Turkey, A Diamond in the Rough: The Best Summer Vacation of My Life

This post is about six moths late, just in time to help us all dream of a warm paradise on a blistering cold Christmas morning. Maybe this will give some people some good ideas of what to ask Santa for for Christmas.

It all went down about mid summer 2005. After my good friend Alex came to visit me in Istanbul in March, she knew she had to come back to this lively city for an internship. We strategically planned a mini vacation in June on the near-by Greek islands before she would dive in to her work. Because of some freak accident and visa issues we were prohibited from going Greek. We were heartbroken. We decided to go with Plan B, which was to stay on the Agean coast of Turkey, but soon enough we found that plan B should have originally been Plan A. Turkey really is a Diamond in the rough. We found the most wonderful whimsicle hostels to stay, the beaches were beautiful, the water was crystal clear, there were secret little swimming coves, and the people were absolutely wonderful. I couldn't have asked for anything better. All of this for a fraction of the cost I had planned for for Greece.

We started on the weekend in Bodrum with four other friends, a total of six. It was such a great group of people. Somehow we all seemed to get along perfectly. The first day was the best, spent on the beach teaching Saad to swim, playing beach volleyball, playing pool at the outdoor bar in our bathing suits, and laying around on the pillows and hammocks at the end of the day. Aside from our hostel, it was perfect. The next few days we spent doing much of the same including a little trip kayacking on the crystal clear water and the beautiful white houses lining the shore. It was wonderful. But definitely the best day was the day of the Blue Cruize.

We went on this amazing 5 hour boat tour around the islands off of Bodrum. I swear every second we were not chill'n on the front of the boat listening to beach music on the way to our next destination, we were in the water. The first time we stopped I thought it must have been six feet deep. I could clearly see the floor of the sea. I was way off, it had to be at least 20 feet deep. It took some courage but finally all six of us were able to jump off of the second floor of the boat, even Saad who had only a little practice swimming jumped with his life jacket. In fact he was in the water more that anyone, except maybe me.

The boat stopped in about five different little coves where we could get out and swim. Saad and I were prunes by the end of the trip. We had lunch on the boat and made a final stop at some hot springs and a mud bath. At the end we were exosted but totally satisfied. It was a little sad because our friends had to leave us at this time, but Alex and I were excited for the next 5 days of our trip.

It was nice because Alex's man was there and Sefer flew down and joined us the last night in Bodrum and came to our next destination, Fethiye. Again the water was beautiful. We got to spend the day on the beach with our men and then moved on to this small little beach town of Kas.

Kas was my favorite. The guy who owned our hostel was super cool. He gave us a ride to the beach on his motorcycle. We swam in a secret little rocky cove and went Kayaking the next day. We took a full day and kayaked with a group over a sunken city. We went to an Island where the people use no electricity and live off the tourists that come in their kayaks. It was quite weird actually.

The next night we headed off to Olympos. Olympos I had heard was supposed to be the coolest place for travelers in Turkey for the summer. We were sad we only had one last night to spend there but were greatful we at least had that. We stayed at the absolute coolest hostel I have ever experienced. It was a little villiage of treehouses. There was a place to play volleyball, a place to chill outside on pillows, an awesome bar upstairs, and a danceclub with a firepit in the middle about half a meter away through the woods. It was like a frathouse for backpackers. We got there late and met a group of Aussies to hang out with and drink for a while. Then we headed to the club and danced our asses off. We ended up back in our treehouses at who knows what time, probably about 4 or 5 in the morning. It was a blast. It also had the best breakfast of any Hostel. Good for our hungover asses. We got breakfast and watched top 10 countdown on VH1 and then headed to the airport satisfied and ready to get back to the big city of Istanbul.

Honestly, if I could take this vacation again I would. It was absolutely wonderful and so god damn cheap!!! I am so glad we didn't go to Greece.