TURKEY

As we arrived in Turkey at midnight we arranged a transfer who brought us to a hotel called “WOXXIE Hotel” situated in Turgutreis. Turgutreis is about a 60 minute drive from Bodrum International Airport. Here we will stay for the next few days.

Once arrived at our hotel we slept until 12 pm.

The town we will be visiting in Turkey is Bodrum. We thought it was a very interesting city to visit because they have a massive shopping mall! But also is has great monuments and amazing views.Let me give you some history about this amazing city!

Bodrum is a district and a port city in Muğla Province, in the southwestern Aegean Region of Turkey. It is located on the southern coast of Bodrum Peninsula, at a point that checks the entry into the Gulf of Gökova, and is also the center of the eponymous district. The city was called Halicarnassus of Caria in ancient times and was famous for housing the Mausoleum of Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 
Bodrum Castle, built by the Knights Hospitaller in the 15th century, overlooks the harbour and the marina. The castle grounds include a Museum of Underwater Archaeology and hosts several cultural festivals throughout the year. The city had a population of 36,317 in 2012.

17^th of april

After our beauty sleep we had the opportunity to eat something in our hotel. We were obviously very hungry. Because of our nighty flight we were still a little tired so we planned a relaxing day. We took a dolmus to Bodrum (it was 2,5 Turkish Lira) we went for a walk along the water where you could take a boat trip. We didn’t go on a boat trip because we already planned one later to Kos! But more about that in a few days. After our walk we had a drink and went back to our hotel (again with a dolmus) where we had dinner and afterwards another little drink and went to bed. Tomorrow will be a busy day!

18^th of april

Hello!

We were so excited for today, we planned an excursion with a guide named Alida, she was very friendly and explained everything in dutch, wich made it easier for us to understand.

Today we visited the windmills of the Bodrum Peninsula, the Myndos Gate and The Bodrum Amphitheatre.

The windmills of the Bodrum Peninsula

The windmills are situated on a hill between two different villages, Gümbet and Bodrum.

So we had a wonderful view of Bodrum Bay on one side, and Gümbet Bay on the other.

The windmills face northwest, and would have been perfectly positioned to catch the coastal winds in their heyday. They date back to 18th century and they were used till the 70s as a means to grind flour for the local people.

The view was amazing, we took a lot of pictures! From where we were standing you could also see the Greek island Cos, where we will be in 2 days!

All the windmills have no blades exept for one. There is one rich men in Turkey who pays for the windmill and with that money they maintain the blades so they can show the tourists how they looked like in the old times. 

We drank something at the top and we got a bit of time to take some pictures. After that we got into a bus and went to the Myndos gate.

Myndos gate

The Myndos gate was built by King Mausolas also with the city of wall of Halicarnassus in 364 BC. There are still vaulted tombs of the Hellenistic and Roman periods around the gate. Because of it’s direction, the gate referred its name from Myndos.

It has a big meaning in the history of Bodrum Alida told is it was the scene for one of the greatest bloodiest battles during the siege Alexander the Great. After he liberated many cities from the Persian domination, he had strong resistance of Persians at Halicarnasus. Alexander placed his wooden towers and catapults facing to Myndos gate. Here, Persians and Carians tried to make a surprise attack which ended and it burned the wooden towers and destroyed the catapults. But strong resistance of Alexander's army made them retreat towards the Myndos gate. while they were so, the wooden bridge on the mod collapsed and many Halicanassian got drowned or got killed with the arrows coming from both sites. Trying to close down city gates, they left great number of their own friends outside of the city walls. This sudden attack caused great casualties and Persians and Carians started to retreat towards the inner citadel and while retreating they burned down the homes in the proximity of city walls. Alexander left 2500 of his soldiers and appointed queen Ada and Ptolomeus for the capture of inner fortress and left the region.

These stones were very big and really thick.

Again, we took our bus and went to our next stop in Bodrum: the Amphitheatre.

The Bodrum Amphitheatre

When we arrived at the Amphitheatre we all were amazed how huge it was.

It is one of the oldest and most beautiful ancient theatre in Anatolia built in 4th century BC during the rule of King Mausolus. The theatre restorated and hosts concerts and activities since 2002.

The theatre is another witness to the great past of Bodrum, and it is one of the best preserved structures of ancient Halikarnassus.

The Bodrum Amphitheatre lies on the road to Gumbet and is used for concerts and shows during the high season, and is also used as part of the September Festival. It is well preserved and we think it is definitely worth a visit. We think if you attend a concert that is has an amazing sound.

So this was our last stop for this day. We returned to our hotel with a normal bus, not a dolmus. So we could go to sleep for our next day in Turkey!

19^th of april

We had a really good sleep and were ready for today! SHOPPING !!!!!!

When we were having a drink in our hotel the first evening we saw an advertisement of a big shopping mall in Bodrum, called MIDTOWN. Today, MIDTOWN was our destination.

MIDTOWN as the biggest fashion and entertainment center of bodrum, bringintogether many new brands, new concepts in a strong shop mix. MIDTOWN is located on the largest zoning scale as 77.500 m2 in Ortakent which is also Bodrum’s central business district, includes many national and international brands, cinema and open-air cinema, childrens playground, café and restaurants. MIDTOWN was an amazing experience to shop where we could enjoy flavors of Turkish and international cuisine as well as shopping and entertainment.

We had an amazing time! Overall we didn't bought a lot of stuff because of our small budget...

20^th of april

Today is our last day in Turkey.. We packed all our stuff in the early morning and made a review about our trip here in Turkey.

So about Bodrum in general..

We thought the views were all absolutely amazing, we took a lot of pictures and wished you could be with us to see it with your own eyes.

The people here are very friendly, they are really nice and are whole-souled. We would recommend you to visit it one day!

We decided to take a boat to Kos wich we had reserved on our first day in Bodrum.There was a bus who brought us all to the port where we took a ferry to Kos!

It was one hour trip, the sun was shining we had our sunglasses on and we were absolutely enjoying the view. It was relaxing and very pleasant ! 

Now we have been arrived in Kos and we will continue our journey from here.

We will see you all very soon!

XOXO Céline Delbecq