Blissful Bodrum... Blistering Beҫin

7 June 2017, Wednesday: After a very peaceful night and a fun morning swimming and enjoying the scenery, we decide to stay here for the day. Mum takes out all our dirty washing and the treading process is put in motion again. Dad makes use of the (stationary) time to work on all the little things that need attention in the camper. He reinstalled the fridge yesterday, but is still not happy with its performance. He has done some research and found out that if you tipped the fridge upside-down for 48 hours, the ammoniac sediments that get lodged in the pipes could become dislodged, and decides to try it. So out comes the fridge again. The fridge takes up half of Emile’s sleeping space, so he will have to be content with sleeping next to Genève for the next 2 nights. Sorry bro. After a hearty lunch and more watermelon (we can’t get enough of this divine fruit) we all go for a snorkel. Upon entering the water we have to be very careful, because the sea floor is covered with sea urchins. During a mad dash to get out of the water (because of playing around, not sharks, you don’t get sharks in the Mediterranean, silly!) I forget the caution and accidentally scrape my hand on a few urchins. Even Emile has a slight encounter with his foot and almost sits on one. But the time in the water is absolutely awesome and well worth the little bit of pain. Mum has so much fun snorkeling (probably the most out of us all), that it is difficult to get her out of the water. The main attraction underwater (apart from the sea urchins) are mating crabs, and Emile and Mum are the lucky ones to spot a squid. It was too fast for Dad and the rest of us. ;)  As we get ready for bed, we put out the other watermelon peels in hope that the big boar will return again tonight. Lo and behold, as we are doing our family devotions, we hear rustling in the bushes. This time we are prepared. With the main light already switched off (Dad using the headlight to read for us), Genève grabs the torchlight next to her. As soon as we hear the crunching noise of watermelon peels being demolished, Genève slowly directs the spotlight to shine onto the boar. What we see is not the big one of last night, but 2 smaller boars with another one frolicking in the open. We suspect that there are another 1 or 2 in the bush behind them. With the light shining on the boars, they get wary and before long they are scampering away again, leaving us to finish our devotions. Having had our entertainment for the evening we tuck ourselves in.

8 June 2017, Thursday: We complete our morning routine and by 9.45am we sadly have to say goodbye to our gorgeous ‘Paradise’. We set off for Bodrum which we have decided to do because of our Museum Pass. We arrive at Bodrum at 12.30pm. It is a busy touristy town and we send up a prayer for parking (remembering Merzy’s big butt). Finding parking for a normal vehicle even seems to be impossible. God answers our prayers and we park in a spot just big enough for Merzy and close enough to walk to the Bodrum Castle and Museum of Underwater Archaeology (the museum is located in the castle). Bodrum Museum is the biggest underwater archaeology museum in the world and the only one in Turkey. A great majority of the museum artifacts consist of those raised during underwater excavations as well as those brought to the museum by sponge divers. Along the coast of Turkey, underwater excavations have continued since 1960. These excavations include many shipwrecks from as early as the 16th century BC (Finike-Seytan Deresi shipwreck) till the 7th century AD (Bodrum-Yassiada Byzantine shipwreck). The castle itself is a monumental museum. Since it is still early enough, we decide to keep lunch for when we return to Merzy. Little do we know that we will be admiring old shipwrecks and treasures till 3.30pm. At least we get an ice-cream as consolation to take us through to lunch (I could get used to all these ice-creams!). We eventually get to a beach spot away from any major town and finally have a belated lunch. Emile and Dad go for a snorkel, as is their habit. The rest of us just laze around while Mum chooses photos for the blog. 10pm, and we are ready for bed. 

9 June 2017, Friday: The mosquito hunts continue. Mosquitoes: 1, Nikita’s feet: 0. Not that it keeps Nikita awake. She sleeps with her head tucked in, ostrich style, feet sticking out. The rest of us (besides the 2 youngest who fart away without a care in the world) have to listen to the buzzing of mosquitoes around our ears. Mum and Dad are well practiced though. They sleep with a torch and if Mum hears something, she nudges Dad awake and together they slaughter a few pesky mozzies. Early this morning (early as in around 3am!) a Turkish girl serenades her partner closeby. Normally I would say she has a good voice… but not while I’m trying to sleep.

After getting up Emile, Genève and Dad go for a snorkel. Then Dad swops Merzy’s two front tyres with the two back tyres. In the meantime Mum selects a few more pictures for the blog (she takes her job seriously! You get only the best photo to look at). We get away late and stop not even 2 hours later at 1.30pm for lunch. At 3.30pm Mum and Dad surprises us by sneaking in another visit to one more ruin, Beҫin Castle. We spend an hour walking around the castle and nearby ancient ruins until we think we’ve explored enough. And back on the road again. We are now travelling inland, and the mountain roads and routes we are taking are very beautiful and breath-taking. Late evening we turn off onto a small single farm-road and when the road widens we slam on the brakes and decide to overnight here. We kill all mosquitoes in sight and in hiding and only once hear the singing prayer of a nearby mosque. We find it quite funny, because it starts as soon as Dad starts to pray. After that we are not disturbed again.

Enjoying the water at 'Paradise'

This is the way we like to have our mummy and daughter 'heart-to-heart' talks

I need some sowing lessons, Dad

Genève practising her hair-dressing skills

Our stay at 'Paradise' beach

Watermelon delight at 'Paradise'

Treading time again

Mummy needs a strong man with strong arms

Dad, Mum and our little bro - the 3 underwater musketeers... in action

Mum's hooked

Bringing us some treasures from the deep blue

Our cool solar shower

A perfect fit... specially made for Merzy. Snug as a bug

Bodrum's famous Museum of Underwater Archaeology

Bodrum Castle is the strongest castle in the Mediterranean. It is situated prominently on the rocky peninsula

A lot of the museum artifacts excavated from the sea are amphoras

The Chapel of the Castle

The little fart is dressed for the occasion

The skeleton (ship's hull) of the Serҫe Liani vessel - This is one of the earliest surviving examples of modern naval architecture; its shape was derived from simple mathematical proportions and some of its ribs were erected before planking was applied. Such systems of construction led to the methods used to design and build the great trans-Atlantic ships of later centuries. The hundreds of wooden fragments reassembled here represent about 20% of the original hull

The Glass Hall with the Italian Tower poking it's 'head' out behind

Gold sheet eyebands, mouthbands and headbands were used as dead persons' jewelry according to the Hellen religion - ewww!

View from the Castle across the bay at Bodrum

Just give us a big one, Dad!

Now we know why the English Tower is also known as the Lion Tower

The Uluburun Shipwreck - The oldest shipwreck excavated, dating approximately to the end of the 14th century BC, in the Late Bronze Age.

The wreck was a treasure trove for archaeologists. More than 18 000 cataloged artifacts were raised from the seabed, as well as fragments of many others. Beneath them were remnants of the ship itself, a vessel built of cedar about 15 meters long.

Making our way down to the Dungeon

Who wants to to be left behind in the Dungeon?

The German Tower

Wonderful insight

The Snake Tower derives its name from the carving of a snake found at the lower entrance door

French Tower boasting the Turkish flag

Italian Tower (on the right)

Candidate #1 for Roman Governor

Candidate #2 for Roman Governor

Candidate #3 for Roman Governor

Gorgeous park4night stop at the beach near Yali

The Beҫin Castle Ruins located 5km south of Milas

Entrance to the castle

Internal Castle 

The L-shaped Castle Hamman consists of an open space, washing cell and water resevoir, and a furnace

Cistern for collecting water

Entrance - view from the Internal Castle

The Castle was accessible by means of stairs over the stone cladded road

Stunning picture frame

The Red Hostelry is an example of Anatolian architecture with its single nave and 2-storey application

Interior of the Kizil Kahn (Red Hostelry)

View from other side of Interior 

Three Room Hostelry

Dome Fountain - on the west wall of the dome, settled on natural rock ground, are the traces of a basin where the water would come from, flowing in. This section would have been used as a small-scaled washing place

Orphan Mosque - the lower part of the carcass walls, altar niche and entrance gate at the north facade can still be seen

Mausoleum 2 (14-15th century) to the left of the Orphan Mosque

#Turkey