On the first week of this bicycle tour I went through Bodrum, anciently known as Halicarnassus, famous for the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The mausoleum was destroyed over 600 years ago by earthquakes so it wasn’t a big disappointment to find that there’s really not much left at the site — some stones and a small, somewhat neglected museum.
Two days after visiting Bodrum I arrived in Milas, where I spent a couple nights resting and trying to stay out of the rain. I was excited to visit Gümüşkesen, a Roman-era small copy of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. I had also heard good things about Milas’ archeology museum. It ought to be good, located in the center of an area densely dotted with ancient sites. Sadly, I was disappointed twice: both the museum and Gümüşkesen were closed because they’re moving the museum to a currently under-construction building at the Gümüşkesen site. I snuck my camera through the fence to get this photo:
On my cold, rainy “rest day” in Milas, I hitchhiked up to the ruined Roman city of Labranda. On the map it looks like it could make a nice bike ride, but I’d been warned of heavy, heavy truck traffic on this road for the feldspar mining. Warning: if you’re on a bike, don’t think you can use the parallel road farther east to avoid the traffic — many trucks go up the Labranda road and down the other road back to Milas. The only reasonable bicycle option would be to come from Karpuzlu and head down the road via Labranda. You’d still have heavy truck traffic, but it’d be mostly downhill, and the distances aren’t so long. However, the site really isn’t so interesting. There are many better ruins around.
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