Ships Blog Day 3 – Nowhere to Kusadasi, Turkey
How not to haggle!
Just as I signed off yesterday saying we were in the middle of nowhere with no land in sight, the Greek mainland hoved to view on the port side, as you can see I am getting the hang of the nautical language.
The afternoon was spent around the two pools, just me Lizzie, the present Mrs Lowe and 2,000 others. The first note of warning this may only be a trend on cruises ships but it may be spreading to the mainland – Speedo’s are back - even on toned, bronzed young men they look faintly ridiculous on your average male they are a disaster. As the present Mrs Lowe pointed out they do nothing but show off the wearer’s shortcomings in all departments.
The main event of the afternoon was the international male belly flop competition. This was not about sagging stomachs but men diving into the pool in the aforementioned style. Those that made the biggest splash would be the winners. The USA came first and second which may be a complement to their competitiveness or may allude to other attributes. No Brits took part which could be down to our diffidence but maybe because we can’t enter into the spirit.
Although we do not have set dinner times and set dinner partners, by accident for the second time in three nights we were delighted to be on the same table as three women; one Canadian, Claire, one Swiss, Ursula and one Swiss Canadian Sylvia who we now regard as old friends, whether they feel the same about us is a mute point. Also on our table were two Americans from West Virginia, mother and son, Susan and Sam Scott. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were quite definitely the noisiest table in the restaurant.
After dinner Michele decided that she wanted to sample gambling in the casino. We bought $50 of chips and headed for the tables. This lasted 10 minutes on the black jack table and five minutes on the roulette wheel. She said afterwards it was about as much fun as having sex when a teenager, the build up was more exciting than the actual event which was all too brief and disappointing, I thought that adding ‘nothing changes’ was unnecessary.
We woke up this morning in the port of Kusadasi in Turkey surrounded by beautiful, clear, aquamarine waters abundant with fish. We headed off into the town and grabbed a taxi asking him to take us to a beach which we had read was both beautiful and quiet. Our driver Hussain dropped us off after a guided tour of the town complete with commentary. He told us that when he was born in this town the population was 4300 who either fished or grew olives for a living. It now numbers almost 70,000 and with high rise flats creeping up the hills will soon be 100,000 strong. However the locals seem quite happy about this and the growing tourism industry. If the beach he finally dropped us off at is the quietest in the area I would hate to be on the busiest.
Back by bus into the town we visit the local market and bazaar. Michele spotted a fake Louis Vuitton bag and fancied it. This may have something to do that amid the chaos of Gatwick Airport we saw the actress Fiona Fullerton complete with Louis Vuitton luggage. What is good enough for her is good enough to be faked by us. I generously offered to treat her to the item and asked how much it was as it had no price tag, he said 100 euros to which the wife told me to haggle.
Being English my haggling skills are nonexistent and at one point was offering him more money than he was asking for to add to the confusion the price was switching from Euros to Turkish Lira. Noting that I was heading to pay more for a fake bag than I would for a genuine version Michele tried to step in. By then he had suggested 50 Lira and within seconds I handed over the cash and he began doing a little jig. He could not help running to other stalls brandishing the note like a winning ticket on the lottery – as they say they could all see me coming.
To complete my humiliation instead of gratitude for buying the bag I suffered verbal abuse for being so stupid in paying ten times what it was worth. From then on Michele took over the buying duties, which in any language or culture is her area of expertise. She took haggling like a native and was soon shouting and bargaining with gusto to the astonishment and fear of the stall holders, they had my sympathy.
