Marmaris, our hometown

This weekend was the start of the touristy season here in Marmaris. That is the reason that we wanted to share with you these pictures, taken a couple of weeks ago, with only locals in sight. A couple of weeks more and the deserted narrow streets will be clogged with hordes of tourists in various states of nudity and sunburns.

There is not much that is old in Marmaris, many of the old stone houses being damaged by an earthquake in the sixties and than demolished to make place for shapeless concrete, in the time when ‘picturesque’ had no value yet. The remnants of a badly over-restored garrison, here called ‘the castle’, do offer a great view over the harbor.

Thirty years ago, Marmaris was still a fisher’s village with orange grooves and sesame fields.
Now, they only fish on tourists and the orange plantations have made place for big hotels. In Marmaris mild winter, though, you still can see glimpses of the old charm and it is a great place to live.

The reason for us to choose Marmaris when we decided to move to Turkey was inspired by the fact that we didn’t speak any Turkish at that time. In Marmaris, being a touristy town, it is possible to make yourself understood with English, and had at that time already a big supermarket and a good hospital. The most important part, thought, is the fact that people are used here to the presence of foreigners, while in other parts, two foreign women living alone would be approached with mistrust.

And a bonus are the surroundings. You only have to travel for a few kilometers to find the most beautiful, quite and very green places.