Day 114 – 116: Bodrum (Turkey) & Kos (Greece)

With 3 remaining days in Bodrum, we decided to make the best of the area. Turkish and Greek islands galore, boat tours galore, sun and sea galore is what we had at our disposal.

On day one we signed up for a local boat tour (10 people max), which took us around the nearby Turkish islands exploring different bays and taking in plenty of sun. Aquarium Bay, Red Bay, Meteor Hole and Rabbit Bay was where we dropped anchor and enjoyed swim-time along with lunch (prepared by the captain), somewhere in the middle of our tour. The Aegean Sea matched the Mediterranean with its turquoise-like water and made for numerous necessary dips. Jumping off the boat just didn’t get old, not on a beautiful hot and clear day that punched in 84-degrees. Even the captain took the plunge at one point, testifying to his love for his labour. Our tour ended around 6:30pm as we drifted back into port from a lazy day out at sea.

On day two we were back on the boat, but this time it was a slick ferry pushing for the Greek island of Kos (for a day trip). Kos is just 4 miles away from Turkey’s mainland and like Bodrum, shares a deep and rich historical past. In fact much of this area is so intertwined thanks to the ancient Greeks and Romans and the civilizations that preceded them. As such Kos boasts several archaeological sites including the Odeon (theater), the Roman House, and a Gymnasium to name a few. We made our way through these ancient ruins scattered throughout town, once again transcending through the void of time.

For lunch we stopped at one of the many “picture menu” places – I just couldn’t resist the Pork Gyros temptation (especially after not having any pork in nearly two weeks). Fully re-energized after a massive platter and an ice-cold pint of Mythos beer, we made our way to the beach. Interestingly we landed upon a Dutch run section of the beach where we took in the Greek sun while listening to a Dutch pop radio station, and cooling down with drinks served by a friendly orange waiter. The clear water swayed us over several times and just in the distance Turkey’s beautiful Bodrum gazed back at us.

Greece had unfortunately slipped from our journey’s initial itinerary but our brief visit to Kos resuscitated the notion that it is our duty to return one day.

On day three we stayed local (in Bodrum), and hit the beach. A 5-minute boat ride from port saw us over to Karbakci Beach. The refreshing water and beach umbrella kept us cool from the blazing sun.  Back in Bodrum, our slow afternoon eventually kicked into gear as we visited the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus – another of the seven wonders from the Ancient World. Mausolus (from which the word mausoleum derives from) was the ruler of the Carians, the people who lived in this area prior to the Greeks. After his death his wife & sister (Artemisia), had an enormous tomb erected in his honor and so his legacy survived in our vernacular until today. There was nothing really left standing from the mausoleum but it was still worth the visit. A video depicted what the monumental tomb would have been like and provided a brief history on Mausolus.

We spent our last evening in Bodrum at our hotel, the beautiful little oasis that was Su Hotel, pondering our next move eastward.