Our very friendly car park attendant found a hosepipe from nowhere this morning and helped us fill up by spraying water inside the locker that holds all the electrical stuff. He meant well though and soon realised his mistake. We then learnt a few Turkish words from his co-worker but can’t seem to memorise any of them despite writing them down.
Drove south, stopping on the coast just above Ayvalik. Squeezed into a tiny car park and received a warm welcome from the man in the van parked in front, who came to introduce himself (Sharif) and told us it was their Victory Day today commemorating the last battle in the Greco-Turkish war in 1922. He gave us a Turkish flag and told us the water was clean and warm for swimming but then suggested a good place to empty the toilet cassette was in the bushes next to the sea …errr non.
We walked along by the sea into another crazy mad town, looking for the colourful Greek houses and well preserved Ottoman old town as advised by the Rough Guide.
Found some colourful narrow streets but they were filled with chaos – think it just must be the norm for Türkiye.
Stuff happening everywhere – it’s exhausting just looking around! Most shops had several bits of battered furniture outside, usually with the stuffing hanging out, several men asleep or drinking tea and smoking. Scooters and bikes roaring through at warp speed, stray dogs, cats, rubbish, crates of drinks, flags everywhere, you name it…all crammed in to these tiny streets.
Walked back along the sea for a bit of peace, both sweating buckets.
Decided to move on again, mainly for the air conditioning and to find somewhere more suitable to sort the toilet cassette 😬
A campsite!!! With all the facilities – kind of 🤔 Still mad crazy. About ten people tried to guide Guy into the parking space. It feels like being in a shanty town but all the people are really friendly. One man was going to the market and asked if we wanted anything bringing. Another neighbour has just brought us a plate of food round – not sure how we’ll fit it in as we’ve just eaten dinner but will give it a try!
