Chaotic arrival in Turkey

37° 2′ 3.8724” N 27° 25′ 49.944” E
May 10th 2022

Bodrum

Chaos. Our first meeting with Turkey is total chaos. The wind whips in through Bodrum harbour, where six or seven sailboats of different nationalities fight for two berths set aside for boats that have to check in with customs. Angry shouts and gestures. Long wait. Perhaps the bureaucracy is worse here than in Greece? Hard to imagine.

And yet, maybe. “Turkey is the worst country in the whole world to declare in,” states the captain of our neighboring boat. We ask him, where he comes from himself. “Turkey,” he replies. He has been with the family on a trip to Greece and now has to declare in his homeland.

Provided with the necessary stamps and on the way to our berth in the large marina, we notice the sounds. There’s really a lot of sound. Voices, music, children’s squeals, megaphones. And in the background, a muezzin fights his unequal battle to call to prayer from the speakers at the top of the minaret. There must be a traveling fairground in the city, we think. Later, we realize that there is no travelling funfair here. This IS the sound of Bodrum.

After a few days, we begin to draw comparisons between Greece and Turkey. The food is clearly better in Turkey. The nature is more lush, more trees on the mountains right down to the water. The Turks’ castles and historical ruins are more beautiful. The inhabitants are friendly and welcoming. On the other hand, they were also so in Greece.

And Erdogan? The president? He’ll be gone after next year’s election, people tell us. His latest economic plan is gasoline on the inflation bonfire. Officially, the government says the price of tomatoes and other foods has risen 75 percent in the past barely two years. “But we ordinary Turks know, that the price of tomatoes has risen 150 percent,” one Turkish woman said angrily.