BODRUM 2 PART
Thor Exclusive Hotel - Hotel overview
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As avid travelers, we were looking forward to the completion of the quarantine lockdown, which was announced in spring 2020. But even after the Ukrainian planes flew, most of the world remained closed to us. Turkey came to meet the Ukrainian travelers and opened its borders. And so, on board the first flight from Ukraine to Turkish Bodrum are the authors of this blog 😉 We have never seen such an empty airport in Boryspil. Most of the shops and cafes were closed, and some were covered with colored warning ribbons. Only masks were allowed on planes, and we recorded our first "mask" flight in our life with the help of a selfie.
Bodrum airport is called "Milas - Bodrum" because it serves two cities at once: no matter how surprising it sounds, the cities are called Milas and Bodrum 😂😂😂 This airport, like the Kyiv one, also just opened after the quarantine and took its first flight with tourists. Turkey has introduced a special questionnaire that must be filled out twice: on the plane and then at the hotel. The questions are simple about covid: I was sick, had contact, or are there signs of a cold. Everywhere you put a "no" sign. Thermal imagers (as we were told) are at the airport, but we did not notice them. Turkish border guards did not even ask to take off their masks at the control.
Turkish weather in July is a real challenge for those who do not tolerate extreme heat. Throwing my suitcase into the luggage compartment of the bus, which is supposed to take us to the hotel, I quickly jumped out to take a selfie with the airport in the background. The sun was beating down with all possible force, and the temperature was at least 35 degrees, so it was not easy to be on the concrete slabs of the airport parking.
At the hotel, when the driver opened the luggage compartment, an employee came up with a device similar to a flamethrower and sprayed all the suitcases with some kind of antiseptic. There were more signs in the hotel with instructions on how to escape from the coronavirus than locations 😄 Even the elevator had foot stickers, judging by which all passengers had to stand "facing the wall" " Since the hotel was not loaded, we changed the standard room absolutely free of charge, to one that has a sea view (seaview).
If necessary, you can take Covid tests right here in the departure area.
The main (in our opinion) attraction of the Holiday Bodrum Resort is the olive tree, which is about 1100 years old. So that you can understand the scale of this time period, this Oliva is the same age as Princess Olga. Before the Baptism of Rus, there were still 60-70 years left, and the tree was already rustling here with its leaves 😲😲😲
A little more information about the hotel for those planning to visit the Holiday Bodrum Resort. The main pool is organized so that in the middle there is an island with palm trees and a small bay. To the right of the pool is the Turk Café serving delicious Turkish coffee, ice cream and biscuits.
Swimming around the island with palm trees on your mattress is a great way to sunbathe. At least on one side 😂😂😂 In good sunny weather, the water is practically invisible in the photo and it seems that the mattress is floating smoothly above its own shadow.
Those subscribers who have been with us for a long time know our weakness for photographing pink flowers around the world. Bodrum was no exception when we saw pink oleanders near the beach.
The hotel has two options for swimming: piers with sun loungers and umbrellas, as well as a sandy beach. We liked to come to this beach after sunset to look at the Bodrum bay in the dark, when the lights are lit on the surrounding islands. And also, in this place there was a very good Internet, it is better only at the reception.
To make your dinner memorable, you should come to the restaurant's terrace early and take a table in the last row near the glass fence. In this case, your meal will be remembered for a long time: while you eat, the sun will set behind the hills, which we will talk about in the second part of the report about Bodrum.
We were a little surprised by the proximity of the bath and bed, but gradually we got used to it 😊 And yet, the wall with diamonds at the head is illuminated with light bulbs.
The sunsets in Bodrum are something that is worth seeing live at least once. As in Albania, as in the Dominican Republic, as in Georgia.
After watching the sunset, we went to bed early, as we planned to go to the real Wonder of the World in the morning. We will not keep the intrigue for a long time, but we will immediately show our readers a video that was filmed on the ruins of the Mausoleum in Halicarnassus. Such an unusual name Halicarnassus was from the ancient city, which was located on the site of modern Bodrum.
Browse the gallery, where we show the prices for visiting the attraction, as well as the most interesting things we saw there. The photos below are clickable:
But how to get to such an interesting place on your own, we will tell you in detail. Exit the hotel territory and across the street you will see a stop. Once every half hour, a minibus leaves from there, which in 18-20 minutes will bring you to the central bus station of Bodrum, from where it is easy and not far to reach the Mausoleum on foot.
We specially photographed the minibus number for you. But buying tickets requires a hint. When you enter the minibus, take out your credit card and attach it to the small screen that is attached to the right handrail. An audible signal will sound, indicating that 3 Turkish Lira (12 UAH) has been withdrawn from your account. This can be done at any time of the trip, both at the beginning and before leaving. If there is no credit card, the driver will take 4 or 5 lira in cash (you need to understand that the local rate of the Turkish lira will depend only on some personal qualities of the driver) 🤣🤣🤣
Nataly has a whole collection of pictures of dogs resting on the shores of the seas, and someday we will publish these pictures in a separate blog post. But there is some magic in the fact that most of these dogs are yellow for some reason. Bodrum was no exception; on the streets of this seaside town, Nataly photographed many resting dogs, whose coat color was also mostly yellow.
The main place of any port city is the Marina for ships. Bodrum has several bays, which are all filled with yachts, but the main embankment of the city is a real "Vanity Fair".
The number of boats, yachts and ships is off scale here. We even saw a small ship with a name like in Dexter's famous TV series "Slice Of Life". But we especially remember the Kiss monument, which is somewhat similar to the one in Kharkiv and the black yacht belonging to 007 agent - James Bond 👍👍👍
To understand how dense the bays of Bodrum are filled with yachts, just look at this photo.
At the exit from the main bay, the castle of St. Peter is built. It was built by the Knights Hospitallers, who often used fragments of the Mausoleum destroyed by an earthquake to erect. On many walls, you can see the light inserts of ancient stones. Before entering, you will see a bust of the most famous historian in the world. His name was Herodotus and he was born here. We did not go inside the castle, because after the quarantine, preparations for a concert of some famous classical musician from Turkey were taking place there. We thought that we would go here when we come to Bodrum again (spoiler - the second time this did not happen, we will plan this goal for the third visit) 😊
Bodrum's main market originates from the castle. The market galleries are covered with canvas, making it possible to walk around the market in 35-degree heat. Since we were the first tourists to Bodrum after the quarantine, we wandered almost alone between the shops in the market. Surprisingly, the sellers, who had been idle for almost six months, were reluctant to bargain with those few potential buyers. On the central square of the market there is a mosaic with the eastern symbols of Yin and Yang, where I wanted to take a photo for memory.
Our main memory from the first trip will be recognized only by those readers who got to this part. The most beautiful thing that we saw in Bodrum is the streets leading to the sea. Each one is bright, attractive, and uniquely decorated. Looking at a small piece of the sea through a long beautiful street is the most vivid impression of a trip to Bodrum. And such emotions are remembered forever. It is for the sake of such a momentary feeling of happiness that you need to travel.
On one of these streets we went to the city beach of Bodrum. It was unusual for us to be in such heat for too long, so we promptly took a couple of pictures and returned to the shady galleries of the market.
It was hot not only for us, but for the pigeons, which are very much loved and cherished in Turkey (proved by Ankara). The kind inhabitants of Bodrum, realizing how difficult it is for these birds, placed containers with water on the beach, around which the pigeons gathered, drank water and swam.
And we, with a brisk pace, went to the bus station, got into a minibus, which took us to the hotel in 20 minutes. After taking an evening selfie by the pool, we went to dinner.
I would like to end the reportage with another sunset in the Bodrum bay. In this shot, the setting sun sets in a glass of refreshing red wine. Such a romantic metaphor should interest you so that you subscribe to the blog and wait for the second part of the story about our beloved Turkish city. Be sure to travel!
