Bodrüm
One of the seven wonders of the ancient world
August 16, 2005
In Bodrum our hostel turned out to be rather nice and Elizabeth decided to go to
the baths so I had the day to myself. I went to the old ruins of the Mausoleum of
Mausolus. This was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the size of
the base is a clear indicator of why. The drawings of the old mausoleum are incredible
and presumably fairly accurate since the building lasted until the 1500’s. It was
also nice in that there were very few tourists there so when I actually went into
the old chamber I was the only person on the ruins themselves. After spending about
a half hour here I headed to town to see the castle of St. Peter.
The castle of St. Peter is now a museum so I had to pay for that, but the whole
castle is extremely impressive; although the museums may not be worth the price,
the castle is. It was when I left the castle and headed back into town when I realized
how touristy this city is. There is nothing but shops selling junk and I heard more
English here than I have since I was in the US and more French than I’ve ever heard.
The good news was that I heard not a single American and the bad news not a single
Turk until I made it out of town to buy some Doritos and water.
I relaxed in the air conditioned room, then had a kebab craving, sending me out
to find one. Unfortunately I found kebabs for no less than 3 lira, which is pretty
outrageous relative to other parts of Turkey. It skimped on the meat, but along
with the Doritos it clinched my appetite.
In this same area I walked around the market, which was pretty local, selling more
clothing than souvenirs, unlike the shops down by the water.
I finally caught up with Elizabeth and she ate at a self-serve place, pretty good,
but 10 lira for her meal.
Went back, watched TV and off to sleep
St. Peter fortress
St. Peter fortress