April 17th: In transit

We drove from the spa hotel near Salithli to Bodrum.  In Turkey, each driver is supposed to have a card for using toll roads -- you can't use cash.  We didn't discover this until we were at the toll booth in Izmir on our way to Assos, and were unhappy to discover that one had not been provided with our rental car.  I set the GPS to avoid toll roads, and planned a route myself that bypassed Izmir, but I missed my turnoff, and Ian had to navigate a horrible route that appeared to head in the wrong direction right through the huge city of Izmir (the second biggest in Turkey).  Eventually, we were headed in the right direction, and after an hour of rather stressful driving decided to reward ourselves by visiting the ruins of Kalaphon, but although we followed the signs, they disappeared once we entered a village in true Turkish fashion, so we didn't quite get there. 

In Gimli's defense, she did take us to our hotel, which did not have a street number, but as Ian was too busy navigating one-way streets right down in the busy tourist centre, and I was looking for a building, we missed the little sign that pointed down the alley.  Frustrated, we decided to return the car and take a taxi back, but the GPS couldn't quite find the car rental place.  We went into a travel agent, were directed down the road, and took a small walk down the one-way street that had taken us an hour to circumnavigate the harbour.  We were both very relieved to find the office.  By this time, it was nearly 4:00, and Ian doesn't stop for bathroom breaks, so I was distracted!  It took us fifteen minutes to find the rental contract, which was exactly where it was supposed to be, but I missed somehow, and then the rental agent offered to drive us to our hotel -- once he figured out that we were staying in the "Ahr-TOONCH" hotel, and not the "AR-tunk" as we pronounced Artunc.  I take back everything I have even implied about Ian's aggressive adaptation to Turkish driving, as the car company driver took our little car down alleys and over pedestrians at a pace that would have made me close my eyes, if I hadn't had the foam mattresses blocking my vision from all but the back side window!

Our host was surprised to see the foam mats, and asked if we planned to sleep outside.  We were really glad to have them to put on the mattress that is really, I fear, a boxspring.  I will be very sad to leave them behind tomorrow, but perhaps Greek mattresses are more accommodating.  

Anyway, we took a brief walk around the harbour, had a Starbucks iced coffee latte, went to the town square for a pide, sitting opposite the Burger King, and stopped at the bakery for some dessert.  I was pleased to buy a book in English (Agnes Grey, by Anne Bronte), as I have been without one for weeks, and Ian bogarts the Kindle.

This morning we are off to see the Maritime Museum in St. Peter's Castle, the Tomb of Mausolus, from which we get the word "mausoleum", and the remains of Helicarnasus, where Herodotus, Ian's hero, was born.  Ironically, we looked up the address of the ferry agent so that we can buy the remaining tickets for the Greek ferries we will be taking, and it is the same agent we burst in on yesterday.   I think we need to buy Ian a souvenir T-shirt as well, as we need laundry done, but Ian is a bit concerned about wearing a "Bodrum" T-shirt into Greece.  We'll see what happens!