BODRUM

By KIRST GORDON

Since I have been living in Turkey for the past three and a half years, We have been going to bodrum during the summer. A quick hour flight to Milas and then a bit of a drive to Bodrum, you'll find the most beautiful crystal blue water and history and culture like no other.

The past few years my sister has joined me in Bodrum for the summer, but she is living in Johannesburg and working as a lawyer now so unfortunately was unable to join us. Lucky for my parents they managed to get some time off and joined us for a little turkish coastline vacay. As some of you may know, Summah is run by a daughter and dad duo, Kirsten (me) does all the colour selections of the ranges and the visuals for instagram, website, and blog posts. Mark manages all of our admin and online sales aswell as keeping our stockists up to date.

Tracey and Mark (mum and dad) arrived in Istanbul where I greeted them at the airport, they stayed at The house hotel Bosphorous which was beautiful and cosy. They spent the weekend in Istanbul and early Monday morning the three of us got a early flight to Milas - Bodrum.

With both my parents never being in Bodrum before they wanted to make the most out of the trip and stay in three different locations. The first was Bodrum city centre, a vibrant hub of locals and hustlers. I say hustlers because its a bit of a battle walking through the shopping bazaar, markets and restaurants. We stayed at a small hotel called Akan beach hotel, which was basic but just what we needed, a bed to sleep in and walking distance to the beaches and touristic areas.

Second, we went to Yalikavak which is booming with tourists and turks. Turks with money, Yalikavak is known to the rich and famous, its known for its gorgeous white sand beach clubs and music that goes on until all hours of the morning. We stayed at Palamarina boutique hotel, which for me, is our usual hang out as the location is perfect, being situated right on the marina. Yalikavak has quickly become the 'it' place to stay, but for us it was more about swimming in the ocean and eating at little hidden local seafood restaurants.

Thirdly we stayed in Gundogan, a place I had never been before but fell in love with. We rented a airbnb there which was nice, the best part though was the secluded private beach. Gundogan is a smaller village about a 15 minute drive by taxi to Yalikavak, you'll need a car in Gundogan as nothing is in walking distance.

Things to do in B o d r u m :

1. Try kavun peynir - which is melon with white cheese, if you're feeling adventurous try midye - turkish mussels with lemon and salt

2. Try seafood restaurants - A few recommended fish restaurants would be : Gumusluk - mimosa ; Yalikavak barboom and Sait

3. Go for cocktails at Zuma on the Yalikavak palmarina

4. Shop in the bazaars and bargain - one of mum and dad's favourite things to do

5. Try as many beach clubs as possible, people come from far and wide to visit Yalikavak beach clubs ; selected few : Turkbuku Maca kizi ; X beach and Xuma beach

x S U M M A H