The Curmudgeonly Traveller

Rhodes- Dalyan, 14th June 2024 I have three hours to waste in the streets of Rhodes Town and it’s become a bit much. It’s still in the high thirties, but there’s cloud and the wind’s dropped, so it’s close as hell. Even though I've already checked out I return to the hotel and ask if I can wait in the shade. They're lovely - they're just sitting down to lunch and ask if I want to join them, but I decline as I still have my pitaroudia from last night. A hellish 30 minute walk to the Tourist Port. They make us queue in the open for over an hour to pick up boarding cards and then passport control. Most of the passengers are Turkish and they announce that Europeans should use the unbothered kiosk to the right. 'You are not European!' a young guard shouts at me angrily. Ouch. Seeing how crestfallen I am, an older guy lets me jump the non-European queue. I don’t know if the ferry departed on time because I was fast asleep. Fethiye is a sun trap and five degrees hotter th...

Bodrum - Kos, 9th June 2024 I receive an extraordinary WhatsApp this morning from the pokey hotel in Çanakkale which I only rated as 6/10 on booking dot com (inexplicably, most others gave it 10/10). The essence of their long rant is they don’t care about my rating because they’re full every night (not when I was there) and that, because of me, British passport holders will no longer receive a 10% discount. Sorry guys. Talking of nationality, there was a problem with my passport this morning in Kos. I have a Northern Cyprus stamp dating from 2015, at which time I had no idea that the UK would do anything so stupid as Brexit (the EU cannot deny admission to its citizens). So they stamp a piece of paper instead meaning that officially I’m not in Greece and I can only go back to Türkiye . I might point out that I entered Greece in 2016, 2019 (twice), 2020, 2021, 2023 (twice) and Lesbos a few weeks ago, so why this was only remarked upon (or noticed) now is beyond me. I’m due another pass...