Bombing in Marmaris, Turkey
Just got an email informing me that there was a series of bombings in Turkey last Sunday. One attack occured in Istanbul, and three in Marmaris in the south of Turkey. We spent some time in Marmaris earlier this year whilst travelling through Turkey - on the advice of an Israeli guy we met in Kyryzstan. He had been there five or six years ago and strongly recommended the place.
After spending a couple of days in Istanbul, we took a night bus to Marmaris. When we arrived in Marmaris, we took a shuttle into town (buses in Turkey offer a free shuttle into town from the bus terminal). Once in town we were greeted by one of the locals who offered us a cheap place to stay. The striking thing about this chap was the strong Geordie accent that graced his otherwise impeccable English. We began to wonder just what sort of place Marmaris was.
After a bite to eat at a restaurant he suggested to us, we were ferried to the place he had recommended - Hotel Flash. The price wasn’t too outrageous considering the proximity of the hotel to the beach. When we worked into the hotel we were greeted by a real geordie “Hello luv, would you like a cup of tea?”
It didn’t seem like Turkey at all. In fact with all the English breakfasts and the HP sauce and the Sunday Mail on sale at every corner store it seemed like we had walked into a little slice of England. (with the odd exception of an Australian karaoke bar). And that I think is why the place is so popular with English tourists, and correspondingly why it was the subject of last weekend’S bomb attack.
12 British and 2 locals are reported to have been injured in one of the blasts in Marmaris which occured on a dolmush. A dolmush is a mini-van, and is a form of transport used all over Turkey much like the subway. One pays a set price according to the distance to travel when one gets on the dolmush. They are heavily used by locals as well as tourists - this domush, (the one with the bomb on it) I imagine was the one that runs along the beach front, ferrying tourists from their hotels into town for their shopping.
It is worrying to think that such attacks can happen anywhere in the world. But the chances of actually being injured or killed in such a terrorist bombing are slim. So news like this wont keep us from travelling in the future. We wish those injured in the blast a speedy and full recovery.
Related Marmaris posts:
*Marmite Marmaris
*Marmaris Bye-bye
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