diminishing charms

[skilly]

Hi Neenie,
I,m not a dinosaur either but i entirely agree with you. its lovely walking in the old village and talking to the locals even though sometimes we do not always understand each other. it always reminds me of when i was a child as i was brought up in a country lane with fields & farms around.
while we're on about things changing i have never heard any fighting or trouble in icmeler until 2 yrs ago and i have been going for a long time. there was a bunch of (all i can call them is yobos f-ing & blinding & trying to pick a fight with the turkish lads who just looked at them as if they were stupid. they were english and i felt ashamed of them. we love having fun and we're definitley not killjoys but i hope this type of tourist doesn't spoil it for the rest of us

[skilly]

neenie,
could you post some useful phrases and how you pronounce them, i asked at wh smith for a turkish phrasebook but they only had spanish, italian & french, and said they would have to order one.
by the way thanks for replying to my message as sometimes you seem to be talking to yourself!!
skilly

[mr magoo]

skilly,

you'll find some turkish words and sayings if you click 'useful information' on the ICR homepage. It's down on the left hand side of the page. it also shows you how to pronounce them.

Happy learning!!



magoo

[skilly]

Thanks a lot mr magoo. i'm going to try a few phrases in september, only thing is i worry if i'm not pronouncing it right and they don't know what you mean!

[mr magoo]

don't worry about the wrong pronounciations skilly......in my experience the turks will just be delighted that you're having a bash and they'll have a laugh with you.


Gule Gule......pronounced gooly gooly.....means bye bye.

that's me trying to show off, it's probably completely wrong!!



magoo

[dee]

Totally agree about the english breakfasts much prefer the turkish version! Too many english bars will completely ruin icmeler! Icmeler has a charm of its own it would be a shame if it became like mamaris!

[sixy7]

Hi Enid and the rest of you,
You can imagine how I feel about the vast changes in Icmeler as I have been going there for 17 years. The walk to the old village used to be up dirt roads and also via the dry river bed. In the early morning sun you would see loads of lizards sunning themselves. Lots of little farms and plenty of animals to see. The village has changed beyond belief and I feel not for the better.
Skilly your experience with the yobs must have been awful, and I do not want to appear a snob but some of the British tourists who go to Icmeler now are a right show up and should never be allowed to leave the British Isles! Oh dear it is me on the soap box now, but I do so love the Turkish people and do not like to see disrespect from Brits.
Enough said, I shall be back for my yearly view of the mountains and catching up with my dear friends in September.
Jean

[skilly]

we have noticed a little bit of a change in the turkish people because when we first went 10 years ago, on our last night in one of the bars,( it used to be the kardeseler which is where the majestic boys opp harrys steak house is now.) the owner, erdogan and his girlfriend eva sold my husband a leather jacket. it was £150 but we only had £50 cash left so they let us transfer a £100 to their bank account when we got home ,they trusted us and they hardly knew us. every year now we go to see erdogan who is now managing a restaurant in marmaris and he is like an old friend, he is not with eva anymore.
the reason i'm saying the trust is not like it was is that one night on our way to see erdogan on the dolmus we were with 2 friends and they dropped thier money on the floor and picked it up and passed it to the driver via the other passengers. the driver thought they hadn't paid and kept shouting down the dolmus that we had not paid and we would never rob them like that as we have loads of respect for the turks, it was very upsetting. something must have happened to that driver such as other tourists actually doing that to make him so suspicious that is when i knew things had changed and it made me sad.
sorry if thats long winded but thats how i feel !!

[contrarymary]

I can't comment on the way Icmeler has changed as I haven't been there yet but for the last six years we have taken our holidays in Altinkum. During this time we have seen Altinkum change from a charming little seaside resort into a sprawling concrete jungle with literally thousands of new houses and apartment complexes being built in all directions and the surrounding areas. Hotels, shops, bars, and restaurants have been demolished to make way for even more apartment blocks, aimed mainly at the British market.

Almost all the bars and restaurants have an emlak office and I've heard that there are now over 600 estate agents in the town. There are now so many British owned properties that Altinkum is getting called "Little Britain."

For us, the whole essence of Altinkum has been spoilt by this and that is why we decided to try somewhere different for our holiday this year. I've been told that Icmeler is still a "Turkish" resort so I very much hope it doesn't follow the same route as Altinkum.

[sixy7]

Hi Enid,
I shall look forward to the photograph of the lizard. We do still see them but no where near as many.
Jean

[diannne123]

Skilly

I have bought 30+ book from Amazon about learning the language, culture, food etc.

If you type in "Turkish Books" you will have a choice from 1973 books!!

Happy browsing

Diane