Icmeler Online Holiday Forum & Reviews - Turkey

Thought you might like to look at Icmeler in the good old days
Most of the pictures are taken from the Babadan Hotel roof


1994 This is the Babadan Aparts, when they were only one story high.



1994 View from the Babadan aparts (panarama).



1990 Old-village-and campsite from-Babadan-Hotel roof.



1989 Back-of-village from Turunc road.



1989 Auto-park-and campsite oposite-Babadan-Hotel.



1989-Old-village-from-Babadan-Hotel.



1988 view-from-old-village-across the iron bridge, today it would be Sun Village aparts.



1988 Main street view from the roof-top of the Babadan Hotel.



1988 Outside Babadan Hotel.This was in the days when the camel came to the hotels.



1988 Old-Village-from-Babadan-Hotel.



1988-View-from-back-of-Babadan-hotel. Pre tarmac



1988-Sea view panarama from the babadan Hotel.



1988 Outdoor cinema, this was behind Tansas



1988-front-of-Babadan-Hotel. Duran was always good with camels.



1988 this was the new mosque being built.



1988 All the food was served on the terrace outside the Babadan Hotel (Footrest) this view today would show you the three bells.



1988-Babadan-Hotel as it was originally built.


Back in 1993 the road sweepers were all local ladies, note the olive oil tins to sweep the rubbish into



1995 The first cafe in the market owned by Musa Yavuz and family



1990 Some old friends of ours, Apo, Duran and Ramazan



1990 APO, what can I say, Apo, Rambo, Sylvester Stallone or crazy Billy, you can find him selling boat trips by the canal.



1997 Picture from the Turunc Rd



1996 they knocked down the Halley Hotel and built some new shops.



1996 The village fountain when it worked.



1996 The Sahin Hotel, a.k.a. The Bonjour, now The Olive Tree



1996 Mr Miami (Onbasi), the owner of the Miami resteraunt (a.k.a. Manuel) can now be found in the old village.



1995 Anyone remember Apo's bar in the old village



1993 TV licenses were expensive in those days!!, most locals would congregate on the beach to watch the footy.

Thanks for them ellie123 fantastic to see how its all change over the years.

Andrea

Wow! Amazing to see what it looked like even as recently as 1994!

It actually looks like what i expected a turkish resort to look like before I became enlightened!

But So much has been built since then, its scary!

Thanks for posting those fantastic pics ellie.

"Oh my Icmeler how you have changed"

gene

wow Ellie, these are great
just dashing out but will get a proper look at them later

If only it was still like that now. We used to love walking up the dirt tracks to the village of Ekinci, and you would see many lizards of various size and colours. Ekinci has been ruined now and on our last visit only saw one lizard. Icmeler has unfortunately got like too many places, greed has taken over and ruined it.

Have to agree with you sixy7. Everytime we go we spend the first week moaning about how it's changed and what a shame it is that it's not the same. unfortunately the Turks have looked at Spain and think that is what we want from a holiday when really we were looking for something different, like the old Icmeler. I suppose we want to progress but leave them in 1950. When I have a few minutes spare I will put labels on them. Wonder if anyone can tell which one is the local cinema???

Oh my god how it has changed, and how that green car has faded over the years

Hi Ellie Amazed at your pictures. Bet you are a little sad at the so called progress. Only having visited since 2004 I can't recognise anything and sorry for my ignorance but I don't even know where the Babadan is. Great Pictures share some more if you get time please. Sue

Sue, the Babadan Hotel is on what we still class as the main road. If you were at Tansas and walked towards the Set restaurant the Babadan Hotel is about half way on the left, next to the Kangaroo Apts. and opposite the Three Bells.

These are brilliant Ellie
Frightening to see how much it's changed in such a short time

it was great to see what it was like

Amazings pics Ellie, thanks for sharing them with us.
We stayed at Babadan apartments on our first visit to Icmeler in 2000. It's interesting to see how it all started. It only had one swimming pool back then and I remember returning one year and Duran couldn't wait to show us his new addition - a second pool where the 'football pitch' used to be. Doesn't he look young on your pics??
You can tell how much development there has been when you compare the two pics you took on the Turunc road and in such a short space of time. Let's hope they leave it now, we don't want it like Marmaris!
Thanks again and if you come across any more pics we would all love to see them on here.

Pleased to hear you like the pics elkie. Looking through our photos we found not many for the first year we visited in 1988. I think this was due to all the women in the Hotel, and my hubby, had the jippy tummy for 12 out of the 14 day stay so couldn't venture very far. Glad they have got the hygiene sorted now!! When we kept returning we didn't take many photo's thinking they would all look the same. Looking back I wish we had taken more, we never realised the place would change so much.

I thought that was Duran on the camel, such a smashing boy. He took us up to the village to meet his dad at the farm and his grandmother who lived in a typical little turkish house and even at her great age sat cross legged on the floor on rugs, her sleeping mattress was rolled up on the floor, and she was a lovely lady. It was a wonderful experience to walk through the village with a local boy as everyone wanted to stop and greet you, such lovely people. Even though it is reported that Duran is the wealthiest man in Icmeler he is still gracious and never forgets you.

Hi Sixy7, if you look at the "1990 Some Old friends" photo, the guy with the hat on "Ramazan" is Durans father, and he originally owned a lot of the land in Icmeler, so i recon he is one of the wealthiest guys over there, and yet he still drives around on his bike or tractor. Our first year there he used to turn up on the evening in his tractor, he never has mastered english but always sat and nodded in the right places. In 1988 the only way to Duran's father's house was by going right out of the new village to where the market is, and around the outside to the old village, it seemed a very long way back then, but now all the new roads conect to the old village.

Quite a few years ago he gave it all his land and properties to Duran, and Duran told us that he had pleaded with his father to let him buy a car for him, but he refused and instead had a new bike and a new tractor for the farm! The way that we used to get to the farm was to walk up the dry river bed, not been able to do that for years. All those lovely old tracks up to the village have long since gone, mores the pity. Ekinci had such charm then, not a hotel or apartment in sight then when you passed the bakers, just the stone masons and the carpenters and a few pretty little farms, I could cry just thinking about it then

What year was it when you first visited icmeler sixy7?

I think it was September 1989, and we stayed at the La Perla. Nothing on the canal in those days was there, do you remember the little shop and outside one of the houses a man always seemed to be playing backgammon no matter what time of the day you passed.

Not sure which shop you mean, but all the men seemed to just sit playing board games and drinking coffee. Remember when the electricity and water used to go off at least once a day, and some people who forgot to turn the taps off would return to their rooms to find their belongings floating around. 2 years ago we were having a meal at the Lighthouse Restaurant and the power went off. Ahhh peace we thought as all the loud music went off. Then we couldn't believe our eyes, all the waiters from all the different bars got into their cars, drove as close to the bar as they could, opened all the car doors and switched there car stereo on full blast!!! Priceless Bye the way at the La Perla did you use turkish currency or beads, in 1988 the money situation was a little confusing for the brits so the internal currency within the hotel grounds was beads, this was in the Marti I think.