Sent on Oct. 21, 2004 from an Internet place next to the
Bergama Restaurant in the Closed Bazaar at the waterfront
in Marmaris.

1. The AEGEAN/MEDITERRANEAN CORNER, MARMARIS. The
waterfront is arranged around a deep bay of several miles,
framed on the other side by several layers steep mountains.
 It is one of the most beautiful spots I have ever seen,
large charter boats lined up (facing the water) all along
the edge of the pier, a wide sidewalk next to it, then a
narrow road for traffic, next restaurants, cafes, and clubs
in wonderful lighting especially at night.  The bay is
almost closed-in--you cannot see the entry/exit--by
intricate, lace-like mountains and inlets.  It is gorgeous
at all hours.

The service bus that brings you to the town stops on the
main drag.  From there it is about 100 meters to the sea. 
If you have heavy load, get a taxi and ask the driver to
take you to the KARAASLAN Hotel (25 million TL or 17
Dollars at night) at surely the best location in town.  To
walk there, continue the street to the water, until you see
the statue of Kemal Ataturk on KORDON St.  Turn left there
and walk about 200 meters to the last yellow Taxi cabin. 
It is at the Pier Square, the furthest taxis can go.  Look
at the cozy buildings in front of you.  The entry is from
the narrow passage to the right, turning left to the back
of the buildings.  For food, ask for the Bergama Restaurant
in the Bazaar.  Facing the hotel, the entry is the closed
bazaar entry to your left.  Enter it then take the frosty
left and go about 50 meters to the restaurant on your
right.  The Internet Cafe--where I am typing this--is right
next to it.


2. To TURTLE BEACH, DALYAN (Everglades-like), CAUNOS (rock
tombs) ALONG PERHAPS THE PRETTIEST SHORELINE ANYWHERE. 
When you get off the bus after return from Rhodes, walk
back along the boats the 200 meters to the hotel.  You will
see many boats advertising the above places.  The cost is
25 million TL (17 Dollars), leaving at 9:30am, returning
about 7 pm.  If you came this far, add these.


I will do these tomorrow (Day 1), thus delaying my trip a
day, then the next day I will take a 4-hour bus to the city
of Bodrum, another paradise spot.  A day there (Day 2), I
will take a bus northeast to the city of Bursa, another to
the city Canakkale (Day 3), then move north to European
Turkey, to the city of Edirne (Day 4), finally a bust east
to Istanbul will complete the circle (Day 5).  I will relax
a day with friends and fly back to Miami the next day.

=======================================================
Sent on Oct. 27, 2004 from my friend Nafi's computer in
Istanbul.

1. DAY-TOUR (BY SHIP) TO DALYAN & CAUNOS from MARMARIS. 
This may have been one of the nicest one-day tours I have
ever taken anywhere.  The scenery was awesome. The
Mediterranean mountains, with their sharp and jagged
cliffs, accompanied us on our left, the Mediterranean
horizon on our right. It took us 3 hours of sailing (east)
to get to the TURTLE Beach, 6 km of continuous sand beach,
the only one around Marmaris since otherwise the mountains
and rock cliffs all around Marmaris just drop to the sea. 
The beach is shared by turtles that lay their eggs in the
sand.  So certain parts are protected from human
encroachment.
  
Right across from the beach we saw the entry to the
sea-of-grass, the latter like the Florida Everglades. Here
the grass is of a different variety, up to 10 ft tall and
very dense.  So the air boats that are used in Florida
would be useless here.  However, there are river-like
passages which we followed for about 30 minutes.  Then came
the cliffs with the rock tombs carved into them.  Legend
has it that the brother and sister of the king of a nearby
kingdom fell in love.  The king condemned them to death, so
the two escaped and founded the Kingdom of Caunos. Of the 4
tombs on one cliff, the larger one is where their son is
buried; the 3 smaller ones next to it are for their 3
daughters.  Below their tombs there are several (about) 1
meter-square openings corresponding to the tombs of
servants who would serve them in their next life.  The
tombs on the cliff to the left of this one are for the
generals who served the kingdom.  The ride continued to
thermal springs, with a mud bath and a warm fresh water
pond for dunking after a shower following the mud bath.  We
left at 9:30 in the morning, returned at 8:30 pm,
accompanied by a half-Moon, its shimmer on the water, the
silhouettes of the mountains, and bright colorful lights of
Marmaris and several villages guiding us back.


2. BODRUM.  Is the Aegean counterpart of the nearby
Marmaris on the Mediterranean.  It is a larger city famous
for its nightlife.  Of course the ambiance was somewhat
subdued this late in the season, but the place no less
charming.  The drive from Marmaris to Bodrum is about 4
hours.  It is not as scenic as the approach from Mugla to
Marmaris, until about 10km from Bodrum when the highway
follows the sea.  From May to Mid-Oct. there is also a
ferry service from Marmaris to Bodrum, which I could not
take this time.

Bodrum is quite different than Marmaris.  Here the bay,
where the marina is (WESTBAY), is much smaller, the setting
much less staged. Bodrum is more charming and earthier, the
fortress adding substance to the city.  Built next to the
Mediterranean, it is like a botanical garden in the
fortress, unlike the castles in Aleppo and Krak des
Chevaliers that are almost entirely of stone and voýd of
vegetation.  Yet this one looks as formidable as the other
two, also with fantastic views of the city and the
surroundings.  It is positioned on a small peninsula
between the marina and the beach-like KUMBAHCE Bay with
gorgeous views of both from parts of the castle.  I spent 2
hours there in the afternoon.  Almost all buildings in the
city are painted white, all not more than 3-4 stories high.
 Bodrum reminded me very much of Key West, the ambiance of
its main strip, the CEVAT SHAKIR St., almost a duplicate of
the DUVAL St. in Key West.  And as in Key West, the blend
between the locals and foreign visitors is almost seamless
here.  There is also the ATATURK St. with action.  While
there are much finer old mansions in Key West,  Bodrum is
no less quaint.  I stayed at the MURAT PANSION for Dollar
20 a night (30 Million TL).  This was the easiest stopover
on this entire trip.  The bus terminal in Bodrum is right
in the city.  I walked (dragging my 2 bags on rollers)
about 100 meters on Cevat Shakir Street towards the sea,
turned left on Ataturk St, and 20 meters later found the
hostel on my left.  Ask for the very good DONER KEBAB
(gyro) restaurant nearby.

Sirman