Boats in Altinkum Harbour

Aren't these little traditional fishing boats in Altinkum harbour just delightful.

Beware of trees jumping into road!!

Only here in Turkey would they build a road around a tree




Great, isn't it?

A cliff top walk from Marti Sitesi to Altinkum

Today we decided to walk the cliff top between Marti Sitesi and Altinkum. The views on the walk are magnificent as you can see ....

In this picture you can see how the sea is making in-roads into the cliff and gradually a cave is being formed.

Unfortunately, on every walk, this being Didim, you come across a mess like this ..

every item of this heap is recyclable, and someone had taken the trouble to bag it up so why dump it here, when everywhere in the town and on every street there are bins, large bins, and the council have provided numerous points where waste such as this can be left for re-cycling. It must have taken more effort to get it to this wilderness than to leave it in the proper place!!
OK Rant over.

Once we reached Altinkum we came across this beautiful tree, can anyone tell us the name of it?

Oh, and should you have wanted to sunbathe on the beach today, you wouldn't have had to fight for a place .....


and it's still 29 deg.

Palm Wings Complex

This is the beach area of the complex known as Palm Wings resort .... all this has appeared since we last walked the cliff path between Marti and Altinkum which would have been Easter Sunday. "Where is it?" we hear you ask. If you looked from 2nd beach towards Yesilkent, there used to be an ugly blue pavilion belonging to an old complex, well this is the replacement.

The rest of the complex looks good too, with bars, swimming pools indoors and out and a range of other activities. It's all-inclusive and we understand that you can, at the moment, book yourself in for the princely sum of £30/night. We also hear that the person who is responsible for this is also the person building the new 5 Star hotel in Yesilkent near Pine Beach.

Sea Temperature

Should you wish to swim here in Yeşilkent then the temperature of the sea is currently 20.6C or 68.5F, which, we can tell you, is a lot warmer than many of the swimming pools here (those that still have water in anyway!!)

News of Purdy

Well, as we said, we didn't know how long our little visitor would stay, but it seems that it's "owners" are back from a trip to the UK having abandoned her for 2 weeks, and have claimed her back. Par for the course here.

Another trip to Izmir

We took another trip to Izmir with Yo and Nigel this time ... we love our little route through the city, from the Otogar (bus-station) to Basmane (for toolshops, mobile phones and electricals), down to the Bazaar (for everything), across to Konak Pier (for designer labels, expensive coffee shops and ENGLISH books), up to the next pier for the ferry to Karşyaka where there is even more shopping (clothes mainly)




Here in the Bazaar we found these wedding dresses made to order (at about £450 each, complete with veil and accessories ... bargain!)

And these little suits for young men on their circumcision day (ouch!!).

And we had to have coffee and cakes as well, didn't we?

Devastation

Look what they've done to that beautiful olive tree in the square on Gaye 2



To us it looks like vandalism, but we suppose they know what they are doing.

It was a magnificent specimen that gave lots of shade to people using the benches beneath it.

The market people also would lay out their stalls in the shade of it's branches.

And it screened off that apartment block behind it.

Let's hope it recovers to it's former glory.

lap-top - lap-cat

Meet the latest addition, how long she'll put up with us is anyone's guess

Made herself at home though ...

Police Academy

Unlike our friends in the UK, we are lucky enough to be able to eat "alfresco" most of the year,



So we make the most of it, here we are once again with friends at the Police Academy ..

where the backdrop is beautiful ...

you really couldn't ask for more could you? ..

New Hotel

This is the view of the new 5 star hotel being built in Yeşilkent as seen from the landward side

hopefully we'll be able to take some more from the sea soon ..

A Day out to Kıyıkışlacık

We and our friends Pat and Don decided to have a little trip out for the day and headed off for Kıyıkışlacık. We stopped off in Iasos for a picnic lunch under the shade of a nearby olive tree.

This was our view as we ate our meal ...



Well replenished we continued along the windy coastal road to Kıyıkışlacık Bay ...
from here we had this wonderfully picturesque view of Güllük on the Bodrum peninsular



We finally reached Kıyıkışlacık, where we were able to enjoy a refreshing swim ...

and some drinks courtesy of a local bar ..

Windfarm

The new windfarm on the hills above Akbük is coming on apace



Eventually there will be 15 turbines according to Voices Newspaper

New Marina in Altinkum

The new marina is taking shape now as you can see,


(Don't forget to click on any picture to get more detail)

Gaye 2

Why do we like living here?



This is why!

Wouldn't you?