5/1/24
Frankie wasn’t sleeping well but Jonathan was out like a light. Around 1:30am Frankie shook Jonathan awake. There was water flooding in under the door and dripping from the ceiling in multiple places. We went down the ladder/stairs and tried to stem the flow with bath towels. We couldn’t do anything about it and tried to make sure anything that wasn’t waterproof was out of the firing line.
Our phones went mental in the middle of the night. An emergency warning for severe rain in Rhodes. In the morning we found a mop and tried to dry the floor. It had stopped raining and was quite bright outside. A welcome relief. Frankie hadn’t slept well and there was only bleak instant coffee. At least we were in Rhodes and it wasn’t raining.
We were going to explore this incredible city before we had to check out at 11am. As usual we found some kind of free walking tour online and plodded down to the marina. There are at least three but we were headed to the one where all the snazzy yachts owned by the hyper elites are moored. Many with London on the back. On the way we passed through some of the impressive fortifications.
On the harbour wall are the remaining three windmills, of the original eighteen, that were used for grinding back in the 14th century. Right at the end of the harbour, past a castle with a lighthouse on top, are two columns, one on each side of the harbour entrance, each with a statue of a doe on top. These mark where the ridiculously big Colossus of Rhodes, a 33 metre tall statue of Helios, stood until 226BC and an earthquake levelled everything in the city.
Back in the city we walked past the ruins of the temple of Aphrodite and the archaeological museum. It was such a shame that we didn’t have time to go in. Then we went up the street of Knights towards the Palace of the Grand Master. The fortifications, built by St John’s knights, are something to behold. If it weren’t for the cars mashing around everywhere it would be like stepping back in time.
Saint Athanasios gate was an impressive structure to walk through. More than just a gate it’s the bridge across the waterless moat. It was never filled with water apparently. There even appeared to be cannonballs lying in between the imposing walls.
We made our way back to the house via Hippocrates square. The whole city was quiet. It was a Sunday and a public holiday tomorrow. We don’t have much food and would have liked a supermarket to be open. We both felt a little weird, if not sick. A mix of nervousness and excitement no doubt. We were heading into the unknown.
We packed up slowly, had a cup of tea, and then departed for the port, the tourist port this time, not the port we arrived on the night before. We had to leave today. While we would have loved to stay longer it would have meant waiting another 5 days for the next ferry and giving us only 2 days of access to the Schengen left. It felt too tight. Not only that, but we’d originally planned to head to Fethiye in Turkey but the ferry had been cancelled. Completely out of the blue, even after we’d emailed to confirm they’d take the bikes. Now we were heading to Marmaris, further west round the coast.
We were an hour early to the port and check in wasn’t open yet. We had to exchange our voucher, that had been emailed to us, for a boarding pass. Despite the port agents telling us that all the markets were shut, we figured we had time to cycle round and have a look. Nothing was open. There were people in the sea though. We ate some of the bread we had with some banana and sunflower seeds.
Once we got back to the port, there were plenty of people waiting. We got into the queue and saw the South Korean people on Surly’s that we’d seen on the ferry the day before were waiting too. The Sun was now out in full force and pounding us. Unbelievably there were people waiting in puffer jackets. We witnessed someone actually putting their jacket on. It seemed insane, it was at least 20C.
We were waiting for at least an hour before the ferry arrived from Marmaris. It does a return journey and the next one wasn’t for another 5 days. Passport control was easy, there was a separate queue for EU citizens which we of course aren’t. We made sure we got our stamp to confirm we’d left the Schengen. The bikes were tied up on the rear of the ferry. The seating was more like an aeroplane, and it wasn’t for cars. Only pedestrians and bicycles.
The journey was quick compared to what we’d become used to. Only an hour or so. You couldn’t go out on deck, everyone was sealed in the main cabin. It was about half full. Lots of people with luggage. Citizens of Greece can actually travel between Turkey and Greece with just an ID card, but Turkish people can’t.
As we approached Marmaris the boat slowed. The sea narrowed by virtue of the islands in the bay and no doubt its tricky to navigate. That or there’s a speed limit. Most people on the boat had now started forming a queue by the door, eager to be first through customs no doubt.
After we arrive and untie the bikes we head into the immigration queue. It was outside to start with. It looked like they were lining people up but it was actually their luggage they wanted to be lined up. They were running a dog up and down. There were several officers watching on and one was filming the dog checking the luggage. Jonathan filmed their little checks, but a woman came over and demanded the video was deleted. She insisted that he should know not to film, but there were no signs and we were still outside. It wasn’t obvious at all.
The Surly’s were next to be sniffed and we laughed as the dog seemed to briefly enjoy the delicious concoction of smells that our panniers must have been exuding. We couldn’t fathom why they thought anyone was bring anything into Turkey. We were sure the problem would be the other way.
After immigration, we went through customs. They looked in one pannier bag and asked us where we were from. Finally we were in Turkey. A new frontier. The clocks had gone forward another hour. We went off to find a supermarket. There was a Migros in the huge outdoor shopping centre near the port. We got a few bits, including an interesting vegan walnut cheese. Veganism is a thing in Turkey. We bought lots of nuts too, they weren’t that cheap but it was confusing. It was all Lira now. 1 Euro is about 0.3 Lira. The numbers on the shelves were huge. The alcohol section was very anglicised. Lots of Scottish and English spirits.
We were adamant that we would be camping in Turkey. We’d not managed to do so as much as we had liked in Italy and Greece. Turkey should be easier we figured. We headed east along the coast out of Marmaris. It looked like the best chance to find somewhere to camp, there were a few google maps places that seemed promising.
We weren’t prepared for what we would find. There was an area of trees, just off the road, full of people having picnics. With their cars or motorbikes, they had little tables and chairs and were sitting out enjoying the sunset. We carried on past, maybe it would get less popular. It didn’t and there wasn’t anywhere better. We gave up and came back to the popular area and found a gap in the trees. Next to us was a man with an old moped mournfully drinking alcohol. On the other side was a couple of men having a drink. We asked them if camping was okay here. An emphatic ‘Yes!’ came back in reply.
We had some dinner and waited to setup the tent. While we sat there eating an Owl flew over us and sat on a branch 2 metres away. We sat dead still thinking they would get spooked but they didn’t care. A mouse clambered through the trees and the owl lent forward, ready to pounce. There was never an attack though. We forgot the owl was even there after a while. Just incredible.
A young man jumped out of a car that had stopped and wandered into the woods. He scouted the ground with his torch before asking us if we were camping too. This was reassuring. Three of them setup a couple of tents. Then we did the same.
There was loud music playing further along in the woods. The road was busy and loud. We hoped it would get quieter. Some boars came running through the woods. The campers next to us seemed to enjoy chasing them through the woods. We kept hearing the boar exploring outside.
Surly They Won't Make It 