Tuesday 12 December 2017

Bodrum Party Pooper


My daily walk takes me in front of what is left of the Halikarnas Disco.  There was a lot public grief when the owner announced that it would not be opening this year (the landowners have long been trying to get their building back) but there were no tears from me.  I can't count the number of nights, wide awake at 3 am, I imagined myself at the controls of a massive wrecking ball, knocking the source of the unbearable din to the ground.  So the above picture is the culmination of a 3 decade old fantasy.  It wasn't just that the music was loud and went on until the early hours of the morning when I had to get up early for work, it was the incessant bass turned up so loud that it penetrated walls and worked its way into your very cells - my diaphragm jumped to the cords chosen by the DJ, not my own lungs.   I should really thank this disco - it was a major factor in us deciding to move out into the countryside in 1991 - no longer being able to put up with the sleep disruption.

1983 - an after-work drink in the quiet Halikarnas days. I know it is after work because I am in my Yachtours gear. 

I've just looked up the Halikarnas Disco's Trip Adviser reviews for the past few years and they are pretty evenly split between, to paraphrase, 'absolutely amazing experience' and 'bloody awful rip off. ' Before it 'blinged out' and started looking like an overdecorated wedding cake, it was a pleasant venue; a relaxing place to have a drink looking out over the castle and a venue for fashion shows - I even played ping pong there (how hip is that - I really knew how to have a good time).  In 2007, on a holiday from England, my then 15 year old daughter insisted on a visit to the disco and - because we all do daft things on holiday - we paid a large sum of money for entry and a warm beer. She never wanted to go back again.

16 comments:

  1. I'm glad it's gone but wish they would clean up that mess.

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    1. Me too - at least those stumps in the sea, remains of the illegal jetty, have been pulled up

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  2. Ah, there is much to be said for peace and quiet so that is a nice turn of events.

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    1. others have followed since so we still have the noise

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  3. I would willingly contribute to a fund to find a death ray for bass played at top volume.

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  4. When I first moved here and before we decided where to live,Kaya and I travelled along the south coast, stopping off for a few days in various places. When we reached Bodrum, we stayed in a pansiyon not far from Harlikarnas and I was curious. So we paid a huge amount to get in...and yes a couple of warm beers and stayed for 10 minutes. That was enough. We moved on to Gumusluk where we rented our first home. Peace!!

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  5. B to B, Ah yes, pounding, disco noise - a major reason why we moved from Beyoğlu. A heartfelt congratulations to you and may you have many peaceful days ahead. xoxo J and M

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  6. We almost went on our first ever holiday to Bodrum way back but when we saw some of the people queuing up to get in, we thought better of it!

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    1. You didn't miss anything except an empty wallet

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  7. In 1987 I was working in Marmaris for Falcon Holidays. We held our 'end of season' party there which the boys from Falcon Sailing arranged. As they were mostly a bohemian lot we thought it would be some kind of beach-bar place and so turned up rather underdressed. I remember wearing a cheesecloth shirt and a pair of cotton trousers that had certainly seen better days. Luckily one of the Bodrum reps knew a man with a leather shop and so after a meal at the Chinese restaurant on the seafront (BIG excitement as it was the only Chinese this side of Istanbul) he duly turned up and kitted us out. It got a little sweaty later dancing in leather jackets but I remember a great night and being terribly impressed with the place. I only ever went again one more time ...

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    1. Lucky it wasn't one of their foam party nights

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  8. Ahh, we saw the charred skeleton last April when we were in town and were shocked. Never went there, never wanted to go there...but we both new the place and were both shocked to see its state. I'm sure if we were Bodrum dwellers we would be so happy for the relative peace and quiet but no denying, a little Turkish summer holiday legend will live on for some time. :)

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    1. It would be beautiful if restored as a villa with a chapel in the garden

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