“Marmaris – where the West meets the East” read an inscription on side of one of the yachts moored in Marmaris, a picturesque resort town in the southwest of Turkey.
Indeed, this town, nestled on a peninsula jutting into the
joining point of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, is a great meeting point
for seafarers – it is the third largest harbor in the world in terms of the
number of its registered boats and
yachts (3,000).
Surrounded by the Taurus Mountains, Marmaris turned from a small fishing port into a
popular resort thanks to British sailors, who on discovering it in the late
1970s, were fascinated by the local nature and mild climate, and decided to turn the harbor into an
international hideaway. The British
built the town’s first big hotel, the Lydia, in 1980.
Today Marmaris has more than 200 hotels and resorts. The
price of a room starts at $50 per night, and rises depending on
the hotel’s level of service.
The slogan “Where the West meets the East” matches the town
perfectly not just for its geography. The resort is popular mostly among western
Europeans: Irish, English, Scots, Germans,
and Ukrainians also. During the summer vacation period it is also popular with
domestic Turkish vacationers.
The resort was also popular with Russians until recently.
But after a Turkish fighter shot down a Russian warplane that Ankara said had
strayed into Turkish airspace, Turkey was added to the growing list of Russia’s
“enemies” (third after the United States and Ukraine according to a recent poll
published by social research center Levada on June 2.)
The local Turks now hope Ukrainian tourists will make up for
the loss of the Russians. Locals on the streets now greet Ukrainians with
“Slava Ukraini!”(Glory to Ukraine!)
Marmaris is a great place for young people who like hanging
out in bars and night clubs, and tour guides always say that the town never
sleeps.
Bar Street is the main drag in Marmaris – 200 meters of parties, dancing, music and alcohol. This
June, most of the bars dedicated every evening to showing matches from the
Euro-2016 soccer championship.
So for those seeking a more relaxed vacation with the family,
it would be better to stay in Icmeler, a little town just south of Marmaris.
However, there’s also
a lot more to Marmaris than just bars and nightclubs. In the heat
of the day it is better to leave the beach (15 kilometers in length) and
explore the old part of the town.
A cat sleeps near the gift shop entrance in the old part of the Marmaris, Turkey (Ihor Sudakov)
There can be found picturesque old houses, oleander flowers,
numerous cats and traditional shops and bars. The best way to find a bit of Turkish
color is to visit the Ali Baba bar, located in the old town.
And if you do manage to get bored in Marmaris, the local
tourism bureaus offer a range of other diversions. A favorite is Pamukkale, or the “cotton
castle” in Turkish This range of white cliffs and pools,
formed by limestone deposits from hot springs, is located in Denizli Province three hours away from Marmaris, and is a UNESCO World
Heritage site. It is the site of the ancient
Greek city Hierapolis.
It is also worth taking a
sea journey to Sedir, also known as Cleopatra Island, which is also just a
short 25-kilometer trip from Marmaris by road, to the north side of the
peninsula.
The island is protected by UNESCO and famous for its beach
made of smooth, white, ground seashells.
Visitors are prohibited from removing any of the sand,
the like of which is only found in Egypt. Probably for that reason, the myth
has grown that the sand was brought by ship from the Red Sea as a love gift from Mark Antony to Cleopatra.
On the boat ride to the island, tourists get the chance to swim in three bays and
enjoy dinner made in the boat’s galley.
The average price of a tour starts from $40-60 per person
and includes dinner.
The current exchange rate is 2.83 Turkish liras to the dollar.
Kyiv Post staff writer Veronika Melkozerova can be reached
at [email protected]
