Travel Guide, Travel Destinations

…As every woman I love shopping. Istanbul is like the Mecca of all shoppers.Well we had to satisfy with a smaller version of Istanbul – Marmaris. The central area has a huge shopping street with everything from a toothpick to a camel.

Every seller is literally pulling you for the arm and asking you to enter his/her shop. It takes only 5 minutes to learn one Turkish word – Indirim. This means discount. If you don’t bargain, that’s considered as an insult. Yeah, really!!! If you don’t get at least 70% off then keep on debating.

Funny thing we experience was back at the hotel when trying to buy cigarettes.The very first day we bought them for 2.50 euros. Next day we went to the same shop,same seller and tried to buy the same type of cigarettes. Imagine our surprise when we were asked for 3 euros. Well we got our bargain skills into action.

Apart from that shopping in Marmaris is quite fun. Here and there you will see carts with special Turkish ice cream. Don’t miss this. It’s nothing like you have ever experienced before. It’s fantastic. You can’t buy this in the supermarkets or in the Delta’s carts.They add some special sauces and make the ice cream taste fantastic.

An interesting thing to spot in Marmaris is the garbage cans. They are all wooden.If they were metal they would probably melt after the first hot summer day. Actually most people just throw their litter on the street. Thirty minutes later a garbage truck comes and collects the rubbish. That’s quite impressive!

After 100 euros later i.e. late in the afternoon we got back at the hotel to prepare for one of the most fancy parties we ever attended to. We went to a party on a private yacht that traveled along the bay. Nice music,a lot of drinks, friendly people…what else could you ask for. And the view…WOW…Marmaris at night is fantastic.

..We probably ha too much of the drinks and the friendly talks last night because waking up at 8 am felt like dieing. It was day four of our holiday or the day we go to see Pamukkale. This is a village 225 km from Marmaris and is one of the most unique phenomenas of Turkey. the mineral springs actually make the mountain look like it is covered with snow even at 45 C degrees. You must see this with your own eyes to believe it.

On our way back we stopped at one of the biggest carpet museums int he region. We could actually sit with some old ladies and see how the carpets are done. Turns out that it takes 7-8 months work to make one decent carpet. We could even see silk carpets that took years to complete. You don’t really appreciate this until you see those old ladies bent over the machines to make a few cm of the carpet a day…