Final Day on Marmara Adasi

We had well and truly been accepted into the bosom of our hosts at the Adasu Hotel. The breakfasts were phenomenal, and the hospitality we received here was even more so. One morning, I had to catch up on some emails, so Peter sat in the beautiful flower-filled garden, soaking up the sun. Before he knew it, he was being plied with endless glasses of tea, followed by a never-ending stream of sweet and savoury treats. You know, after Istanbul, where you got the sense that everybody was after something from you, coming to Marmara Adasi was a breath of fresh air. All our hosts wanted to do was give us the very best of hospitality, which they did in spadefuls.

Today, we planned to have another easy day and stay local. We needed to make some decisions on how we would continue our journey west, and we only had a sort of half-thought-out plan of how to do this. We decided to cross that bridge when we came to it. We took a stroll to the beach east of the town this time. It was a bit of a scrappy beach. It certainly didn’t make me want to dive in and take a swim, nor lie on the beach to catch the rays. It was a mixture of greyish volcanic-type sand covered in large pebbles. This at least made it easy to walk along. After reaching the end of the beach, we turned back and stopped at one of the beachside cafes for a glass of tea. Despite the unattractive beach, sitting behind the beachside tavernas were a couple of boutique-style hotels with swimming pools.

The outward-looking view towards the neighbouring islands again whetted my appetite to visit. The one I’d originally wanted to get was the little island of Pasalimeni. Had we come across land from Istanbul via Bandirma, this is where we would have stayed. I did look to see if we could visit for a day, but unfortunately, the Gestas ferry schedule, which operates a circular route around most (not all) of the Marmara Islands, didn’t make it possible. There was certainly something intriguing about this little place – it will go on my bucket list.

Marmara town does have a certain charm. It strikes me as a working town that operates year round but with additional facilities for visiting tourists. There is a very good selection of eateries from good restaurants to many fast food outlets. There is a row of shaded cafe’s along the waterfront and shops to serve the needs of the locals.

Even after such a humongous breakfast, by mid-afternoon we were ready for a snack. Peter discovered a Kokorecci outlet which of course specialised in kokorecci (kokoretsi). After unsuccessfully trying to hunt it down in Preveza earlier in the year, Peter was chuffed to have found it at last. I gave the kokorecci a swerve and had a few biscuits from a nearby bakery instead.

Whilst in the town, we noticed that a stage had been erected in the square. We weren’t sure what was happening, but whilst Peter was eating his kokorecci sandwich, a couple of young musicians came on stage to do a sound check. Peter asked the kokorecci man what time it would begin, and he was told 8pm, so we made sure to come back later.

Before heading out we made an attempt at packing, still without a real clue of how we were going to move on from here. There was a plan of sorts. We would catch the 11am boat to the mainland towns of Narli or Erdek south of Marmara Adasi and from there we’d get a taxi or dolmus to Bandirma. From there, we’d get a Kamel Koc bus to Canakkale. According to the schedules I’d found online they would all match up nicely. However, it did seem like a rather long-winded way to get there and would take 5-6 hours. I dropped Bahar a Whatsapp message to see if this sounded like the most efficient way to get to Canakkale. Although she was in Dubai, she was very responsive and didn’t hesitate to make a few phone calls. She told me that there ‘may’ be a boat to Tekirdag north of the island and from there a bus to Canakkale. She advised us to go and speak with the port office. Peter had already been in and photographed some of the schedules hanging on the wall but we also knew this was the time when all schedules – buses and boats began to change their timetables reduce. At least we had one option on the table albeit a long-winded one.

We came back to the centre about 7pm and we took a stroll along the promenade and over the bridge as the sun began to set. Tonight there is a magnificent full moon. The town was buzzing this evening and was the busiest we’d seen it. It didn’t take long to find a restaurant for dinner. Opposite Birol and right along the waters edge was another popular restaurant called Erhan Restaurant. Not only did it have good views of the sea, it also gave us a good view of the stage which was just beginning to set up.

Before the performance began, the call to prayer echoed across the harbour. We’d already ascertained that this evening’s performance would be a jazz band from the sound check they did earlier. Next to the staeg was a banner which I hoped would give me some kind of clue of what the event was all about. With the assistance of Google T, I understood that if was part of an event called the Three Islands Culture & Art Days, part of a partnership programme between Marmara AKS and Ortaklaşa program. Tonight’s concert was to mark the end of the festival and with a performance from the Yavuz Darıdere Hammond Jazz Groove Band. In fact after Googling a bit more about Yavuz Daridere it seems he’s quite a notable on the Turkish jazz scene. He specialises in the Hammond organ though has many other instruments in his repetoire including the trumpet.

I also found that the Marmara AKS project aims to enhance access for island residents to engage with cultural and artistic activities. It also aims to encourage dialogue among diverse cultural groups within the islands. This explains the events that we’d seen with the children in Asmali.

The concert was wonderful. I’m not adverse to a bit of jazz music and their set ranged from some old classics to pieces that were more contemporary.

At the end, after rapturous rounds of applause, Yavuz Daridere gave a small speech. Peter used live conversation on Google Translate and we just about got the gist of it. The other musicians in the band were all students and this was one of their first public performances. He reitereated the importance of access to culture for the islands and he also made broader comments on the importance of co-operation and building bridges across borders in a time of uncertainty. Hear, hear is what we say.

This was one of the most unexpected events for the end of our stay on Marmara Adasi, an island that has been the perfect antidote to Istanbul.

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