Day 3
The Salmakis Hotel reminded me a bit of Santorini, perhaps a less prettier cousin, mostly thanks to the construction of the hotel and the colours used – white and blue. But that wasn’t the only thing. It was the attitude of the service staff – they always had something better to do when you beckoned. D noticed that the colour of our wristband – given to us when we checked in – was different from many others. I also agreed that colour had a lot to do with the disparate treatment of guests. The view from the restaurant area was fantastic, but though the breakfast spread was not lacking in terms of quantity, it wasn’t impressive in terms of taste.
We were supposed to have the city tour as per the original plan, but the plan was flipped because we had to leave for our next destination on the second day. So a boat trip was the agenda for the day. We were told it would start at 10.30. Thanks to the million steps to the reception, we were delayed by about 3 minutes. Two old Turkish ladies in the van began screeching soon as we got into it, pointing at their watch as though they had been waiting since the previous night. I first tried English, and when that failed, resorted to the more universal Malayalam. Even that didn’t work! We soon reached the jetty.
The trip itself was a European version of the island hopping we do in SE Asian countries. Thailand, for example. But in this case, you could lounge on the top, where they had cushions and music to aid the mood! A hot sun tried to compensate for the cold weather, and it worked like a charm. The boat guys were very friendly and tried to make up for our sulking companions. A good time to mention that one old man in our tour group was specially considerate to us. We first visited Black Island, once a refuge of Cleopatra (this girl has been everywhere!) and then a few more islands. Take the tour only if you’re really fond of swimming. I mostly swam in the cushions on top of the boat. The music was quite fantastic. There were many boats like ours in the same area, and some obviously more expensive versions as well. Some fabulous views in general, and despite the loud music, a sense of calm.
Lunch was pasta, served in the boat, downstairs. Simple food, but tasty. Unlike the Asian versions, a proper table and cutlery were involved. We had apparently been booked on a lunch only package, so anything we drank would be extra. Most others seemed to have taken the everything-included option. Towards the end of the tour, we reached Rabbit Bay and I swam a bit. Freezing cold water! This is why the season had not started in earnest.
We got back by evening, and a van was waiting to drop us back at the hotel. We passed the Marina and it looked pretty happening. To add to our not-so-great day, the idiot tour guy missed our hotel. We had to walk back, because that seemed a better option than the screeching. But that also meant we could see the town a bit. Chanced on a few windmills much similar to Mykonos, except their fans had been chopped off.
We made plans to have an early dinner and go off to the Marina, about 15 mins of walk away. Dinner, as opposed to the first meal, was pretty awesome. I suspect it had a lot to do with the truckload of dessert options. 😀 We just managed to get a seat and the waiter said we were lucky to get it. This guy had a PhD in looking through people, as displayed during breakfast. So I took the bait and said that we were really lucky to be able to travel to a different country and stay in such a wonderful hotel with the most polite staff. Sarchasm happened.
We then became lazy, dropped the Marina plan, and decided to hang around the beach. The night was pretty and there was a mini concert happening at the neighbouring hotel. But Salmakis had some event happening for kids, where we saw little girls dancing to Wrecking Ball, aping the moves! #facepalm We moved to a place where we could hear the other concert a little better, and thus ended the day.