Marmaris, Turkey, Thursday April 3rd

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It poured all night. Isn’t the sound of rain beautiful? Our Camelot days over, it continued to pour all day. Not to be deterred, we donned our coats and plastic overpants and set off to the castle. Passing the canal, which only yesterday had been empty beyond 100 metres from the sea, we saw that the resident ducks were now bobbing up and down on a torrent of muddy water that was racing down from all the storm water drains upstream. The roads were awash and shop keepers were sweeping back the deluge, barely keeping up with the tide. A stepped alleyway had become a waterfall. All very exciting if you come from a drought stricken area, you have wet weather gear and don’t mind looking completely daggy.
Even Mama Castle had succumbed to the weather, and, when we virtually swam up the steps to the castle, her doors were closed. The valiant attendants at the castle, though, were all on deck. This little castle is completely charming. It has the regulation walls, turrets and bastions with rooms around a courtyard, but is filled with greenery and feels as if you have entered a secret garden. It is the perfect size for someone like me who would contemplate living in a castle. The first museum room featured a small number of statues and ceramic pots from various eras, each with basic information and the whole giving a small but clear overview of the items found in sites around the area.

The courtyards and porticoes had other ancient items, such as parts of columns and statues seemingly carelessly and yet beautifully displayed. A walk around the ramparts enabled us to see how tiny the old part of the town is and how tightly packed the houses are, and also how extensive the modern town is.
The rain had now increased to non-stop sheets lashing around the turrets and racing in rivers down the steps. Sloshing through it, we reached a room devoted to Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent and his family. He was born not long after Henry the 8th came to the throne in England. He led his army in many battles and increased the size of the Ottoman Empire considerably. He really was ‘magnificent’ - developing a centralised state system and bringing in laws that aimed to prevent discrimination against religions and nations and which supported a society based on equality. He was sometimes called ‘Kanuni’ which means ‘Law Giver’. He was a patron of the arts, wrote poetry and instituted a public water system for Istanbul. He had a first wife but he favoured a Circassian (Russian) girl, Roxelana, in his harem. After the death of Suleyman’s mother, Roxelana convinced him to oust his first wife and marry her. They had four sons and a daughter. The castle at Marmaris was built by Suleyman in 1522, to protect troops while they amassed their forces ready to attack the knights at Rhodes in 1523. When Suleyman the Magnificent died, he was succeeded by his fourth son, Selim, who had red hair and light eyes and was called Suleyman the Blond.
I went up an out of the way, minute flight of steps to an ethnographic display of costumes and furniture, and heard Keith calling from the courtyard below, "Where are you?" Reunited again, and with the deluge beginning to threaten the room and display, we felt as though we had stepped into someone’s home. Down below, the gravestones in the corner cemetery were in danger of being washed away. Whether it was the rain, the fact that no-one was there except us, the intimate size, or the garden aspect, this castle was a really special experience for both of us. I could easily move there if a bit of work was done on the drainage systems.
We had found out that the bus to Bodrum left at 2.30, so Keith collected the big packs and we took a local minibus, called a dolmus, to the intercity bus station. We were able to put the packs in the bus and go to a café for lunch. The man from our pension (small family run hotel) was there, presumably waiting for buses to come in to approach potential customers. He told me that there is a Marmaris village where only old people live. It is not touristy so the people are very friendly to the few people who visit. It sits on a hidden bay which is very beautiful. I showed him our Australian photos and he asked me if our whole family lived together. He is in his mid thirties and lives with his parents and siblings and their families. They all contribute to the running of the Pension and the younger generation males have other jobs too.
The bus to Bodrum passed through an enchanted landscape of forested hills and valleys with crops set out like toy farm sets. Domed, stone water cisterns spotted the landscape in the rural areas and now and then someone would be leading a single cow as it ate its way along a path. The villages had small centres and, in comparison to Greek villages, more widely spread buildings surrounding them, as in Inverleigh. The towns and cities had white buildings marching up the hills in regimental style. Some housing estates, built by speculators and uninhabited as yet, looked like ghost towns.
At Bodrum we changed to a dolmus (mini bus) and headed for Turkutreis. The dolmus system links local areas, travels a regular route, can be hailed at any spot and will let you off at any spot. The cost is minimal compared to the cost of petrol which is Aus $ 3.30 a litre. They run frequently.
We were on our way to do some couch surfing with Umit, a Turkish lady, and her American husband, Jim. Umit was away but Jim would be meeting us and looking after us until she returned. When we arrived at the Turkutreis bus station, we rang Jim and he came down to pick us up. We got a bit of an idea of the town as we drove uphill to their home which is three storeys high. We sipped wine and watched the sunset from the third floor room. From the window we could see the white houses running down the hill to the sea, several Turkish islands and the Greek island of Kos, the shining Aegean Sea and towering, rose tinged clouds with grey and apricot streaks running out from them. We stayed watching until dusk had claimed the sky outside and the room where we sat.
We prepared dinner and Jim washed up. He is a very friendly and hospitable American who is content with the changes to his life style that moving to Turkey has meant. We chatted for a long time, checked our emails, and selected the more comfortable couch in the kitchen/lounge room to sleep on.