Mordogan (not Izmir)

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After breakfast we made ur way slowly by foot and public transport to the airport for a very hassle free flight to Izmir. Drama ensued as the hire car firm told us that the agent had cancelled our booking due to a problem with our payment (for which I have a receipt) but we could have a car if we paid the directly. I phoned the agent and within ten minutes the misunderstanding between the agent and the hire firm was cleared up. Took a bit longer to get the car and I will need to watch my credit card transactions carefully for a while.

We set off in this virtually brand new Clio. The motorway was easy enough but the last 20 Km to Mordogan is on a virtually unmade surface with some dramatic drops to sea level. Ashley thinks I drove too close to the edge.

We arrived safely and found a hotel. The strolled and found beer in a beachside bar followed by one of the best fish dinners ever which cost less than a tenner for two of us. Great salad, brilliant aubergine salad, yoghurt with chilli (very hot) and sea bream straight out of the sea and cooked over charcoal.

This is not a lively town. Fresh fish, beautiful scenery but the only place we found to drink after dinner was the hotel bar. Which is full of people watching football. It is pouring with rain in Istanbul - we can see this on the TV. It's not hot here, but warm enough and it did rain a bit during dinner.

The restaurant was plagued by the local cats and dogs. Which just about co exist. The cats jump on the table when the dogs get too excitable.

W came to Mordogan because property is cheap here and we thought it good to explore. It would have been hard to get here without a car (though not impossible). I don't think we shall buy here though - it's too quiet and, we think, in winter, may be totally deserted. And Ashley doesn't think the road here is good enough for his bike.

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