Travel Journal, Part VII

So I'm in Bodrum now. We're staying at a resort that overlooks the Aegean Sea. At this point in my journey, I have run out of synonymous phrases for "it looks really pretty." But seriously, the scenery here is absolutely amazing. Flowers, trees of all kinds, and the sea, flanked by mountains on either side then stretching out as far as the eye can sea between them.

Carl's company owns the resort, so we're staying all week free of charge. We're also the only people staying this week, so we have the resort's private terrace, pool, and beach all to ourselves. A short walk down the beach, however, and we are surrounded by vacationers. This means that we can sit by ourselves at the beach or pool, hang out at a packed bar, or anything in between, according solely to our whim.

Last night, we went out and partied for a bit, had a few drinks, and chatted up some British girls. I'd only slept a few hours the night before, though, so we called it an early night at 1 AM.

Today, we slept till 9, woke up, had breakfast brought up to the room, ate, went back to bed, and woke up again around two in the afternoon. We sauntered casually through our "morning," sipping cappuccinos on the terrace overlooking the beach. We got a couple shots of vodka and baileys to drop in our cappuccinos from the beach bar, I pulled up a reggae station, and we just chilled for a bit. It was hot out, but we had a spot in the shade and there was a nice breeze coming in from the Aegean.

After we'd finished a couple of cappuccinos each, we got into the pool. Since nobody else was there, I was able to get a few laps in, but we mostly just splashed around and played in the water.

Eventually, we felt like wandering so I left my laptop behind the resort's bar and walked down the beach. Just a little ways down is a nice little bar with hammocks and couches. So I claimed a hammock in the shade, ordered something fruity and alcoholic, and lazed the next few hours away.

When it started to get late, we decided to walk a little further down the beach and start looking for dinner. Nothing looked terribly appetizing, though, so we walked back to the resort and had supper there. Chef made us some excellent tomato soup, followed up with a darn good steak. This was all followed up with a chocolate moulox that made my eyes water a little. We thanked them for the meal, and went back to our room for a few hours to relax before heading out for the night.

Now, I won't exactly say that Bodrum never sleeps, but it doesn't go to bed until at least five AM on the weeknights. Rather than go out early and burn out by one AM, We hung out in the room, relaxing and enjoying some AC until a little after midnight, and then went out, just as the party was getting started. We had't made it very fair down the beach before we found ourselves chatting up a couple of British lasses. Apparently, I have a "gorgeous accent."

The ladies accompanied us as we strode down the beach, looking for a proper party. There were a few little parties beachside, but nothing more impressive than a Friday night at the SAE house, so we kept walking until we got to Gombet. We found a bar that was nice and packed, but not so crowded that we couldn't sit. We found ourselves a nice cushy place to sit, and started ordering drinks. I danced (poorly) a little, but mostly sat, drank, and chatted. After a while, the Brits (who had been out for a while already) had to go, but wanted us to meet them at that same bar tomorrow night. We acknowledged, sat for a while longer, and then moved on.

Our next stop was another dance bar, but it wasn't really as nice as the first one. As we left, the doorman begged me to say, and promised to make me any drink in the house for only five lira. This was pretty reasonable, so I meandered back in and received the worst Long Island Iced Tea I've ever had in my life. It was nice and cheap, though, so I took it and nursed it for a half hour or so while Dre danced on the bar.

After that, we took ourselves a little walk to kill some time and work off the liquor. We stopped for water at a bar called No Name, then took a stroll down by the beach. We sat and admired the sea at nighttime for a bit, stopped for a brief chat with some Irish girls, and then headed back up towards the bar, for our evening's finale. At half past three, a bar called Tropicana throws a foam party. This is what we had been waiting for, and it was absolutely worth it.

This wasn't like the foam parties most of us had been to, they did this one up right. The foam machine was a massive device rigged to the ceiling, raining suds all over the dance floor. It piled three feet high at certain points, and they piled more on whenever it got to low. Shirts were removed, bubbles were tossed, and people slipped and slid on the floor. It was a magnificent mess. It got in our eyes pretty badly until I had the bright idea to fetch a few napkins from the bar and stash them on a dry corner of the speakers. After about half an hour, the foam ceased to flow, and we packed up our soggy belongings and, laughing all the way, began staggering down the beach, back to the resort.

Tomorrow night, Carl and Monty (one of Carl's coworkers) are coming out to join us. Before that, we're going to hit the shops and see the castle, and probably have a nice dinner before they arrive, then go out and club hop with them.

Tomorrow being Friday night, it should be the big party. We haven't decided whether we're meeting up with the Brits again, but one way or another we plan to head back into Bodrum proper to really check out the club scene. As I've found myself saying a lot in this journal, it should be fun.

UPDATE: check my Facebook page for fabulous pictures, proving that I'm not making all of this up! Also, watch this space for a video soon!