Our most recent trip was our longest and most extravagant yet — seven days at a five-star, all-inclusive resort in Marmaris, Turkey. This time we were more concerned with relaxation than sightseeing. Most of our time was spent on the resort lounging about the the pool and swimming. That doesn’t make for an entertaining blog post, I realize, but I’ll try my best regardless.
This is the view we had from the balcony in our hotel room. Just a slight step above the tiny rooms crammed with triple-decker bunk beds that we normally stay in whilst abroad. Yes, “whilst” is part of my vocabulary now. I’ve been in this country too long.
The weather was ridiculously good for six out of the seven days we were there. I think I got more vitamin D that week there than I’ve gotten in the rest of the year. It was glorious.
We arrived at the hotel after a four-hour flight and an hour-and-a-half bus ride from Dalaman airport to resort town Marmaris, and our hotel, the Grand Pasa. First order of business after checking in? Getting a drink! We had an all-inclusive package meaning we never had to worry about where our next meal/drink was coming from or how much it cost. We real enjoyed having that luxury, as it cut out a lot of the stress we normally have when on trips. No more arguments about where/when to eat; just head down to the restaurant when supper time rolled around. Anyway, the hotel is equipped with three bars: one in the lobby, one out by the pool, and one in the restaurant that’s only open during meal times. One of my goals in life is to go to a resort where I can swim up to the bar — unfortunately to get to the pool bar at the Grand Pasa you had to get out and walk over.
The alcohol covered under the “all-inclusive” banner was all local. International brands like Bacardi, Captain Morgan, The Famous Grouse, Bailey’s, etc., all cost extra, so I decided to stick to the local stuff. They had all the basics: rum, whisky, vodka, brandy, beer (only one kind, a pilsner called Efes that I really got sick of toward the end of the week), and every kind of schnapps under the sun. Kat enjoyed asking for concoctions involving vodka, various kinds of schnapps and Fanta and/or Sprite. I stuck to simple drinks for the most part, like beer, rum and Coke, and whisky and Coke. My first attempt to get a rum and Coke was either a disaster or extremely successful, depending on how you look at it: the bartender spoke very little English, so I guess all she understood was “rum” and gave me a full glass of rum and nothing else.
Our first full day consisted of nothing but lounging, drinking, swimming, and eating. I learned a harsh lesson in all-inclusive living that day, as I ate far too much throughout the day. By the evening, movement was difficult and I had no room left for drinks, so I had to give up early.
On Friday night we finally ventured off the resort to a night of traditional Turkish folk dancing. There were belly dancers covered in bits of dangling gold, whirling dervishes spinning solemnly, and upbeat group numbers, including a fire-breathing routine.
A belly dancer basks in the stage lighting
Two Whirling Dervishes spinning. Or whirling I guess.
A fire-breather. I felt the heat from where we were sitting.
This trip was mostly about relaxing and not stressing ourselves out trying to see everything there is to see, but I’m glad we had the opportunity to experience a little local culture.
The next day we went to the local covered market for some shopping. Haggling is a way of life in Turkey — our travel agency told us to never accept the first price given in the market. I left all haggling up to Kat, as she is more skilled than me in social areas such as that. She did admirably, managing to get me a not-at-all-fake-not-even-a-little-bit Gucci wallet for 20 Turkish Lira ($13 CDN, £9 GBP), down from the original 40, and several genuine (seriously this time) Pashminas for about half the originally quoted price.
Saturday consisted mainly of more relaxation by the pool. Every afternoon the “entertainment team” at the hotel organized a game of water polo, which I participated in several times over the course of the week. Since my normal level of physical activity is about zero (that running regimen I started in January has been long since abandoned, I am sorry to say) I felt I performed quite well. I scored eight goals over the course of four games, and assisted on several more, and my team (the teams were different every time) was 3-1 in those games. Here’s a few photos:
Me with the ball
Me passing the ball, resulting in a goal.
Sunday brought shit weather so we just wandered the hotel and drank. I never did get really obliterated at any point during the week. I was, however, pleasantly buzzed a significant portion of the time. On Monday we left the resort again, this time for a day-long cruise on the Mediterranean. The boat took us from Marmaris to the village of Turunc and back, stopping a couple of times for swimming breaks and lunch. Also, oddly, the boat sold sketchy pirated DVDs, some of which were movies that weren’t even out of cinemas, like Alice in Wonderland and Avatar. At a price of 7 for £10, I was almost tempted to pick some up.
I saved my money, however, and instead spent it on a silly boat ride. During lunch some guys with a motor boat towing a long inflatable yellow thing came up to our boat wondering if anyone wanted a ride on their “banana boat.” So I obliged.
For 15 Lira these guys towed us around for a while. It was fun. I did not, however, know that the entire point of the thing was to be thrown off. So when this happened, I was kind of surprised.
I actually tried to hold on to the damn thing when it flipped, giving myself minor rope burns on my hands in the process. The second time they did it I just let it happen.
Tuesday was our last full day there so we used it as a final pool-lounging/swimming day before leaving for the return journey on Wednesday. The Wednesday that we left also just happened to be the day The Volcano erupted. We landed at Gatwick airport at about 6:30 pm, and the next morning they shut down British airspace. We just made it in under the wire. Some were not so lucky of course — my friend Catherine got stuck in Sri Lanka and her original estimated return date was May 6th. She did manage to get an earlier flight though, and is coming back to England tomorrow.
Our next couple of trips have been more or less planned out. For the May bank holiday weekend we’ll be heading to Cardiff for a little Welsh hospitality, and during the next half-term break at the end of May we’re hitting Amsterdam and Brussels.
