We have wheels!

Wednesday was a travel day but in order to travel, we first had to pick up our rental car. 

We have rented cars in various countries and the procedure isn't always as standard as what you would expect. When we were in Romania, we rented a car and the guy came to meet us in a grocery store parking lot where I gave him some cash and he gave me the keys!

Yes, we could have paid the big bucks and done a standard tourist rental with Avis or one of the other brand names. But that wouldn't be like us.

I had already checked the brand names and they wanted 7,000 lira for a month. Then I checked local rental companies and the best I could find was 4,200 per month. I asked our Airbnb host Kerem, and he said "I know a guy" and got back to me with a price of 3,000 lira ($500 CAD, $385 USD). Sold!

I had no idea what we were getting, and I really didn't care. So long as it was reliable and good on fuel, we would be happy.

On Tuesday, I had asked Kerem what the procedure was to pick up the car. He said to be ready at 9:00am and he would drive me over there. So that's what happened. The guy who owns the car had been called to Istanbul on business but Kerem already had the keys and the contract. We drove into the city and found a side street where Kerem found the car by hitting the button on the remote to which lit up the parking lights on the correct car. He then handed me the keys and we drove back to the apartment where I signed a fairly standard car rental contract. No credit card accepted, and I had to pay the 3,000 lira up front in cash. 

I'm guessing the car is a 2014 or 2015 (I haven't checked yet) Fiat Linea with 132,000 kms (82,000 miles) on it. Just a standard four door sedan, white in color. I'll take a photo for you another day. It's got a few marks on it, and it's been in a couple of accidents and not repaired properly. But it drives fine, and it goes down the road straight and the brakes work great and it has fairly new tires on it. It was raining a bit when we picked it up, and it definitely needs new wiper blades! I was told to buy some and they will reimburse me.

So with that done, we packed our stuff into the car and drove down to the harbor where we wanted to do the drive that goes around the little peninsula that shelters Fethiye Bay.

But the first thing we had to do was get some fuel. The tank was about 1/4 full. All fuel stations in Turkey are full serve. There are no self serve. I said to the guy "full" and he understood right away. Fuel was 7.02 lira per liter ($1.18 CAD per liter, $3.40 USD per gallon) and when I went to pay with credit card he printed me out a slip of paper and I had to bring it in to the girl in the store where she processed the transaction and printed two receipts. One she stamped for me to give back to the attendant.

Looking back at Fethiye.

The road is fairly narrow in spots, with no guard rails or shoulders. 

Good thing there was hardly any traffic.

We came around a bend and were surprised to see this travel trailer.

It didn't appear to be broken down, and we think he was just boondocking. He had a great view! We see very few "no parking" signs anywhere, and so far we think that Turkey would be a very easy country to boondock (wild camp) in.

Looking back at where the guy was parked up.

It was a nice drive, but we needed to make our way back through the city. Driving is actually fairly straightforward here. The drivers are a little aggressive, and you have to watch for all the scooters and pedestrians (who apparently do not have the right of way, even if they really do!) but overall I think it's easier than driving in Cape Town, South Africa. And overall, the roads are in really good condition.

We got on the main highway heading northwest up the coast.

This highway was in excellent condition.

We found a roadside restaurant to grab a late lunch. The waiter didn't speak any English, and our Turkish is only up to about 6 words... but we are trying. It's one of the more difficult languages to learn. But, google translate and another customer who could speak English helped us out. I didn't take any photos, but we had a couple of meat dishes and a plate of salad and a bottle of water. Not great but it was okay. The bill came to 125 lira ($21 CAD, $16 USD), small tip included. From what we have been told, it is standard here in Turkey to simply round up your bill.

Driving further on... a restaurant in an airplane!

Yesterday's drive, 103 kms (65 miles).

We arrived at our Airbnb in the village of Gökçe at about 3:30pm. Our host Celcuk and his wife Kiymet were there to greet us. The place was advertised as a "farm stay", but it's really not. It's an old village house with a separate old cottage. We are in the old cottage. It may not be a farm stay, but there is a big garden and lots of chickens. Apparently we will get fresh eggs. 

Our living room.

Bathroom.

Ruth, inspecting the kitchen.

Our bedroom.

Our front porch.

And we have a cat... this is Pasha.

It's not quite as well equipped as the place we had in Fethiye, but it will do. We are paying 160 lira ($27 CAD, $20.50 USD) per night for a 14 night stay.

Slept okay, but between the dogs barking and the roosters crowing, we woke up this morning thinking we were back in Mexico!

Today we are meeting our friends Volkan and Heather for lunch in the seaside town of Marmaris.

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