This is the email about the Palamutbuku and Knidos stops during our trip to Datca.

    Palamutbuku and Knidos

The two carpet shops we’d gone to see in Datca were no longer open so we decided to go visit Knidos at the tip of the Datca peninsula. (Knidos is pronounced K Ni Dos, the K not being silent.) I wasn’t so interested in the ancient Greek and Roman ruins, but rather the 4^th century sun dial. And we were so close, so why not go? As it turned out with a wrong turn to Palamutbuku and mountain road, it took over an hour to get there. Lonely Planet says you can take a taxi from Datca to Knidos and back for 100 TL (in 2009) which includes 2 hours of taxi waiting time. We paid 1,000 TL to have the motorbike for 6 months here in Turkey so I think it will pay for itself. We certainly enjoy having it.

Randal thought it looked a long way on the map and I thought it looked a short way on the map. It certainly wasn’t as far as Marmaris and that hadn’t taken all that long. But after about 20 minutes or so, I began to wonder since we had to visit Knidos, eat lunch, and come back in a reasonable amount of time. But Randal thought turning around was dumber than going in the first place and he was driving so we just kept going. We followed the somewhat erratic handwritten signs for Knidos until Randal turned and followed the one that said Knidos Butik. I thought that Butik was the Turkish word for Boutique which they call their small hotels. Instead of arriving in Knidos we ended up, literally, in Palamutbuku where the road literally ended! It was noon and there were several small restaurants.   Randal picked what was probably the most expensive one because of the Efes and Tuborg beer signs. Le Jardin de Semra was lovely but definitely more expensive than our chicken wrap stand. But we were on "vacation."

Road to Knidos overlooking the Mediterranean.

We stopped to look at teeny tiny olives beginning to grow on these trees.

Palamutbuku for lunch.

Le Jardin de Semra

Our table.

Don’t ask about the poodle; I don’t know. It was in the photo so must have been in the picture somehow! Odd.

Our view.

One of the many coves along the coast we may cruise to at some point. When a tour bus parked across the way and blocked our view the owner of the restaurant made the driver move the bus!

Semra is the owner of Le Jardin de Semra.

There really is a garden which provides many of the vegetables used in the dishes and salad.

http://www.lejardindesemra.com/eng/index-eng.html is the website and quite fun to look at. She shows lots of views of the restaurant but not the renovation that took place and how she transformed an old stone building and some stony dirt into the lovely restaurant with its gardens. Semra told us about her sister who lives in Detroit. Unused to Detroit weather, the sister put her plants outside in the sun but neglected to take them in that evening so they all froze.

More tables and a bar around the side leading to the garden in the back.

A display of lovely ceramics.

Knidos is all the way at the western tip of the peninsular.

Almost to Knidos

A dock for cruisers and commercial tour yachts.

We spent most of our time in Knidos talking with other cruisers we met.

On the very tip were the ancient harbor entrance and a very small dock.

Ruins of Knidos

It cost 8 TL per person to walk through the ruins. We really didn’t have time or the right clothes. We had our long pants, shirts and heavy biking shoes and it was t-shirt and shorts hot! It would have taken hours and we didn’t know if we’d stay in Datca that night or bike back to Marmaris. I would have enjoyed the hike and hopefully seeing the sundial, but that will have to be another time. And honestly, after Ephesus and Hierapolis, we aren’t so needing to pay to see ruins.

Walking back to the motorbike.

We grew up with a dog named Susie who looked a lot like this dog except for the black spots on her muzzle. What do you think Bruce? Har?

Then it was off back to Datca

Old Datca

We only biked through but will walk around next visit. It’s mostly a few small shops and restaurants, all old stone buildings and narrow stone roads.

We stayed overnight in Datca and then biked back stopping in Turgut for lunch and to buy those carpets. We did a lot in 2 days

  Tomorrow is our 12th anniversary!  Amazing.  "When you start on your journey to Ithaca then pray that the road is long."  So all I want for my 12th anniversary is another 12 and another 12 and another 12…..which will make me really old and Randal 2 years older! 

Datca is pretty much just west of Marmaris.  This is the story of our time there.  We hope to go back.

Ru

DoraMac

Keep going Sox! 

Datca, Knidos, Palamutbuku and Le Jardin de Semra

“The quiet fishermen village Datca is located about 65 kilometers from Marmaris.

Datca, with just 8000 inhabitants is on a peninsula surrounded by nature. Its location is unique: North of the peninsula is the Aegean Sea and at the South the Mediterranean Sea. From the peninsula you have a panoramic view on the Greek islands Kos, Simi and Rhodos.

Datca is not yet discovered by mainstream tourism because there is no airport nearby. Here you can still taste the real Turkey in Datca. The village is famous for its high oxygen level in the air and the low humidity. Even in the hottest summer months, a gentle breeze will allow for a pleasant stay. The sea and the coast line are stunningly beautiful. In the village itself you can find a little beach and there are plenty of quiet little bays where you can enjoy the peace and beauty.

Eski Datca

When you are in Datca you can visit the natural hot water spring in the centre of Datca. {We biked through but didn’t have time to stay long, but will next time.} This little lake feeds a small water fall, where between 4000 and 5000 liter water flows into the sea every minute. The hot water allows you to swim also in the coldest winter months. On Friday and Saturday a visit to the weekly market is certainly worthwhile; on this market you can buy cheap vegetable, fruit and clothing."Eski Datca" or Old Datca is located 4km from Datca. Historically this was the old centre of Datça. Walking around there will give you the idea that you are going back in time by centuries! Walking down the narrow streets, you can enjoy the old architecture of the houses which has remained intact.” http://www.hiddendatca.com/pages/datca-peninsula

Datca is on the coast, but to get there you take the highway over the mountains.

There is one major road between Datca and Marmaris but seemingly few vehicles to use it. That’s perfect for us. Shortly after leaving Datca we were passed by several cars, a bus, and van from one of Turkey’s political parties. Elections are next month. They had flags and we had our little flag. They waved and honked and we waved. It was like going to a Tech game! But that was just about all the traffic there was except for a car every now and then.

Stopping to look at the view.

Our cruising friends say we look like astronauts! We are almost the only motorbikers to use helmets.

Images of Datca

Just near our hotel.

A few fish sellers and one very patient cat.

Near our hotel is a small park, a public school and a waterside restaurant where the locals seem to gather. I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this woman. She reminds me of our friend Marie-Louise with her morning coffee and newspaper.

Waterfront restaurant where the tourists eat.

Our hotel is the building with the orange roof and you can see the playground just in front on the beach.

It looks surreal but it is exactly as it is.

Zekeriya Sofrasi

The restaurant on the main drag where we ate. Lonely Planet 2009 said it was a good choice with large portions of the best home-cooked local food. Considering it is still there in 2011 it must be doing something right. We chatted with the owner, Zekeriya. His niece just graduated from the University of Virginia!

Big Dinner!!!

Chickpea stew and chicken and fries for Randal and for me, a stew made from artichokes, carrots, and peas; stuffed grape leaves, bread, something with goat cheese and something else I don’t remember but was quite good. We ate just about everything but didn’t make a dent in the bread and they actually had brown bread.

Fora Hotel Lobby with the extremely helpful and friendly desk clerk!

Small sitting area with their Turkish carpet.

Our “suite.”

Our rooms were spare, clean, light and opened onto balconies…we had a sleeping room and a sitting room and a bathroom with a separate enclosed shower. We slept with only the screen door but it was very quiet all night. We no longer need heavy blankets and heat.

Sunrise view.

Sun comes up about 5 something and sets about 8 something making for nice long days.

Reflections from the sidewalk tables where we ate breakfast.

You know I did feed the cat. It rejected a bit of the salty goat cheese so I took a glob of butter on my finger and led the cat away and fed it away from the tables.

Every Turk must have a green thumb! There are flowers everywhere.

I don’t know…The Three Muses? Whatever, I just liked the idea that there they were!

Living quarters above a carpet shop.

There was a small carpet shop on the waterfront with a really old man sitting “guard.” I say guard because he really didn’t talk, gave us no encouragement when we entered his shop, and just flipped on lights and followed us around from the front room to the back room. He was following Randal in the front room when I noticed a stairway in the back room and went up the stairs to peek. He was not happy with me and let me know with his frown for going up the stairs. But I love his rugs and room even though he was such a grouch. He had nice carpets in his shop but there was no working with him. There was no talking with him.

Stella!

In the morning her assistant had been there but just ignored us so we left and went off to Knidos to see the ruins. But we went back late in the afternoon and Stella was very nice and we almost bought the carpet that she had to take from the wall while balanced dare-devil on a ladder, and then had to wipe clean with a mixture of vinegar and water. But it didn’t really call our names so we didn’t get it. We found that her assistant really was very nice and helpful; his English was just too limited to chat, and he really wasn’t there to deal with customers when we stopped in earlier that day.

A beautiful Kayseri carpet in the shop Bazaar Datca.

After breakfast we walked around town one last time and saw carpets in another shop so went in, of course. Kayseri patterns and motifs kept attracting us and that’s exactly what we ended up buying. See the flower motif and the very light circles in the dark area? This one was just too much money and too light but lovely. It felt like silk but I can’t remember if it was since some cotton and even some wool can feel really silky. When you look at the carpets in one direction you see the “dark side” and the other is the “light side” and this carpet had a very vivid contrast. Our carpets have very little contrast so the nap isn’t so extreme.

Waiting for school to start.

We watched them play before school and then heard the school announcements and national anthem. A bit later we saw the late kids having their names taken in the empty playground.

Then it was time to go since we wanted to stop in Turgut to look at carpets and have lunch at the beach resort. Before leaving town we stopped at our regular station to fill up with fuel since there wasn’t one between Datca and Turgut and maybe not between Turgut and Marmaris! Next to the station was a car wash.

Carpets at the car wash! There were several rolling racks and then many carpets on the back fence.

Washing the carpets.

Oddly, Steff Archer, our sales guy at Turgutkoy Hali wasn’t aghast when I told him what I had seen. He said it was the water not the soap that they were using. But he also gave us a paper with suggestions as to how to clean our carpets and there was nothing about taking them to a car wash.

Next email will be about our visit to Knidos with an unplanned side trip to Palamutbuku for lunch.

  The sun is shining, the Red Sox are exploding with runs, and are tied for 1st place in the American League East, and, we love our new carpets!  So this is the end of the carpet saga, at least for the time being.  Here are some photos of the carpet in the galley and the saloon.  You can see our lovely floor too.  Now I have to find some pillow covers for the small pillows on the saloon settee.  My red/blue/gold elephant motif ones made from a skirt bought in Singapore just don’t go.  Maybe I’ll find some with whirling dervishes on them.  The "in the mean time" ones are from a shop in Miri, Borneo, Malaysia and though the colors go better, I never really liked them.

Ru

DoraMac  (not Dora mat) as everyone here seems to hear when we say our boat name over the morning Net! 

Carpets on DoraMac

The Galley Runner

The dimensions of this carpet were the hardest to find so we always started our search looking for the galley carpet. This carpet has to deal with the messiest parts of daily boat life: the refrigerator, stove, sink and engine room. The refrigerator is at the far end on the left across from the stove. The white door on the left opens to the engine room. The stove and sink are on the right. Randal is very careful bringing anything in and out of the engine room but sometimes the water hose is brought into the boat from the sink porthole over the galley floor to the engine room. And the wet/dry vacuum is emptied into the galley sink. I’m careful defrosting the frig, but there always seems to be water on the floor sometime during the process. So not only were size, color and pattern factors, but here cost was too. When we saw this carpet we both really liked it. The galley gets little natural light; just one small porthole over the sink, so we needed something bright.

Saloon

After we picked the galley runner we needed to choose a saloon carpet. I said I wanted a different pattern so it didn’t look as if we went into a carpet shop and bought carpets. We wanted our long search to show. But after looking at different carpets we really liked this one best so stuck with it for the saloon and the small carpets too. We wear our shoes on the boat so needed carpet everywhere we were likely to step. But they feel good under your bear feet. One carpet shop told us that carpets are treated three ways: flipped over until company comes and then turned right side up; socks carpets, and the third was either bare feet or boots. Big difference there but I can’t remember. I’ll have to find out. Ours will have the hard life of “boots.” A truly well made carpet looks really good on both sides and the more the underside looks like the topside, the better the carpet. The $2,000 galley runner was quite lovely on its underside because there were more knots per square inch.

We have two small rugs that are just about the same but one had a more circular design if you can see it. Anyway, the darker one is face up and the other faces down so you can see. The $2,000 runner looked just about the same up or down.

Looking down into the saloon.

In anticipation of the carpets’ arrival we pulled up our “industrial wall to wall” tan carpet and vacuumed and washed down the floor. It felt good to do that! But then there was way, WAY too much wood floor to look at. I think Randal and I were a bit nervous how it was all going to look. But when the carpets arrived and we put them down, it felt like “home!” We like the way they look. We like the way they feel under our bare feet. We like that the price was right for boat living and we can relax when someone spills red wine the first time. And now visitors on the boat can also see our lovely floor. Some boats don’t have wood floors so carpets cover up what is there. Our industrial carpet was covering a lovely teak floor. When cruisers would come by Doramac and ask about her and be invited in for a tour, we always tried to remember to turn up an edge of the carpet to show the floor. Now they can see it. And, as hard as it may be for some of you to believe this, I will enjoy cleaning the floors because it’s soap and water and not a noisy vacuum cleaner.

The color and motif of the carpets is Kayserium from Kayseri, not Hereke as I said earlier. We like carpets from both areas. The flower pattern is a traditional motif from Kayseri.

“Located on the main trade and caravan roads (Kayseri on Silk Road), Kayseri has been a great center of weaving and rug trade. The people of Kayseri have great reputation all over Turkey as talented weavers as well as great merchants. Being a real melting pot on the caravan and trade roads, Kayseri rugs offer great variety of designs and colour combinations which are influenced by Gördes and Iranian carpets. In pure silk and wool and cotton combinations Kayseri rugs are considered second most famous center after Hereke. Kayseri Silk, pure silk, Kayseri carpets, Kayseri on Silk Road, wool and cotton in Kayseri”

http://www.turkishcarpetsguide.com/kayseri.htm The blurb from Britannica said Kayseri is more famous now cranking out carpets for the tourist market. I guess both are correct. I also read one really knowledgeable carpet site that said, “Set a price, find what you like, buy it, enjoy it, and don’t worry.” That’s what we did.

It was all serendipitous, but we actually bought some carpets!  We were so busy buying the carpets I took very few photos.  It was really all shopping and buying!  We did have a lovely adventure along the way, but the final stop was a carpet shop and that’s where I’ll start.  Next email I’ll write about our trip to Datca and Knidos.

Ru

DoraMac

Carpets We Bought near Turgut Turkey on May 24, 2011 Turgutkoy Hali

We went west along the peninsula to Datca to look at carpets. We had visited a shop in Turgut during our first carpet expedition and wanted to visit their second shop in Datca. Turns out there was no longer a second shop in Datca, but we visited other shops and enjoyed our stay and hope to go back with DoraMac. On our way home we decided to stop in Turgut to revisit the first shop and to have lunch at the small beach resort we’d liked so well our first trip. We saw one carpet at the shop that Randal really liked, but the price was wrong and I didn’t love it. Nothing else was the right size, color or pattern. Lunch was wonderful. We could choose chicken or fish and chose chicken and they made us a wonderful lunch with vegetables, pasta, chicken, bread. After lunch we were given directions back to Marmaris that would take us through some lovely villages rather than down the newer highway. We had time so decided to go that way. Shortly after we had left Turgut and turned onto the road towards Bozburun rather than to Marmaris, we saw a carpet showroom, Turgutkoy Hali – Carpet Village. So we stopped. We saw. We bought!

Carpets displayed along the side of the country road between Turgut and Bozburun.

We stopped and parked the motorbike and entered the large complex. Someone came to greet us and once they knew we were interested, they found a salesman to help us whose native language was English. Steff Archer is a Brit who is married to a Turkish woman and they live in Marmaris. He was extremely knowledgeable and answered our questions, listened to our requirements and with his knowledge of his stock showed us wonderful carpets. He was serious but not pushy. He learned our price range and showed us carpets in that range. Steff gave us a tour of the complex starting with the women at the looms who were for illustrative purposes and for training. 1600 women from area villages have been trained as weavers. He explained the pay scale; they earn about $400 in a month. They work about 6 hours a day, 6 days a week. They work during the winter mostly; in summer they farm and do other chores leaving them little time to weave. Their husbands work for area resorts and earn about the same amount of money but work much longer hours each day. Women who work with silk thread work fewer hours because the work is more intricate, difficult and harder on eyes and hands. Rugs can be wool on wool, wool on cotton, silk on ? and mercerized cotton that looks like silk but is less expensive than silk. Our carpets are wool on cotton and Steff said they carpet should last about 30 or 40 years. We told him that would be quite long enough! We didn’t opt to pay for carpets that would last 200 or 300 years. No expensive carpet should start its life our boat! Not with hatches left open and saltwater or boatyard grit coming in.

An example of the vats used for dying yarn with natural substances for the colors.

Natural dyes last longer than synthetic dyes. Whatever is at hand in the area where carpets are made is used for the dye. Saffron, indigo, acorn husks, and other flowers, leaves, or bark or the natural un-dyed wool of the brown or black, or white sheep all can be used.

Our galley had the hardest to find measurements so we always start with it first. We found one with this pattern and both really like it. It is a design motif and colors from the Heleke region near Istanbul. I initially said that I didn’t want the other carpets with the same design but then we found we liked it better than anything else so we went with all four pieces of the same design. Randal is kneeling on what will be our saloon carpet. A coffee table will sit in the middle. The carpet colors are dark enough so that the runner, which is in the galley won’t show too many spills! Also the engine room opens off the galley. We saw a beautiful runner for over $2,000 but I wouldn’t have one that expensive in the galley, or anywhere in our boat for that matter. Or at home with dogs and cats!

A closer look at the pattern.

We had looked at the carpet on the left in a different shop earlier in the day and Randal really liked it but I didn’t love it and the first price was way too high. I didn’t like the salesman either. But they are similar and maybe we would have liked it with our runner pattern. But the coffee table would have covered up the medallion prayer rug design anyway so why pay for it? We looked at other carpets with similar colors and medallions but I didn’t like them as well as what we bought. The salesmen had his helpers spin the carpet around so we could see the nap in a different light. One way is light and one is dark. Spinning is done one-handed with a flip of the wrist and lots of arm muscle! Randal tried and it hardly spun at all. Then the carpets were taken to a room set up like a home with a wood floor so we could see how they would look. We had tea. Then Randal and Steff started to negotiate. There is room to “deal” when you buy a $50,000 carpet. When you buy carpets like ours you pretty much pay the price first quoted. Steff told us that tour groups come and no one wants to hear that one group got better prices than another so prices are pretty fixed based on the formula for wages paid and the materials used. We did get a “discount” for paying cash because I guess it saves the business the fee credit card companies charge. As it was, the cost matched what we had seen other places, but here we trusted we were getting what we paid for because they were new “production line” carpets made by the women trained and paid by this company. We knew we were getting wool on cotton and natural dyes. That was important to us. Not that any of the other people weren’t trust worthy. I am sure Iskender was completely honest in his dealings with us. But he had a smaller, more specialized selection. Large shops like the one where we bought our carpets work with the Turkish government and tour groups so it is a bit more regulated. Their carpets might not have the stories attached, but they are sturdy enough to stand life on a boat and we really like them. They called our name and DoraMac’s too.

3416 TL initial price

3000 TL final deal: 87.82 % because we paid cash

1032 TL Saloon

167 TL each for the small carpets

509 TL for the galley runner

Exchange Rate was about $1.60 per TL though in Datca the afternoon before we were told it was $1.40

The carpets will be delivered to us Thursday evening. Randal is gung-ho to redo the floors but I just want to wash them and leave them as is for a while. He has other boat work to do that isn’t just cosmetic so more important. We’ll see.

Now when we travel we can look at those lovely, colorful painted plates and we can learn about olive oil! We’ll find something else to learn about and still look at carpets. We could always use them in our cabin!

Ru

Doramac

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  I’ve been missing following the Sox simulated games so got up at 4 am to watch.  I’d confused myself thinking we were 9 hours ahead rather than 7, so the game was in the 5th inning.  By the middle of the 8th I went back to bed since the Sox were getting creamed.  It seems every time I wake up to watch, they lose, so no more.  At a more reasonable hour Randal and I motorbiked  to Marmaris for lunch at our favorite chicken wrap spot. With all of our travels we haven’t been there for a while.  The wraps are as good as ever, maybe a little spicier.   After lunch it was off to the Turkcell office to have my phone fixed.  It had suddenly stopped working the day we returned from Bodrum, though thankfully,  Randal’s did not.  Turkcell was open but the tech people don’t work Sunday so we’ll have to go back.  But not tomorrow since we’re off for Dacta 70 or so miles down the coast heading west.  Extra socks and underwear will be packed and we’ll probably stay over night.  There are carpets to see and ruins to visit.  The weather should be good.  Before returning to the boat today we went to the Sunday Market in Beldibi, the next town over from Marmaris.  We bought tomatoes, strawberries, broccoli and radishes, and then proceeded to bash the tomatoes and strawberries over the bumpy roads to the Marina.  Normally our jackets would have padded the plastic "trunk" carrier but we’d left them on the boat to make room for our purchases.  Live and learn.  We’ll know better next time. 

Here is part 3 of our Milas/Bodrum tour.  I’m saving the best for the final installment. 

Ru

DoraMac

Milas and Bodrum by Motorbike 3

Just short of Bodrum Randal started to coast down a long hill. I asked why. “Almost out of gas” was his answer. We had just passed a gas station on the wrong side of the divided highway so exited down an entrance (you can do that on a small motorbike) and crossed the highway and got fuel. Our gas mileage chugging up the mountains just isn’t as good as it was riding the coastal roads of Malaysia. There do seem to be enough stations to fill up; we just have to fill up at ¼ tank rather than wait until we’re closer empty!

Bodrum looks like what you would expect a seaside Mediterranean city to look like. Whitewashed houses built from the hillside down to the water. The population is about 28,000 which is similar to Marmaris, but the city center is a bit more upscale if you know what I mean. It’s not better, it just looks newer and more, well, “upscale.” Lonely Planet says building height is restricted. “And even when its seafront bars are spilling over with people and its clubs are pumping, there’s still something rather refined about the place.” We’d not planned to come to Bodrum so had done no research about hotels or even where the hotels might be located. Pretty quickly we were able to find our way to the center of “tourist Bodrum” and to a hotel on the waterfront. We knew we’d pay more for the location but had no idea where other hotels might be. It was there; we were there; and the price was okay for the location. The room wasn’t worth the money but the view was. And for all the “waterfront bars and pumping clubs” we heard no night noise or karaoke singers. Only the early morning prayers from the nearby Mosque woke us. The light from the waterfront and the hotel lit our room so that when I woke in the middle of the night I didn’t know if it was still night or if it was morning light. The drapes were lovely flimsy affairs which would have been perfect in a secluded country setting but not on the main drag.

The view from our balcony in the morning light.

Just down below the stripped awning were small souvenir stalls. Between the stalls and the boats along the water was a walkway that went around the coast through Bodrum.

Castle of St. Peter is the Bodrum landmark which we only saw from a distance

The Vatican attached great importance to the building of the Castle and sent Christians to work there. In 1409 the Papal Office issued a decree that all those who assisted in the construction would receive a guaranteed reservation in Heaven.

http://www.bodrum-bodrum.com/v2/History/Bodrum-s-Castle-of-St.Peter.html

I just read that Bodrum was the home of Herodotus, the ‘Father of History.’ I was a history major so one day will have to go back and pay homage. Bodrum has a marina so maybe one day we’ll bring the boat for a stay and actually see some of the sites. We did visit one carpet shop but I wasn’t wild about his carpets; much of it made to order and too “hotel lobby” for me. The internet café was a challenge. I never could get yahoo to accept my email address and password. Turkish keyboard have all of the extra keys for the two sets of vowels and extra consonants with their diacritic markings. (Reading about all the different diacritic markings can make your head spin!) Some keys have 3 uses and I kept guessing wrong so not getting what I needed. The young kid working there spoke no English and was too busy with his own computer to take time to help me. I couldn’t get into my email account but I could check on the Red Sox so all was not lost.

Around the corner from our hotel and just across the street from the waterfront were the restaurants and bars. We never did see this chandelier lit up at night but it must have been something! It was something in daylight. I think the restaurant’s name was Pink!

The town square with the huge red Turkish flag, the big banner of Ataturk and the mosque. I don’t know if the flag and banner are always there. Thursday was a holiday and there was a short program of only about 20 minutes where something like our Taps was played and I’m sure the Turkish National Anthem. And some men made speeches. Our hotel is just around the corner so we could hear it as we ate breakfast on the terrace.

Dollar is still top dog! Dollar, Euro, British Pound and the Turkish Lira

Evening view from our hotel balcony. Morning view of Randal.

Breakfast on the patio, bread, cheese, olives, tomato, cucumber, butter, and fruit spread. And coffee.

Stuff to buy.

The awning visible from our balcony is the covering for these stalls. Unfortunately or thankfully the back box on the motorbike is too small for “stuff” other than a change of clothes, backpacks and a book or two. Randal is working on a design that would let us hook our bicycle panniers to the motorbike and then it will take will power not to come back to the boat with more stuff. Luckily our goal at the moment is just carpets.

We ate breakfast, brushed our teeth, paid the bill off we went. We weren’t far out of town when we passed a carpet shop.

I really liked this small carpet (the furthest one in the photo) but it cost 600TL=$400 and the long runner would have fit perfectly in the galley. The 4 carpets would have cost a total of almost $2,000 and we weren’t ready to spend that much money this early in the search. The one if front of it, which would have gone in the saloon was a favorite too. I liked the runner colors the least though in dimmer light, and the galley gets little light, the colors didn’t look so pink.

We’re getting used to these motifs which don’t say “Turkey” to us but most certainly are. Different villages have different motifs and colors and can be more geometric than the more traditional “prayer rug” motifs like the rugs below. In real life the colors of the two pieces above worked together because they both had some of the orange-rust looking color and the patterns worked together

These two rugs came from the same area, Hereke, a coastal town about 50 miles from Istanbul. They say “Turkey” to us because they are what we are more accustomed to seeing in the US as Turkish rugs.

Wiser, no poorer, a bit disappointed but eager to continue our search, we left the carpet shop and continued on our way to the “carpet village” of Karacahisar. To be continued….

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  The final installment of our road trip to Milas, Bodrum and Karacahisar.  Tomorrow we start on a new adventure, to Datca.  Tomorrow the Sox will return to their winning ways (I hope!)

Ru

DoraMac

Milas and Bodrum by Motorbike – Karacahisar Carpet Village

At the tourist office in Milas we had been given a small booklet about Milas which mentioned nearby villages where carpets were made. The photo on one page showed a woman from the village of Karacahisar spinning yarn that would be used to weave the carpets. Karacahisar is 12 miles from Milas so on our way home we decided to make the side trip. Milas is on the road we had to take from Bodrum back to Marmaris, so Karacahisar wasn’t really so far out of our way. Visiting Karacahisar was a treat!

Half way to Karacahisar we passed a round stone building. I have seen several since we’ve been in Turkey and was curious so we stopped to look. Unfortunately this one is covered with graffiti; I quite like them but have no idea what they are.

Inside was very dark and only looking through my camera and taking flash photos show what it looks like. I threw a rock in and when it splashed, that’s how I knew there was water though I’m not sure how deep or where it comes from. The domed ceiling was stone.

A local man, a welder, stopped to chat ‘motorbikes” with Randal. You can see the Turkish flag we received from Onurhan and his mom. You can also see that Randal and I are about the only motor-bikers in Turkey who wear helmets.

There little traffic and great scenery but Randal was on a carpet mission so we didn’t stop as often as I would have liked to take photos.

Karacahisar ahead

We arrived in Karacahisar with the same feelings of anticipation and excitement as our arrival in Milas and Bodrum and the same cluelessness as to where to go actually see carpets. The fact that Karacahisar was a tiny remote village on a hillside made it even more of a challenge. I fell in love with the stone buildings and the gardens, with the man leading his saddled mule and the lady leading her cows through town. Country-boy Randal felt less comfortable stopping to take photos so I have less to show than I would like. Finally I said, STOP! Let me off!!! And he did and I walked along a bit taking photos

Randal had stopped and was waiting for me at the very center of the tiny village. A man came along and said “Bodrum?" to ask if we were trying to find the road to Bodrum. We said no, so he went on his way. But other men came and the lady with the cows. One man took charge of figuring out what we wanted. He may have understood some English but spoke none. Randal showed him the booklet with the picture of the woman from Karacahisar and pointed to the carpet. The man smiled, nodded, motioned for us to park the bike and follow him. We walked past a tractor loaded with hay which Randal needed to stop and examine and discuss with our leader. Our destination was the home of a woman who wove carpets for sale.

Our guide motioned for me to take a photo, but first I asked “grandma” before I did.

The woman on the right is the carpet weaver and this is her home and maybe her mom and maybe one of her carpets being used as the work area to make bread.

This room was her work space with the loom and balls of hanging yarn and her pattern. There is a carpet in progress on the loom. They also unrolled two completed carpets for us to see.

The borders, center and corner design are typical of Karacahisar carpets.

In the Milas tourism office we were given a lovely calendar with pictures of different Milas carpets for each month. November is the Karacahisar carpet. The two thin borders and one thick border are characteristic of Karacahisar carpets as are the decorative corners and the large center pattern. Red or white are often used as the filler color around the design. It is wonderful to see traditions continued and to start to understand and appreciate the different traditions.

The experience of going to the village and meeting a “weaver” was special. Carpets really are still handmade, if you go to the right place though most of them are probably sold by the carpet dealers such as we’ve met in our travels. We biked back to Milas and stopped for lunch. We still haven’t mastered ordering and got two double orders of cheese bread instead of one double order to share. We took one order home in a to-go box and ate it for dinner! The weather started to look threatening as we were leaving Milas heading to the mountain road that was under construction. Luckily for us when we got there, the rain had passed and the traffic wasn’t bad. But the temperature had dropped considerably and I was really cold but not freezing. Once out of the mountains and into the sun and it was much better.

Almost home but not quite: the last mountain road before we get into Marmaris.

Most roads we travel are quite good and so far not the least bit crowded. There are very few trucks but lots of buses on the main highway between bigger destinations points like Bodrum, Mugla, and Marmaris. There was road construction, but nothing as annoying and ever-present as in Pennsylvania. Interesting cars on the road. At one point we were in line behind a Porsche and then a Mercedes and then an Audi! The posted speed limit was 50 kilometers (30 mph) though no one went that speed except for maybe us. No one road our tail or honked or tried to run us off the road. It felt much safer than in Malaysia.  We arrived back at the boat about 5 pm several hours before sunset.  We were tired but it had been a great trip!

The sun is bright, the wind is calm and the Sox are now just 1/2 game out of first place!  I actually do miss following the simulated game on the computer which I could do when we were 12 hours ahead of the East Coast.  Now that it’s 9 hours, the games come on at 4 am rather than at 7 am so I just get up and find the final score.  But something feels missing.  We’re getting some boat chores finished and planning our next bike trip which will be to Datca (pronounced Datcha because of the little squiggle under the c which I can’t make with this keyboard.)  Datca is about 60 kilometers or 36 miles from Marmaris according to the Lonely Planet guide but it’s also about 4 times further than Turgut and that took us longer than an hour so we’ll see.  We’ll take socks and underwear and we’ve looked up hotels.  We’ll probably go Monday if the weather looks good. 

But now, back to Bodrum………

When we left Marmaris Wednesday morning our goal was to visit Milas, look at carpets, and return to Marmaris. It would have been a long day, but doable. But just in case, we took extra socks and underwear. So at 4 pm Wednesday afternoon, while standing in the center of Milas, we decided to head south east to Bodrum rather than return to Marmaris. We were so close to the seaside town of Bodrum that it would have been a shame to just turn around and go home without visiting. And we were having too good of a time to go back. So with the weather forecast was for a sunny Thursday; and with clean underwear for Thursday, we decided why not? It was a good decision and off we went.

About half way to Bodrum we saw a sign CARPET FARM so stopped to have a look. www.eracarpets.com is the website. It was a lovely compound which included the family’s home, offices and showroom. The showroom was on the other side of the garden and when I stopped to smell some of the roses the gardener motioned for me to come onto the lawn to smell the more fragrant wild roses. Everywhere there are flowers and vine covered trestles. And many of the roses are the more traditional variety with the fragrance you expect from a rose. So I was a bit surprised some of the roses here were beautiful but fragrance free. I guess the gardener knew that so wanted me to smell a “real rose.”

Closely inspecting a “dowry” carpet.

Iskender (Alexander) Ildiz took a great deal of time showing us carpets and teaching us about them too. After university in Norfolk, VA ! where he’d studied information technology, Iskender had returned home to Turkey to help run the family business. He told us more about dowry carpets. Not only do they attract possible suitors, but if need be, they are sold to raise money for the needs of married life. This carpet had a small, not very noticeable flaw which bothered Randal but not me. It just showed that it was truly made by human hand. Iskender said it wouldn’t be repaired as it was part of the carpet’s history and story and not really seen as a flaw. To reweave the small flawed part would have ruined it. The flaw was reflected in the price.

In the showroom there were special framed carpets on the walls. I thought I’d heard Iskender say his grandfather had done them but Randal thinks that his grandfather had them commissioned. Maybe it’s some of both. I should have stood next to them to give you an idea of the size.

My two favorites

Iskender said the Mona Lisa was his grandfather’s inspiration which made me think that he did make the carpet. I look at it and see a woman reading or lighting Sabbath candles.

This colorful one was Randal’s favorite and it’s unusual for the number of different colored yarns used. It represents “mother nature” and there are deer and birds and flowers woven into the picture.

Iskender said that the “Jewish theme” carpets that were often made for Bar Mitzvahs though I don’t think they still have them to sell. ( I really need to take notes, have said that for years, and hopefully will start one of these days. But it’s hard to take photos, look at carpets, and take good notes all at the same time.)

A repaired carpet and one of the men who repairs them.

Iskender showed us this carpet and then told us why it was unique. It had been a larger carpet but the outer parts had been ruined beyond repair so they cut it down and refinished the edges. He said that you would never see a carpet with this pattern in this size without more outer boarders. It was the outer borders that had been cut away. We would never have known, but he wanted us to know the truth about the carpet. We appreciated him telling us, but though we liked the carpet, it didn’t say “Turkey” to us or call our names. We are learning to broaden our horizons about the different motifs and colors of Turkish carpets. Motifs and colors depend on the region where they are made. Many are wool woven on cotton but the Nomad carpets are wool on wool. It’s all very interesting and we are starting to learn what we like.

Though we really enjoyed talking with and learning from Iskender no carpet called that fit our size requirements so it was back on the bike and off to Bodrum

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When we finally buy Turkish carpets, I hope it’s after many adventures learning about and searching for the perfect carpet. It won’t be perfect because of its size or price or even patterns and colors. It will be perfect because of the story of how we found it. During this story we found wonderful carpets that might be hard to beat, but it’s just too soon in the search. And the prices for each of the 4 pieces were more than we wanted to spend at this point in our search. We just don’t know enough yet to pay almost $400 for a rug just 26 inches by 41 inches, even if it was beautiful and fit well with the others we had chosen. We picked 4 separate rugs for the saloon and galley and the total best price of the day was almost $2,000. But all of that comes later in the story.

Last week we stopped to visit our friend Ibrahim who owns the Dost Hotel where we stayed while awaiting DoraMac’s arrival. We got to meet Grandma (of the lentil soup fame) and Grandpa, the original owner of the hotel. We told Ibrahim of our carpet trip to Turgut and he said we should go to Milas as the area is famous for its carpets. Milas is 160 kilometers or about 100 miles from Marmaris. We guessed that we could be there in about 3 hours with stopping to rest every so often and that we could do a trip back and forth in one day. The weather forecast for Wednesday and Thursday was for sunny weather here and in Milas. Watching the weather is as important for motorbike riding as it is for boating. To be on the safe side, in case we couldn’t make it back Wednesday, we took extra socks and underwear, tooth brush and tooth paste and but not much more. We didn’t make it back on Wednesday, but it wasn’t because of the weather; it was because of the carpets, the wonderful Turkish people we met, and just Turkey itself.

“Mom” Onurhan and Randal

Randal and I stopped for gasoline just outside Mugla. Another motorbike stopped at the same time and we all smiled as people. Randal was in charge of getting fuel and I was in charge of finding coffee. There was a small restaurant next to the gas station so I walked in and asked if we could get coffee. They spoke no English but understood coffee and said yes. I went back to get Randal and but then stopped to say hello to Onurhan and after receiving an enthusiastic hello asked if he and his mom wanted to join us for coffee. Onurhan is a 20 and a mechanical engineering student. His mom is a mechanical engineer who owns her own company and they live in Istanbul. Onurhan had spent his first year at university studying English and Italian. He says English is essential because his classes are taught in English. He took Italian because he likes things Italian and has an Italian motorcycle. They were traveling around Turkey and I think also plan to visit Italy. Onuran showed us his GPS for Turkish roads which is just like the one we have back home except his speaks Turkish though it can speak English or Italian or whatever. But at high speeds the wind drowns it out. Onuran also had a tiny mini-cam attached to his helmet. Cool !

An exchange of flags.

It was then time to go. They have a much faster bike and even with our head start they went flying past with a honk and a wave.

Then it was on to Milas. Now, I don’t know what we were thinking we’d find once we arrived in Milas; maybe a sign that said CARPETS FOR SALE plastered across the entrance to this city of 61,000. Nope. We rode around and rode around and explored and then stopped for lunch.

The outdoor restaurant across the way only had men sitting there so we came here.

Definitely homemade!

We had wedges of spinach cooked in phyllo dough.

Randal helping himself to more baklava.

Restaurant side of the street and “across the street.”

Women making food “treats” to sell at the charity bazaar we stopped to see and wished we hadn’t already eaten lunch. They were auctioning off a Milas carpet but it was the wrong color and size. When we asked about a carpet shop, no one understood us at all.

We got back on the motorbike and road again down the main road and finally found a carpet shop.

One of the 3 shops we found in Milas City.

Milas carpets are recognizable by their motif and use of color. The villages around Milas are a cottage industry for carpet making and women make them in their homes as we found out later in our journey. But we knew nothing when we arrived, just that Milas was associated with carpets. The young man running this shop was very nice but nothing either called our name or matched the sizes we needed. We made our way to the city center and found a sign for a tourist information center. It was about 2 pm and the center wouldn’t be open until 3 or 3:30 so we parked the bike and went off to explore Milas.

We found a tiny carpet shop but not “our carpet.”

We wandered the old part of this hillside city with its vine covered streets that would provide shade in the summer heat.

Turkish Demokrat Party. I can’t keep their politics straight yet.

Our third and last “in the city” carpet shop. We didn’t get carpets, but did get directions back to our motorbike! The directions got us part way, then someone gave us wrong directions, and then someone gave us the right directions.

The Tourist/Translation office was open but the owner hadn’t yet returned. “5 minutes” we were told by the assistant. We often hear that and 99% of the time it’s true; as it was this time. Less than 5 minutes passed and the owner Aziz Oner arrived. He was incredibly helpful and interested in our quest. He gave us a beautiful calendar with each month a different Milas carpet and information about its colors and design and also a small booklet about Milas and its history and sites to see. Had we been there on Friday he could have taken us around the area on a carpet tour. Maybe another time. After our conversation and glasses of Turkish tea, Randal and I were again on our way. It was 4 pm and though we could have made it back to Marmaris before dark at 8 pm, we chose to go on to Bodrum and spend the night. Have motorbike, will travel!

  We are enjoying lazy time for now, just taking the motorbike and exploring down the road or going to town for short rides and a few chores.  And checking the Red Sox scores first thing in the morning isn’t so awful anymore.  Go Sox.  Randal’s brother-in-law Ken and a favorite person of mine, is an Oriole fan but I’m totally cut-throat when it comes to baseball so I’m having to cheer for the Sox beating the Orioles.  But I can cheer for Alabama football!  Roll Tide Roll !!! 

Ru

DoraMac

Turgut Carpet Showroom

Sultan Carpet : Handmade old carpets and kilims and souvenirs

We were told the showroom had just opened and they were still spiffing up the complex. ( I wish they’d left the stone unpainted though I once bought a house with painted bricks so who am I to talk.)

Looking at carpets can make your head spin!

I’m still waiting for one to call my name. The problem will be finding one that calls Ruth and Randal at the same time.

We read an article in National Geographic Traveler about a man who used his search for a rug as a reason to explore Turkey and that’s what we will also do. Not that the friendly Turks, beautiful scenery, historic sites, and the great food aren’t reasons enough.

I quite liked this one and think it would lovely in our boat; but we have lots of looking to do and it didn’t shout our names…not quite.

“The assistant” brought me a small cup of Turkish coffee that I drank because drinking tea or coffee is part of the process of carpet shopping. The coffee is quite thick and the bottom of my cup was filled with sludge that maybe I should have swished around while I was drinking it.

(Hasan) Adnan DEMIR and Randal exchanging business cards.

I made the mistake of telling Hasan that some of the Turkish “tribal” patterns reminded me of Native American Indian patterns. It strikes me as very interesting but he thought I was saying the Turks were copying Indian patterns and didn’t take it as “a compliment.” So from now on I won’t point that out to anyone other than other North Americans. We actually experienced the same thing in Tibet where the patterns also reminded us of Native American Indians. It actually puts us off because we’re looking for a “stereotypical Turkish rug” pattern though the more we learn, we may change of mind(s.)

On our way back to Marmaris we decided to stop at Marti Marina in Hisaronu Bay about 25 kilometers from Marmaris (15 miles and about 25 minutes by car according to their brochure but not according to our motorbike speed.) We are looking for other marinas for our travels. It looks just like our marina only smaller, much, much smaller which is fine. We walked around a bit and then used their WC. Every WC (toilet) around the world offers its own challenges, instructions, identification signs and Marti was no different.

Some WC images can actually be a bit ambiguous but not this one.

Instructions posted in the ladies….some of the most elaborate I’ve seen anywhere.

Then it was back on the bike. As we got close to Marmaris I tried to take some shots looking down on Marmaris from the mountain. My next camera will have a wide angle…and a zoom and a zoom wide angle if that exists.

You can see how the road curves around the mountain and was great fun on a motorbike. Our friends Bud and Anita from Passage rented a small Fiat and made the trip around the coast going south east and said the roads were spectacular even in the rain. We obviously wouldn’t enjoy a rain ride no matter how lovely.

We pulled into this overlook and spied the two chairs. Wonder what their story is.

A “sort of” aerial view of Marmaris with our marina visible in the distance about 8 miles from where I am taking the photo. The marina is that white which looks to be connecting the mountains on either side of the photo. Not sure of the population, maybe about 28,000 locals though during tourist seasons it swells to either 75,000 or 350,000 depending on the website you choose to believe. And which sign. The sign on the road coming to the marina says 26,000 and the one you read leaving the marina says 30,000.

http://www.maremlak.com/marmaris_tr.php has good info and photos of Marmaris

Have motorbike will travel. Pay big money to have motorbike and definitely will travel!! Yesterday Randal and I went for a short ride to Icmeler, about 5 miles from the center of Marmaris. ( It’s about 5 miles from the marina to Marmaris, but on the small crowded dolmuses it takes about 20 minutes with all the stops and people getting on and off.) Icmeler is a holiday town with beaches, hotels and restaurants, buses, taxis, cars, motorbikes and no gas stations! We drove around looking for one and then back in Marmaris to fill up and asked where the station in Icmeler was located. “They have none,” was the answer. That means that we’ll have to really plan out our trips because you can’t be sure every town along the way will have a place to fill up. We can travel about 100 miles on a tank of gas so we should be safe in most cases. Today we went for a longer ride over the mountains that follow the coast. It was a beautiful day and a great ride. The road was scenic and the traffic very light probably because it was Sunday and Turkey has “western weekends” rather than Muslim weekends of Friday and Saturday.

We stopped for photos on the way back.

I can’t tell you the road name or number because it isn’t listed on the map…it just shows where it goes which is good enough.

. “When you start on your journey to Ithaca, then pray that the road is long…”

It was hilly so we chug-a-lugged as we neared the tops of each rise but had no problems actually getting to the top and there was enough of a shoulder so the infrequent traffic didn’t try to run us off the road.  ‘Once upon a time’ we would have biked this on bicycles.

We’d chosen Turgut for two reasons. Randal was told that there was a carpet showroom there, and though we eventually want to buy one or two, in the meantime we enjoy the search and learning more about them and seeing the wide variety. The other reason is that Turgut is a good day-trip from Marmaris. It is about 45 kilometers from the marina. The speed limit on the road is 50 k and we didn’t exceed the speed limit which was a good thing because we did pass at least one ‘polis’ car watching on the side of the road. Over the mountain tops we couldn’t exceed the limit and going down I wouldn’t let Randal exceed the limit. The closer we got to Turgut on smaller country roads, the slower we wanted to go just to enjoy the scenery.

The way to the sea side restaurant in Turgut where we ate lunch.

We got to Turgut about lunch time and there were several choices at the small crossroads that we guess is the center of town. We had found the carpet showroom on the small country road just outside Turgut but decided to visit after lunch. Randal saw a sign pointing to the beach down this narrow road so we went there because he wanted to eat by the water. I know water views can double the cost of the meal, but we were “on holiday” so it was ok

The Ella Bar and Restaurant where we were greeted as though we were special guests from afar.

View to the right.

View to the left.

At the shoreline the water of the Mediterranean was crystal clear.

Randal takes time to smell the fragrant roses.

Turks love flowers and you see them everywhere.  My favorite is when they fill huge empty olive oil cans with plants.  We have one and it’s exactly what I’ll do when it’s empty. 

The owner asked if we wanted chicken or fish apologizing for what we already have learned from visiting the fish markets, which is that fish is more expensive than chicken or meat. But we opted for fish since we rarely eat it and we were having an adventure. The owner then brought out two fish and said that one was 20 TL and one was 30 TL. We opted for the 20 TL thinking we would share one fish.

First came marinated green beans and eggplant and the ever-present crusty bread.

Washed down by the ever present Efes beer. I had Turkish tea which is black tea in a lovely tea glass.

Salad was served with the meal and there is always lemon to squirt on everything.

The main attraction(s) cooked perfectly.

We thought we were sharing one fish and they thought we were each eating a fish. I ate all of mine and Randal ate all of his. With all of the salads and bread we certainly could have shared one fish and next time will know to say, “Just one fish, please.” Randal was quite taken with the owner who spoke honestly about the price of fish and didn’t bat an eye when we ordered the cheaper one. We invited him to visit our boat but he said he really didn’t like Marmaris and told us to come back and he’d take us out on his boat. We may one day bring DoraMac here in our travels and then he’ll visit our boat.

The road from the restaurant back to Turgutkoy. I think the koy indicates the actual city center though Turgut is listed on the map.

I got off and walked along the road a short way taking photos and Randal returned to get me.

Then it was on to the carpet show room, but that will have to wait for the next email.

http://www.marmaristown.com/sightseeing/turgut.html  to learn more about Turgut.

KEEP GOING SOX  !!!!!

Ru

DoraMac