Ambiguous rest
In early August 2019, we went on vacation to Turkey for the first time. We chose Kemer. Before that, they rested only in Bulgaria and here, in Sochi. I always wanted to return again, but after returning from Turkey, such a desire did not arise, it seems that we had a good rest, and got tanned, and had a swim, but I don’t want to go back.
We chose the Grand Viking 4 * hotel for relaxation, I read both positive and negative reviews about it, but because of the small budget we chose it.
They settled us in the room at about 2 pm, before that they sent us to dinner, the staff at the hotel is helpful and friendly. The room is an ordinary standard, but (! ) There are no shelves for things in the closet, only two small drawers, where only panties and socks fit, 5 hangers also did not allow to place all the clothes, I had to put a slide on the suitcases, and this is not very convenient . The following: there are no hooks in the bathroom on which to hang clothes taken off before washing, towels were located on a shelf above the toilet, where they had to be hung to dry, somehow not comme il faut. But the most unpleasant thing for us is loud music until 23:00 by the pool. It is best to take rooms overlooking the street, it is quieter there, but this will not save you from loud conversations of neighbors, children running along the corridors, while screaming like crazy, banging doors on jambs, i. e. , soundproofing is at zero. Wi-fi more or less catches on the first floor.
The food is normal, don't expect variety: chicken, chicken, chicken, less often beef, fish.
Beach. There is a bus from the hotel to the beach. If you can't get in, they'll come back for you. Walking for about 20 minutes in the heat, it’s hard, I had to constantly douse myself with water and jump from shade to shade, rest there, but the shade is not everywhere. The hotel reserves sunbeds at the Dekapo cafe on Moonlight Beach, there are not many sunbeds, there were not enough sunbeds for all the hotel guests, especially if they came after 10 o'clock, but they will not be enough, because not only Grand Viking vacationers, but also the local population were located on them , which did not differ in cleanliness: empty plastic bottles were stuffed under the sun loungers, khabariki were also there, food bits were buried in the sand.
Sea. We were only familiar with the Black Sea, so the Mediterranean seemed charming to us: the water is clean and transparent, especially in the morning, emerald green. We swam in it for hours; warm, tender, did not want to go ashore. The view from the water to the shore was mesmerizing: mountains, tall palm trees, an abundance of greenery and a blue-blue sky.
Kemer. We couldn’t get around the whole city, our paths were monotonous: the road to the beach and to the center with a clock in Migros, we rarely went for a walk along the pebble beach in the city center. The impressions are different: it’s nice to walk along the paved roads, admiring the fantanchiki, but at the same time dodge annoying sellers in shops inviting you to buy their goods, from offering excursions, to watch garbage, which is a lot on the streets of the city.
Excursions. We planned many excursions: Phaselis, Tahtali, Goynuk Canyon, a mountain with lights, Kaleichi, a waterfall whose water falls into the sea. We only went to 2: Tahtali and Goynuk.
We went to the mountain with an excursion from "Koral". They worked for "5": they picked us up from the hotel on time, conducted a small educational program in Turkey during the journey, controlled the ascent to Tahtali and, on time, as promised, returned to the hotel for dinner. The mountain itself did not cause great enthusiasm: yes, the mountain, yes, it’s beautiful, but in Krasnaya Polyana it’s more beautiful, greener, more diverse, IMHO.
We went to the Goynuk canyon by taxi. From the hotel to the entrance - $ 20. We walked through the canyon on foot and back and forth, we did not use the services of a jeep. Of course, it was hard to go, the heat was almost under 40, but it was more interesting. Although not as extreme and exciting as the road along the large circle of the Yew-boxwood grove in Adler. I liked the canyon, we swam in a mountain lake, the water is cold, but it is very refreshing, we didn’t climb into the gorge in wetsuits, a simple swim was enough.
We wanted to climb to the flag on Mount Chalysh, but we couldn’t manage the road - it’s hot, we returned.
We had a good rest, but I do not want to return to Kemer. Maybe next year we will come to Turkey, but to another region, for a change.
