, beaches & food.

Posted on October 2, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

It seems like such a long time ago now, but it was only actually two weeks ago today we went to Bodrum. We had a great time and it was lovely to spend some time together, they were the first days Berkay had off work since April!
These posts may be photo-heavy, I get very snap-happy with the camera…

At 9.30 am, just after Berkay came home from work, we boarded the little bus to Bodrum. It cost 35tl each and I can’t say it was very comfortable.. it was tiny and full. Luckily, most of the people were going to Mugla and we had the bus to ourselves for the second half of the journey so we could spread out.

Four and a half hours later, we arrived at Bodrum otogar (bus station), we hopped on a Dolmus to Gumbet and found our hotel (The Best Life hotels) When we arrived at the hotel, they greeted us with this little non-alcoholic cocktail. Yummy.

The hotel was so, so quiet. Apparently it was half full, but since the guests were mainly party people, they literally slept all day, and went out to bar street all night. No complaints here, we had the pool to ourselves most of the time and only 1-2 other couples at dinner/breakfast with us!

We got settled in our room then went for a little swim.

The pool was freezing, so after a quick dip and a game of volleyball, we headed out for a walk.

I wasn’t impressed with Gumbet at all, the beach was packed, everyone crowded on sunbeds like sardines, barely an inch between the beds. It was so dirty too. The roads and sidewalks were filthy, definitely not a fan. Our hotel was right next to bar street, but compared to the rest of the town, I actually liked it there (surprisingly for me… I normally hate loud, obnoxious bars. haha) By this time it was really cloudy, which made the place look worse. It still made a nice change though.

After our walk we headed back to our hotel room. We sat and played Triominos for a bit (hello, old granny game!) and had showers then got ready to eat.

We booked our hotel half board as we thought it would be cheaper than eating out, it cost 100tl extra for the two of us over two days. It was well worth the money, the food was amazing! Tomato soup for starters, then Turkish mixed meze (a lot of it!), salad, bread, 2 bowls of manti (Turkish food), a bbq with a huge selection of chips, rice, steak, chicken and meatballs. There was desert too but we were far too full to eat it. I was really impressed, it was so tasty!

After dinner we took the dolmus to Ortakent. This was definitely a Turkish resort, I only saw 2 English people walking around in the 2-3 hours we were there. Berkay’s brothers work there so we had a catch up with them and a wander along the seafront, it was really pretty. It reminded me a lot of Calis Beach, only less British influenced.

After all that, we went back to our hotel in Gumbet, sat by the pool for a little while then went up to our room, after having no sleep the night before, we both fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow, despite the banging music we could hear coming from bar street!

Dressing up as a Sultan at Bodrum Castle..

Posted on September 23, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

While in Bodrum last week we had some fun at Bodrum Castle, it involved headdresses, funny costumes and dressing up like a Sultan and his wife…

It was such a touristy thing to do.. The amusing thing was, the entrance fee to the actual castle was 20tl each, we decided this was too expensive and just wandered around the grounds instead. While wandering, we found a cute little booth where you could wear traditional clothes and have your photo taken as a Turkish Sultan.. They let you pick your costume then took 30+ photos. It was 10tl for one printed photo, or 40tl for the whole CD. We were sucked in and bought the whole CD.. we could have just entered the castle after all!

Oh well, the photos are amusing, some turned out pretty sweet too. I like them.

Where have I been?

Posted on September 22, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

Firstly, I’d like to apologise for not sticking to my promise of ‘blogging everyday’, it’s been nearly a week since my last post. I haven’t fallen of the face of the planet, but I have been really busy and had a lot on my mind.

We spent two days/nights in Bodrum last week, it was a very last minute thing, we booked the hotel on Tuesday and left first thing Wednesday morning. It was Berkays first day off work since April, and we were so grateful for the time together, it was lovely. I’ll do a separate post about it all later on.

The next thing that happened was I booked my flight back to the UK for good. I had been putting it off for as long as possible but the prices were getting more expensive and I couldn’t find anymore excuses not to book. It’s booked for Thursday night. This is the main reason I haven’t posted, I’m not really in the mood to be posting about all the wonderful things about Turkey when I’m about to give it all up. I’ll explain why in another post.

I have also been busy finishing a cross-stitch order, it has to be completed by mid week and I am running out of time!

Today we went for a lovely picnic with our friends, the last one for a long time. I’ve been trying to make the most of my last few days here. It still doesn’t feel real that I’m leaving. It’s not going to sink in til I’m sat on that plane alone, flying up and watching all the things I know and love be left behind on the ground.

I have 3 or 4 posts coming up really soon, but after that I’m not sure what or when I’ll be posting on here, but I will keep it as up to date as possible. Thanks for reading as always.