Blogging in Bodrum

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The weather was pretty dull again today so we spent the morning bringing the diary up-to-date and processing photos before heading into Bodrum to find a restaurant with wi-fi access so that we could update the blog. We decided to walk to the top of the hill to wait for the bus which was just as well because there is a shelter there ... which we needed when it started to drizzle!!

It was fine when we reached Bodrum, but that didn't last long and we had to find a restaurant with wi-fi quick smart before we got too wet. I knew I should have worn my raincoat!! Anyhow, we ordered beer and çay (Turkish tea) and the restaurants 'special' meal to share. With our order placed, we were granted the name and password to access the wi-fi.

While Bernie ran all of the updates on the laptop and our mobile phones, I used the iPad to load the diary onto the blog. With all the words loaded, I logged out of the travel blog site and Bernie logged in from the laptop to load the photos and publish the entries ... in case anyone is wondering what we have been up to??

While Bernie was doing that I downloaded The Age for him and then did some research into Turkish girls' names. I think the correct spelling for the Masseuse's name might be Betül or, possibly, Birgül??? It's hard to say given that Cemal spelled his name for us and then told us that it is an old Ottoman name meaning 'handsome' that is pronounced more like Chemahl or even Jemahl with the 'C' being a hard sound rather than a soft 'C'. I'm not sure if he was pulling our legs about the meaning of his name - he was a bit of a joker.

One disadvantage with being an all-inclusive guest at a resort is that every time we buy food and drink when we are out and about it feels a bit like we are buying meals that we have already paid for! Still, I think we have struck a reasonable balance between the sanitised resort experience and getting out into the community to interact with the Turkish people??

One aspect of Turkish culture that cannot be ignored is the call to prayer. Even though Turkey is a Muslim country, we have seen only a handful of women wearing hijabs and we have not seen a burka so there are few conspicuous signs that we are in an Islamic country. However, all of the mosques broadcast the call to prayer five times each day and that is something that can't be missed.

The strange thing about it is that the recitation appears to be broadcast over the loudspeakers via a phone link from a central location ... sort of like the announcement for the next train from Dandenong ... because each call to prayer concludes with a click and then beep, beep, beep like a phone hanging up. This seems so incongruous, but I suppose even Christianity has embraced technology where it facilitates the practice of the religion??

Some people seem to find the call annoying or intrusive, but if you are in an Islamic country I think you just have to go with the flow. Personally I haven't found it at all objectionable.

Back at the Voyage this afternoon we found that there was a bit of sunshine about so we lay on the sun beds by the pool for a while before going for another massage. Even Bernie got some hot rock treatment this afternoon. I could so deal with being wealthy enough to have a masseur/masseuse on hand for a massage every day!

Tonight it was Kebabistan - the Turkish restaurant - for dinner. Yet another really delicious a la carte meal.

With Albert holding firm with his no cards decree we went around to the resort 'amphitheater' to check out the show. We picked up several cushions and got ourselves sort of comfortable on the concrete tiers ready for show time. Hmmn, I think we all assumed that the show would be some sort of singing/dancing/theatrical offering, but it wasn't like that at all.

The first problem was the host's multilingual presentation. He spoke so quickly that even when he was speaking English we couldn't understand a word that he was saying!! After the introductions he invited a number of young women up onto the stage. Then he announced that for the first 'game' their partners would need to join them. Oh dear, right about then it started to rain so we bailed out before we got to see how entertaining the games would be??!!! I don't think we've ever been so glad of a shower of rain in our lives!!!

And Albert thought that losing at cards was a terrible way to spend an evening!?

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