A Castle and Mausoleum By the Sea

If we wanted to enjoy the sun and beach along the Aegean Sea, it would have been smart of us to stay another day in Dalyan.  Unlike the day before, there would be no rain in the weather forecast.  It would just be sunshine and relaxation.  However, we greedily wanted to squeeze more areas of the country into our trip.  And The Wife still had mixed emotions about our experience in Dalyan.  Therefore, an obvious destination for the day was the city of Bodrum, located on the southwest corner of Turkey.

In ancient times, Bodrum was the important Carian city of Halicarnassus.  Herodotus, considered the “Father of History” was born in this city in the 5^th century B.C.  During his life, he would go on to travel the ancient world writing about the history and cultures of various Mediterranean civilizations including the Egyptians and Persians.  In effect, he was the first travel writer. 

However, Halicarnassus is most famous for its Mausoleum.  In 350 B.C., Mausolus, the Persian satrap (regional governor) for this region died.  Artemisia II, both his wife and sister, constructed a grand monument in his honor.  Sparing no cost, great architects were hired to design the tomb that greatly resembled a temple.  Ancient historians have written that 36 columns were used to support the tomb.  Interspersed were large statues and exquisite base reliefs.  At the top was a statue of a chariot with four horses.  The Mausoleum was such a magnificent structure that it was deemed one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  And while it lasted for over 1,500 years, it was eventually reduced to rubble by earthquakes before the 14^th century. 

In more recent times, the remains of the Mausoleum were put to further use.  In 1494, The Knights of St. John (Knights Hospitaller), reeling from their expulsion from the Holy Land, built a fortress in Halicarnassus using some of the pieces of the Mausoleum in its construction.  Eventually, the Knights were forced out of Asia Minor by the forces of Suleiman the Magnificent.  In present day, this fortress still stands overlooking the harbor as the main tourist attraction to the city.  Besides its inherent history, Bodrum Castle contains the Underwater Archaeological Museum, displaying finds from Mediterranean shipwrecks going back to antiquity.

*****

May 30, 2015

We overloaded our Audi A3 and hit the road.  Google maps gave us three options.  The fastest would take us via highways through the inland cities of Muğla and Milas.  Another one would require taking the ferry from Datça to Bodrum which is too complicated to deal with.  We chose the third route that would take us along small roads along the Aegean coast.

The scenery was breath-taking.  The winding, two-lane road snaked along the hills overlooking the Aegean Sea.  Because of the rocky coastline, there were almost no settlements or harbors that detracted from the natural beauty of the area.  

Surprisingly, there were hardly any boats out on the water.

From the road, we could see the quaint beach town of Akbük.

It was a little hard for me to enjoy the view as careful attention had to be paid to the road.  The narrow road, steep gradients, and lack of guardrails left little room for error.  For safety reasons, I only average about 50 km/hr (31 miles/hr) over this stretch of road.  About an hour into the drive, The Wife and I wondered whether we had made the right choice.  Both of The Kids began moaning that they were feeling a bit nauseous.  The constant sharp turning and alternating between breaking and accelerating had turned the drive into the Teacups ride for them.

I did felt comfortable snapping a picture, on one of the few straightaways

We passed many stacks of pine logs along the side of the road.

Eventually, the route took us inland, using switchbacks to climb a high cliff.  We passed several small towns until we were instructed to leave the main road and take a gravel road into the countryside.  Being the lemmings that we are, we abided.  For the next 15 minutes we drove on that rural road through uninhabited forests.  We didn't pass any other cars, people, or settlements.  

I was a bit worried that we would have a long walk to reach civilization
if we had any car trouble or a flat tire from all of the jagged rocks.

The car shook so much from driving on the unpaved road that it was akin to being on an airplane while it flew through turbulence.  There was more groaning from the backseat.  A few minutes later, The Boy grabbed one of the airsickness bags that we had kept from our previous flights and threw up.

We thought about turning the car around, but the path soon led us into a small farming town that eventually connected to a larger paved road.  

For a second, I thought we had made it to the Shire...a really crappy Shire.

Even in the boondocks, Ataturk is
resoundingly celebrated as a hero.

Thirty minutes later, Google Maps urged us to take a tiny dirt road that looked like it led into some farmer’s cornfield.  I’ve seen the Children of the Corn.  There was no way we were going in there.  We re-routed our app and soon were on the Milas-Bodrum highway.  Being only about half-an-hour’s drive to our destination, I hit the gas pedal.  That was probably not a great idea as the road did have some twists and turns right outside of Bodrum.  I guess this high-speed drive was like a roller-coaster effect for The Girl.  She felt so miserable that she took The Boy’s already-spent barf bag and held it to her face for the last 20 minutes of the journey.  The rest of us were amazed how the smell of The Boy’s vomit didn't make her puke right then and there. 

I don't know why The Girl grabbed The Boy's barf bag since we still had several unused ones.

Once we finally pulled in front of our destination, the Manastir Hotel,  The Girl jumped out of the car and threw up beside a tree.  Witnessing this disgusting deed, The Boy promptly joined her by the tree with his own vomiting.  Once all of their four humors were back into equilibrium, we were able to check into our hotel.    

Although the bedroom was comfortable, it lacked a large window with a view of the water.

The bathroom also came with some disposable slippers and two bathrobes.

The beauty of Bodrum was wasted on The Kids as they spent
most of their time on these couches playing video games.

The Wife and I spent most of our time in the hotel relaxing on these chaise recliners.

This view of the harbor was the reason why.

Despite the strong draw just to stay in our hotel room and enjoy the view, part of the reason we came to Bodrum was to see the historical sites.  Since it would be too troublesome to drive in the crowded downtown area and look for parking, we took a taxi (for about 15 TL) to the city’s harbor. We visited the Mausoleum first.  The admission price was only 10 TL ($4) per adult (children were free), but even that was overpriced for what is there.  The remnants of this once Great Wonder are just a couple of broken columns and an empty pit.  There is a small room showing a video about how the Mausoleum once looked, but altogether the site is unremarkable.

Historians can only guess what the Mausoleum
looked like based on descriptions from antiquity.

There is no longer anything wonderful about this pile of rubble.

After visiting this disappointing site, we walked along the docks admiring the beautiful ships in the harbor.  Many of them were available for rent to take tourists on voyages around the nearby islands.  We did stop off at a Starbucks so that The Wife could add a Bodrum mug to her collection.

Very few boats were actually sailing.  Most were moored in the harbor.

After trying SNUBA last year, The Boy
thought he was ready for a full diving suit.

This boat captain was the alpha male of this pack.

We made our way to Bodrum Castle which is the centerpiece of the city's harbor.

It was a perfect day to visit this fortress.  The equal combination of sun and ocean breeze made the climb through the various towers and ramparts very relaxing.  Several of the towers and rooms contained artifacts recovered from the bottom of the sea.  In the 1960’s, the museum was set up to display recovered, ancient shipwrecks dating as far back as over 3,000 years ago.  The most common recovered items were amphorae, jugs used to carry wine, olive oil, garum (fermented fish sauce), and other important liquid items.  However, other interesting artifacts have been recovered as well.  The Kids were easily amused by the ostentatious peacocks that inhabit the fortress.  Several of the towers offer great views of the Aegean Sea and the city’s harbor.

This urn was large enough to carry several small children.

This Latin inscription beseeching protection was not heeded as the castle fell to the Turks,

The battle axe iron fence was
a nice touch to this railing.

There must have been a really big
ship to need such a big anchor.

If you don't like amphorae, then this museum is not for you.

The Kids were more interested in the peacocks which roamed the grounds of the castle.

The Girl's first toga
party was a little stiff.

From the top of the castle's towers... 

...the entire harbor can be seen and defended.

Although the castle was well guarded with cannons and men...

...it was surrendered to the Turks after the fall of Rhodes.

This statue of a bearded sphinx dates back to the 4th century B.C.

This gold-plated statue of a priestess was made in the 14th century B.C.

In Greek tradition, the dead must pay Charon to ferry them across the River Styx to the Underworld.

People were often buried with gold sheet
eyebands, mouthbands, and  diadems. 

After spending over an hour at the castle, we stopped at the nearby Korfez Restaurant for an early dinner.  Founded in 1927, it's the oldest restaurant in Bodrum.  Still, those 90 years are just a split second in the long history of this ancient city.  

The catches of the day were prominently displayed in a cooler at the front of the restaurant

These prawns were huge; but so were their price tags (16 TL or $6 a piece).

The restaurant capitalizes on its scenic views of the Bodrum Castle and harbor.

Everything about the restaurant screamed “tourist trap,” but we were hungry and no other seafood restaurants nearby had any better reviews on TripAdvisor.

The soup made with scorpion fish was pretty good.

The fried, stuffed zucchini flowers were also tasty.

The shrimp with garlic was well seasoned, albeit expensive.

The octopus casserole was tender and not chewy.

The grilled sea bass was under-seasoned and disappointing.  It also costs a small fortune.

Overall the food was good (not great), but the price was a bit of a shock.  I wasn't expecting a bargain, especially since we were in a touristy restaurant in a touristy city.  But 200 TL ($75) for our meal was way too overpriced.  It would end up being the most expensive meal of our entire trip.

Afterwards, we headed back to the Manastir Hotel and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening enjoying the wonderful view of the harbor. 

The Kids wanted to roughhouse in the family pool.

I got stuck supervising them, while The Wife got the quiet infinity pool all to herself.

We enjoyed watching orange hues from the sunset over Bodrum harbor.

We had a nice view of a fireworks display over Bodrum Harbor.

Once the sun went down, the city really seemed to wake up.  We knew that Bodrum is a popular summer destination for people looking to party through the night.  However, we could have done without the monotonous thumping of dance music in the distance way into the early morning hours. Although the nightclub music put a damper on my plans to sleep out on the balcony, our visit to Bodrum and the Manastir Hotel was well worth the drive (and the vomiting).