Great Courses, Beautiful Beaches, Good Times!
Shopping is abundant in Bodrum, the shops stay open until the early hours of the morning for some postdinner, and post-drinking, (definitely a bonus for the shop-keeper!) shopping. However if this isn't enough, you can shop til you drop at the bazaars Turkey is famous for, keep your eyes peeled for the comedic Rolax, or D and J fakes, there for humour purposes alone, as many of the fakes now are so similar to the originals. The local specialities include leather, silver jewelry and scarves and curtains made from 100% Milas cloth.
There's also the Oasis Shopping, Culture and Entertainment Centre, which comprises shopping, bars, restaurants and cafes, a cinema, and many other activities. The complex is vast; over 10,000 square metres. Here you can pass a whole day just exploring and sampling the delights the centre has to offer. Popular souvenirs include carpets and rugs which are beautifully made and great value. The carpets are rugs, really, and they vary greatly in quality and price; the greater the number of knots per square cm, the greater the quality and thus, the greater the price. The rugs can be anything from 150,000 knots per square metre, to 1,000,000! A rug with a significant number of knots should last a very long time, even up a century!
Textiles such as curtains and tablecloths can also be great souvenirs, as well as the 'boncuk' - which is the stone that protects the beholder from the 'Evil Eye' until it breaks - at which point a new one is needed.
Either in Bodrum itself or in one or other of the surrounding villages on the Bodrum peninsula is a market day every day of the week. Bodrum's Tuesday textile market is famous, with local fabrics from all over the region on sale. The riot of colours and patterns appealing to all tastes gives the marketplace a fairground atmosphere. As well as fabrics, there are kilims, carpets, kitchen ware, and clothing of all description.
Part of the fun is listening to the witty exchanges between neighbouring stall holders, as they compete for the attention of customers. Then once the goods are selected buyers and sellers set about bargaining. Until four or five years ago the Bodrum market was held in the town's streets, and when the new market-place opened, next to the bus station, everyone objected at first. Now, however, they appear to have become accustomed to it.
Thursdays and Fridays are reserved for the food market, and it would be difficult to find such an extraordinary variety of fruit and vegetables any where else. Even the humble carrot comes in three or four varieties. Tangerines, oranges and lemons from the nearby orchards which cover most of the peninsula form glowing heaps of every tone of yellow and orange. Then there are the wild herbs so popular in local Aegean cuisine, such as mustard, nettles, and the ligonium. Following rain edible fungi appear in abundance, and since they are rich in protein are eaten instead of meat. Most popular of the local varieties is the çintar mushroom, whose shapeless appearance belies its fine flavour. Grilled or fried in local olive oil it is a wonderful delicacy.
Warning: If you ask for the market and you say "Market", Turkish people will show you the way to supermarkets like Migros and Gima or little shops selling consumer goods. The word »Bazaar« similar to the Turkish word »Pazar« is a better choice when wanting to go to the open air markets in Bodrum as well as elsewhere on the Peninsula. Who said that Turkey has few varieties of cheese? On the market stalls are arrayed cheeses of all shape, size, colour and flavour. Fresh curd cheese, numerous types of Tulum cheese, cottage cheeses, goat's milk cheeses, fresh and mature Kasar cheeses, various types of white cheese, and many more present a difficult choice. Olives, their partner on the breakfast table, are here in equal diversity: black olives, pinkish coloured cherry olives, dark green olives, light green olives, çizik (slashed) olives, and kirma (crushed) olives. If you arrive at the market early you can make a satisfying breakfast on the olives and slices of cheese which the vendors offer you to taste!
Market Day’s in and Around Bodrum
- Mondays Güvercinlik
- Tuesdays Bodrum (fabrics and clothing)
- Wednesdays Bogaziçi, Gümüslük and Ortakent
- Thursdays Güllük, Bodrum (food) and Yalikavak
- Fridays Bodrum (food) and Bitez
- Saturdays Turgutreis (food and clothing)
- Sundays Mumcular and Gumbet
There is also a flea market in Bitez, every first Sunday of the month. When the colour and variety of the spices is bewitching, conjuring up images of the distant lands where many of them come from. Strings of dried vegetables - aubergines, peppers, tomatoes and okra - are a mouth watering sight.
And of course there is the honey in every tone. Pine honey, flower honeys and wild Karakovan honey are all to be found here. Then there are the village eggs, fresh with their rich yellow yolks so different from cage eggs. Village women bring in delicious homemade bazlama, a kind of wheel shaped griddle bread made of whole wheat or sometimes maize flour, either plain or flavoured with herbs and olives.
On Mondays it is market day at Guvercinlik 10 km south west of Lakeside Garden (20 km North of Bodrum). The market of this small village is on a modest scale compared to other local markets, but is worth visiting for its picturesque setting right on the seafront. On the one hand are the stalls, and on the other fishermen hauling in their nets. There are a couple of tiny fish restaurant, and it makes an enjoyable day out. This market sells both food and clothing, and few but local villagers shop here.
The market traders have their favourite places, so each market has its own distinctive character. Most of those at Yalikavak, for instance, do not go to the Bodrum market. Nor do the Milas fabric sellers who go to Turgutreis market have stalls at Bodrum's Tuesday market, because the famous Milas market is held on the same day.
On Wednesdays, there are small markets at Ortakent and Gumusluk, which also attract quite a few people. After shopping at the market on the Kadikale road out of Gumusluk, you can go down to the sea to enjoy a meal of fish in one of the many seafront restaurants. The Turgutreis market on Saturdays is one of the most popular of all. This is a large market with plenty of variety, and as many fabric stalls as in Bodrum. Kilim and carpet sellers from Milas also have stalls here. Foods including wild herbs, olive oiland cheese offer abundant variety. For lunch, Turgutreis offers many small restaurants next to the harbour serving a range of delicious vegetable dishes.
The last day of the week, Sunday, brings Mumcular market, where the old airport is located. This is another small local market, quiet and adequate for ordinary kitchen provisions. As the sun gradually sinks down, it is time for the market traders to put their stock away. The bales of fabric and clothing are packed in boxes, the fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices into their sacks. Within a couple of hours the stalls are empty and the traders have gone home. Only the dogs and cats wander around for ages for leftovers. But in the next morning the colourful, noisy scene will begin again at the next day's market, so if you missed this one, not to worry.
