We spent 12 days in Turkey staying 8 days with Turkish friends in the area of Bodrum, an hours drive west from the airport on the coast in Gümüşlük in an air b&b before moving onto a hotel in the town.
The pool at the air b&b was shared by 6 houses, we pretty much had it to ourselves. there was one English lady who used it occasionally but she didn't interact with us and a local woman who seems to be unhappy about us using it and made sure we showered off each time, even though she saw us walking towards the shower, she still felt the need to point it out.
It was a lovely relaxing break, just chilling in the pool, local beaches, plenty of food and drink, relaxed evenings and no pressure to go anywhere or do anything. No loud music, no unruly children running around and not another British tourist in sight.
We had lots of holiday pets, there was a tortoise wandering around the garden.
We visited several local beaches and saw lots of colourful fish in the sea, the waters were really clear.
The plants were stunning, loads of cactus and colourful plants. You might be able to see the school lego figure, baby Yoda, who travelled with me.
The beaches were pebbly and we needed to purchase some beach shoes. I didn't find a single sea shell during our stay. That's Kos, Greece in the distance.
I was happy to find a Caffè Nero and a Starbucks.
We spent every evening outside, plenty of insect repellent was needed and all of us got bitten numerous times.
Another day, another beach.
The irony of paper straws and the banning of single use plastics in the UK to save the turtles in Turkey. Plastic straws were handed out everywhere here. There was no recycling and few litter bins and the sea was full of plastic waste.
There was a wide variety of fruits growing everywhere. Pawpaws.
Grapes.
Another holiday cat.
Fire pit ready for cooking dinner. On the 3rd night a neighbour complained about the smell of cooking fish.
Bananas.
A hike to Champagne Bay for an evening swim.
A visit to a local market.
Local geese patrol.
Breakfast.
Days on the beach.
Time to chill, read and fresh fruit.
Accompanied by holiday dogs on the walk to the local shops.
Views from the air b&b.
Bouganvillea adding colour.
Holiday cats, chewed through my phone cable whilst playing.
Hotel room balcony.
Champagne Bay.
Evening swim in the hotel pool.
Why are hotel tea cups so small?
Tangerines growing, ripe for picking. lovely sliced in a G&T.
Holiday hats an essential.
Standard Irish pub find. We didn't go in.
We visited Bodrum markets for a day and I was saddened to see how many English tourists were buying up all the fake goods available. On our flight home everyone was dressed top to toe in knock off gear, including clothing, trainers and handbags.
I'm guilty of having done this when visiting Turkey 20 years ago, buying fake goods, but after living in South Africa and witnessed the effects of gun crime, I carried out my own research and discovered that the sale of fake goods was the quickest and easiest way for organisations to raise funds for terrorist activities, to purchase guns, for human trafficking, drugs and child exploitation.
Besides the fakes baring no resemblance to the actual genuine product, the spelling is often wrong and the quality of the items are poor.
With all the information available on the internet today, I had hoped that people would be better informed, but sadly we seem to be living in a society where people think just having stuff with a label, even a false one means they can show others they have achieved something in life even if when they get back to work on Monday, everyone knows they've been to Turkey and have bought it in market and it's a knock off.
Sometimes you forget you're abroad.
Wouldn't want to go on this slide in the heat.
Loved the decorations at Bodrum Marina.
We drove through Gumbet one afternoon, known as the party area of Bodrum and an area the locals steer clear of.
Loved the red dragonflies.
There were queues of influencers lining up at sunset to have their pictures taken with the white trees and the decorated gourds for their instagram pages, which was blocked while we were there.
I found my own instagram spot of my favourite thing to do.
More holiday pets. A holiday horse.
A holiday pony.
Turn left at King Beer for the hotel.
It was a hot 12 days and nights.
Early morning swims.
Evening walks.
Beautiful surroundings.
Freshly caught fish.
Photo Opportunities.
Favourite holiday dog. All well cared for.
Freshly picked pomegranate, warm from the sun, but so fresh.
But be careful what you pick.
Moonflower, it's toxic.
Plenty of reading done and books left behind for the next person.
Not sure what some of the contents of the dishes were for breakfast, so we left them well alone.
As lovely as the design of the walls were it made it difficult to sleep with all the light coming in.
Last dip in the pool before heading to the airport.
Forest fires all around us.
Car broke down, passengers still in vehicle as it was loaded onto trailer.
Before flying home, we had been through terminal security then the standard boarding pass scan and passport control and internal security checks then the additional security checks at the gate. I'm used to additional security checks especially when flying in and out of the Middle East and many time from Turkey, with a complete bag check, but this time I was asked to remove the cover from my laptop while it was swabbed and to drink from my coffee cup that I had purchased the contents for from airside in the terminal.
I decided not to make this an informative blog post about places to visit and things to do as there is so much stuff on the internet and information out there and everyones needs and wants on holidays are so different these days.
We booked flights with Jet2 and flew from Birmingham airport. The flights cost £780 return for 2, we booked only a month before we flew.
We used airport parking for the campervan at the cost of £149 for 12 days, parking in a NCP car park 7. We have a Ford App that allows us to track the vehicle and we could see the van was moved and stored less than half a mile away during our whole trip and was moved back to the car park the evening before we arrived back.
Peter has holiday insurance with his HSBC credit card which is free. It covers for 30 days out of the country and covers him up to the age of 70. When we travel to Australia and are out of the country for more than 30 days in one trip we have to take out additional cover.
I have cover with Admiral that allows me to travel for more than 30 days at the cost of £111 per year.
We also have home insurance that allows us to leave the house unoccupied for more than 90 consecutive days at a time, also with Admiral. It does cost slightly more, but with having been expats and with regular tripos to Australia it is vital we have this level of cover and worth looking into if you make regular trips abroad or you may find yourself not covered in the event you need to make a claim.
