Turkey - everything is excluded
Turkey - "All Excluded"
We go abroad to “change the picture”. Otherwise, hotels can be obtained without leaving, and the pool is at home. Therefore, I choose a travel program so that there would not be any of “my” favorite faces around. And then in the hotel "inclusive" all 15 days as if he had not left his native entrance anywhere. I want to feel like a foreigner among foreigners.
The general conclusion - The main thing is to guess the weather - my wife and I were in Antalya at the end of July -38 and the humidity is high - a nightmare. We immediately moved to Mamaris - we caught 5 days of coolness - 34 degrees, no humidity. Then the heat came there too - we moved to Bodrum and a couple more days without heat. Moreover, we are from Tashkent and are accustomed to the heat, but we sit out under the air conditioners, and here are excursions. Moreover, they did not go on field trips - the heat.
Further briefly.
Cities - Antalya - 5 days, Marmaris - 8 days, Bodrum - 3 days.
The rate of $ in the city in exchange offices is 1.6 -1.7 lira per dollar.
At the airport and at hotel receptions -1.4.
In Antalya - From the exit from the airport, go right 200 meters, there are Havas buses to the city ticket 20 lira ($ 12). On the bus showed the driver the name of the hotel, he dropped off at the right place and from there by taxi $ 7.5 to the hotel. (10 km)
Hotel Lidana, $50 for a double room with breakfast, 2 stars, booked on booking. com. com. 300 meters from the city beach of Konyalti. Swimming pool 10 by 4. Room 20 squares, TV without Russian programs, air conditioning, safe and internet at the reception - all for free. The hotel is clean, four floors, 20 rooms, marble stairs and foyer, shower and bathroom. the knot is pleasant to look at, everything is “homemade”.
Breakfast by the pool - cereal, milk. tomatoes, cheese, cheese, eggs, sausage, butter, jams, olives, watermelon, juices, coffee, tea, baked goods. True, such a set from day to day.
Change of linen every other day, towels - daily.
The cultural program -
Old town - narrow cobbled streets and romantic houses.
The remains of the Ichinkal fortress, the Roman gates of Emperor Hadrian - 2500 years old, minarets, mosques.
Port - an hour excursion with lunch on the ship along the coast, easy pitching.
City beach - large pebbles, it hurts to walk, a wave. Umbrella and 2 sun loungers -3$. But cafes and booths are miserable.
Dolphinarium is a sea of delights. The waltz is danced by a trainer and a white whale, while the whale cooes and portrays lovesickness.
Shops - bought sheepskin coats.
I liked the "Marble Cafe" in the old town on the high seashore - antique interior, beautiful views of the sea and the port.
Restaurants in the old town and the center.
Then the road to Marmaris - by Pamukalle bus - 45 lira ($ 28) per person, from the city bus station - otogar (autogar), depart every hour - 6 hours in the mountains, including 2 stops for half an hour at a cafe in the mountains. The bus is like an airplane - air conditioners, refrigerator, etc. , passengers on the second floor, luggage on the first.
Twice a stuart in a bow tie served biscuits and drinks. Each chair has a TV - 30 films, and 5 TV programs to choose from, free Wi-Fi. Two drivers are like pilots - in white shirts, corporate ties, dark glasses and behave according to their appearance . . They change on the road. The roads are excellent. In some places, four-lane serpentines with a chic rough special. coated. On the road, you feel a strong heaviness in your legs, sometimes slight nausea. The route is difficult in this respect.
Marmaris - four-star hotel "Grand Hotel Faros" - $125 with breakfast and dinner. But for the next 2 days, each time they put up a price of $ 86 with breakfast on booking com - I managed to catch and book all the time, so we lived at $ 86 per room. The interiors of the hotel are very beautiful. Breakfasts and dinners by the pool - a buffet - a really large selection of dishes and salads. Although meat dishes are mostly minced meat, chicken dishes are made from whole meat.
Animation every night.
They came: a Turkish dance ensemble, breakdance, artists with boas, a belly dancer, an imitator of Michael Jackson's dances, a juggler. In the evening, when you don’t want to go to the city, it fills your leisure well. At the pool bar from 22 to 23 hours happy hour - all cocktails for $ 3. The hotel has a large swimming pool, sauna, gym, air conditioning - all for free. TV without Russian-language channels. Turkish bath and massage at the hotel - $20 per person, but no need to go. Wi-fi - only at the reception, but free of charge. Internet cafe at the reception - $1.5 for 30 minutes. Safe in room $3 per day. I drove a minibus to the hotel's own beach for free at 10 and picked it up at 5 pm. From 21:00 to 24:00, the minibus took you to the beach promenade to restaurants and bars. Drive around the city for about 5 minutes. On your beach, umbrellas and sun loungers are free. There is not a single Russian speaker in the hotel. English and Dutch.
The cultural program
Calais Castle is small but beautiful. Museum in the castle.
Amphitheater near the hotel
Bar Street - night dances - the volume of a kilowatt is four. Bass is like being kicked in the chest. Couldn't resist and left.
In the evenings, restaurants on the waterfront on Bar Street - a view of the piers with yachts, sea breeze, Turkish music - relaxing.
Bazaar - shopping
Major scams -
When exchanging currency with waiters or sellers in stores or when paying with cashiers on excursions, they try to cheat on the course, sometimes it turns out for 10-20 dollars. Carry a calculator. In this case, they will lie directly in the eyes.
There are ads at the exchange points - No commission, in words they confirm that they will give at this rate, but in fact, at a rate of 1.632, with an exchange of $ 100, they will give you 160 lira in your hands and maybe 30 kurush (cents) to confuse. When you catch your hand, they say it's not a commission, it's a tax or a duty. Ask to write the number of the expected lire on a piece of paper, everything immediately pops up.
The waiter can bring the bill twice as much and then claim that the price on the menu was not in lira, but in euros. When they bring the menu, he will try to claim that you drank twice as much, but then he easily agrees and apologizes with a smile.
At the entrance to the restaurant, they sometimes hide the menu for alcohol, and then it turns out that they want to take 7 lira ($ 4.3) not for a bottle of 0.5 beer, but for a large glass, which is almost 2 times less. Specify at the entrance that you want exactly a bottle of 0.5 beer for 7 lire. Ask to bring beer in a bottle and two "very cold" glasses from the refrigerator. Explain what you will pour yourself, otherwise they will immediately pour a full glass so that the beer warms up and you have to drink quickly.
Tour prices start at $40. and then take it in another shop for $20.
Taxi drivers - A taxi driver may say on the way that he did not know that it is so far and requires an extra charge - if you are too lazy to argue, pay extra, or threaten with the tourist police.
Take the phone from one of them and agree on possible trips around the city in the coming days - they usually immediately drop the price. Then you can call them even from the reception phone or ask a passerby to call. True, a minute of a call seems to be 1 lira.
Checks almost nowhere, including in the hotel, do not knock out and do not give until you demand. And then they just give an invoice printed on a print, and not a cash receipt.
Prices for sheepskin coats - they themselves collided, threw off from $ 500 to $ 200.
They can push in artificial sheepskin coats or even fur coats under the guise of natural ones. Don't listen to any explanation.
It is better to call home via Skype - as a rule, any hotel will give you a computer. (Sometimes for free, sometimes for the price of the Internet. )
Later I will add on Bodrum.