2013-09-16
Morning
walk brought in two huge cruise ships. We saw the streets being cleaned up, kids
being sent to school, and people exercising. Kuşadası is a resort town and a
very prosperous one. Lots of Europeans have bought their retirement and summer
homes here.
 |
| Cruise Ship in Kuşadası |
 |
| Green Street Cleaning Machine |
After
breakfast we drove about 150 miles south to the resort town of Marmaris. No
trip to Turkey is complete without a necessary stop at a carpet place. So, we
stopped at a carpet coop. This one had 100 acres of olive orchards,
vineyards, and a very pretty country setting. We saw young girls weaving the
carpets and learned all about the double knots, silk, and silk worms. Did you
know that a silk worm can make a mile long thread? Dyeing with walnuts, saffron, and sage was interesting. Lunch
was as good as any other food we have had in Turkey. Eating outside under trees and enjoying
fresh olive oil from their own orchards were highlights.
 |
| Atatürk: Father of the Turks |
 |
| Carpet Weaver |
The trip
to Marmaris was through a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains full of
olive orchards, fig groves, and pine trees. Many impressive things about the drive in the
country side were:
Infrastructure: roads were as good or better than any freeway system in USA
Lack of traffic
Most country houses in the middle of nowhere had solar water heaters and satellite dishes on the roofs
 |
| Solar Water Heater and Antennae |
Green country side
Very clean country - especially the public bathrooms. ( I think you can judge a country and it’s government by the quality of its public bathrooms. I should write a traveler’s handbook on this.)
On the
way our guide Behlul showed us sesame seeds plants (I had never seen one
before) and against all my advice, everyone ate ice cream. (We will find out the outcome tomorrow)
The town of
Mararis is beautiful and touristy. It is sort of like Carmel and is overrun by
European tourists. Our boat is cute (I thought so small…) but it is very
comfortable.
 |
| Our Boat |
Only three of us ( Beth, Pam and I) swam in the Aegean sea, we all
had dinner and three of us are sitting
under the stars, moons, and dark sky and blogging. Town far away is shimmering with lights and
the boat is rocking very slowly in the wind and the waves. This is wonderful. For
now good night and I will report tomorrow ..Insha Allah
 |
| Swimming |
No comments:
Post a Comment