It was an early start today because we had a nine-thirty ferry to catch to another country – Turkey, another continent in fact – Asia! We were travelling to the modern city of Bodrum which was once the ancient city of Halicarnassus of Caria, birthplace of Herodotus, the ‘Father of History’ and home of one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World, the Mausoleum of Mausolus.
Passport control was surprisingly thorough but I suppose there still remains a bit of diplomatic tension between these two countries but soon we were in the sun on the top deck of the Nissos Kos and leaving the harbour and as soon as the boat was out of site of port the crew hoisted the scarlet flag of Turkey which, once released, danced energetically in the wind.
Have Bag, Will Travel 
We pulled out of the chance to visit Bodrum a year or so ago, Andrew. It sounded like a tourist resort for British sun-seekers. Nothing wrong with that of course, but we have our own sun in Sydney, So I’ll be watching with interest to see what you find there.
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A number of people said the same thing but this wasn’t how I found it. We stayed in the centre and there was no real evidence of the British sun-seekers but rather a cosmopolitan mix of nationalities enjoying a friendly and vibrant city with an excellent choice of things to do. Although I wouldn’t go again to Bodrum I would certainly go back to Turkey!
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I love Turkey!! Is this your first visit there?
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First visit and just a bit of a taster really. I would really like to visit Istanbul and more of Turkey is on a short list for next year!
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So it’s £15 now when we visited last it was only a fiver to get in
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I will follow your accounts and compare notes with you, Andrew. I really enjoyed Turkey when we traveled there in ’09.
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That visa fee is odd, isn’t it. When we went to Istanbul we flew in from London with some euros on us after being prewarned by friends, but plenty of other people didn’t have any (and why would you, when visiting a country where it isn’t the local currency) and were quite annoyed about the whole business. I’m not actually sure what they did in the end – I suppose they had to pay by card.
Also, that hotel sounds like a bargain (love the anecdote about the beer empties) and what a brilliant photo of the Turkish flags on the castle turrets!
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There was similar tourist tax when we drove into Montenegro but they called it an environment tax!
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