Tuesday 27 June 2017

Bayram or Bedlam - Boon or Blight

Detail of Bodrum mosaic by Neslihan Zabci Erdal
According to the news, 220,000 cars arrived into Bodrum for the three day Bayram holiday, I made the mistake of driving in on Friday so they may have counted me too, I didn't stay long and thanked the mad whim in 1991 that made us build a house out in the countryside - way off the Bodrum peninsula.  I can at least provide a quiet hideaway for friends and family that want to avoid the traffic jams, loud music and influx of city manners (or lack of them) that take over our South Western bit of Turkey.
I'm sure hoteliers and restaurant owners will be heaving a big sigh of relief as they have at last had full hotels and tables, but if I can offer one piece of advice in this blog, it's to check the dates of religious holidays before you book a trip to Turkey and make sure yours don't coincide.

7 comments:

  1. Dear Annie, thanks for the tip, but I think my days of traveling overseas have come and gone. Being away from home more than 7 days is hard for both the cats and me. Thanks for your reply explanation about the difference between turtles and tortoises. Peace.

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  2. Your mad whim turned out to be a stroke of genius, giving you a quiet retreat to live in.

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  3. I can understand you very well - how lovely you have a place in the countryside. So glad for the hotels and general tourism though. We can't wait to come back to Bodrum in Aug and fingers crossed see you too, high on the wish list. cok sevgiler xx Ozlem ps. I would so love to do a "book tour" to Southeast to Bodrum and surroundings when my Turkish cookery book out, perhaps Spring 2018, will touch base with you on that xx

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  4. same thing happened up here at Salda, rubbish everywhere, quads, motor bikes and SUVs all over the lake shore. This is a specially protected area (supposedly) so thank goodness we were not here!

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  5. B to B, That's what we did! I'm sure our island was the same (and we're planning to miss Kurban Bayram as well). Have a nice relax in your village home. Take care, xoxo J and M

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