In the footsteps of great civilizations - 7 delightful days in Turkey
To say that I simply liked the tour "In the footsteps of great civilizations" means to say nothing. Although I managed to catch a bad cold before the flight, and at the airport in Istanbul, as they say, I was not lucky, all the same, positive emotions overwhelm me. There was everything: and a lot of sights that from what he saw for another year would be enough impressions; great company; sea, swimming pools, hammam, discos, shopping, national cuisine… Such a kind of all inclusive turned out.
And the organization of the tour is top notch. Moving is not very tiring, the seats are comfortable. And there was even wifi on the bus! Water could always be bought cheaper than in stores near attractions. There were enough sanitary stops, sometimes even in very interesting places. Departure from the hotels were not early (on a tour of Egypt, for example, 4 am is the usual time to travel).
Now about every aspect of the trip.
ELECTIONS (not political! )
I never understood the meaning of a beach holiday, even when I did not yet live near the sea and had to work around the clock, 7 days a week. For me, traveling is, first of all, an opportunity to see the country, learn its customs, communicate with the people. Therefore, the choice of the excursion tour was obvious.
In the spring, my husband and I had the idea to go to Istanbul by sea. In April, motor ships did not run, and in May, flights from Sevastopol were suspended altogether. Then it became clear that my husband's vacation this year is not expected. I had to look for a tour just for myself. Then I decided not to limit myself to Istanbul alone, but to see Turkey not in the usual form for many (sea + beach + all inclusive), and another country, on the territory of which many man-made and natural monuments of different eras have been preserved, with its diverse landscapes. So the choice fell on the tour "In the footsteps of great civilizations. "
CHEF AND CAPTAIN
Without a good guide, a sightseeing tour cannot be successful. I am very glad that it was Shefaat who worked on these dates. He can sing laudatory odes for a long time, and still there are not enough words to express gratitude for a great trip. It's obvious that the man loves his job. In addition to knowing the history and customs of the country, he was able to convey everything in an accessible and understandable language. His command of Russian is beyond praise: a huge vocabulary, competent speech turns, no accent. And all this was supported by an excellent sense of humor and optimism of our guide, so there simply could not be a bad mood, and fatigue was not felt that way.
And with the driver on this tour, too, was lucky. Samet himself always looked neat and kept the bus clean. I was simply amazed by his ability to easily maneuver in narrow streets, where it is difficult to turn around even in a small car.
No matter how my acquaintances-friends did not scare me with terrible stories about disasters on bus trips around Turkey, for the entire 3000 km of the journey I never felt any danger on the road. Samet, by the way, speaks good Russian.
EXCURSIONS AND CITIES or SPIRITUAL FOOD
It was worth going on this tour even just for the sake of two unique places - Cappadocia and Pamukkale. Here the cameras worked non-stop, because, indeed, there is nothing like it in the world. But, in addition to them, everything seen is even a long list, and even more so to describe. The tour program is well written about all the sights.
I decided not to mix my impressions of Istanbul and the rest of Turkey, so I did not extend my stay in this metropolis. This city is so colorful that I think it deserves at least 10 days of stay and leisurely sightseeing on your own.
Nevertheless, at a fairly fast pace, we managed to get acquainted with the old city - the Sultanahmet district.
My rating of the ruins of ancient cities I saw, although each has something interesting: Ephesus, Hierapolis, Pergamum, Troy. Having wandered through their streets and squares, it seems that contemporary art even lags behind in development. The masterpieces of the masters of the ancient world are simply amazing!
BONUSES and ADDITIONAL FEATURES
In addition to the tours envisaged by the program, there were several more stops in unusual places: at the salt lake Tuz, at the caravanserai on the way to Konya, in the center of Izmir.
And for those who did not guess a little with the choice of the tour and raved about the sea all the way, such an opportunity was provided. We still swam in the Aegean Sea. The water, however, was very cold.
On this trip, I found several like-minded people who, after long journeys, still had the strength to see additional sights.
So, in Ankara, after dinner, we took a taxi and went to the Atakule Tower. 125 meters of fast lift - and the panorama of the city at night was simply breathtaking. I was surprised that in the capital, taxi drivers, the staff of the shopping center where the tower is located, do not know a word of English.
She spared the money for a balloon flight in Cappadocia, but she figured out how to catch up. Instead of resting in a hotel before the Turkish night, we met the sunset on the top of the Uchhisar fortress. From here, all of Cappadocia is like palms, and extinct volcanoes are visible, which created all this beauty.
In Kusadasi, they were not too lazy to take a late evening walk along the embankment to the Pigeon Island, on which the fortress is located, and found a caravanserai in this town.
Additional events can be visited for a fee. I already wrote about the balloon. After viewing the photos of those who flew, I realized that it was worth paying 115 euros for this pleasure.
Turkish night. I visited because I have been doing belly dance for a long time, so everything related to oriental music and dance interests me very much. I wanted to see the folklore dances of the Turks and the performance of Turkish belly dance. With the second point, I was disappointed. The girl danced to Arabic music, with movements characteristic of the Egyptian direction, although her technique is not bad. What to do, Egypt sets the fashion in this art form. So I didn’t see the Turkish style of belly dance (((But the audience, unenlightened in matters of oriental dance, really liked the performance of the belly dance. After the main program there was a disco. Of course, our Russian group lit it. Local guys and girls didn’t even want to let us go .
Spinning dervishes. I read a lot about this, about the significance of all parts of this ceremony, so I just wanted to see it live, listen to the music played on traditional instruments. It all seemed terribly boring to someone, during the rotation of the dervishes, a lot of thoughts were spinning in my head. A film about Cappadocia was also shown before the seme.
Cleopatra's pool in Pamukkale. Swimming is definitely worth it!
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. There was no alternative to visiting it, but they clearly presented what peoples and how they lived on the territory of modern Turkey.
HOTEL LIVING-BEING
The hotels were different, although, it is clear that one should not expect luxury hotels on such a tour, and they are not so important, if only they stayed at them for the night. Even if there were some negative moments, no one drew attention to them, everything was perceived with humor. Here are some hotel quirks and features.
In Istanbul, looking out the window early in the morning, I saw a window with naked mannequins opposite. And so everything is clean and tidy, great view from the terrace of the hotel.
In Ankara, we checked into a 4 * hotel, much better than in Istanbul.
In Cappadocia (in Kaymakli) a miracle happened - Crystal Hotel 5 *. We were to spend 2 nights in this hotel. Fake 5 stars, of course, but it was the best hotel all the way.
In a hotel near Pamukkale, we swam in a pool with thermal water and took a steam bath in a hammam.
In Kusadasi, Shefaat distributed doubles and triples so carefully that instead of a single I got a quadruple room)))
I didn’t have time to evaluate the hotel in the village near Ayvalik, because of the Turkish night 2 (farewell party) I didn’t even manage to sleep.
DAILY BREAD
The food was perfect for me. Sometimes in hotels someone lacked a variety of dishes, but no one was left hungry. The best breakfasts and dinners were in a hotel in Cappadocia.
I liked lunches in an Istanbul cafe overlooking the Bosphorus, after visiting Ankara (there was the most delicious kebab and cheese cakes here), in Cappadocia. The main purpose of the lunch stops was to arrive before the Chinese and Japanese groups. After them there was nothing left, they swept away all the food)))
It was not possible to write briefly - it was a real adventure, so you can talk about it endlessly! 2000 photos per week (this is without taking into account the pictures of the Turkish night, dervishes) is the best confirmation that there is something to see and admire in Turkey. Shefaat truly made almost the entire group fall in love with his country. It was fun, interesting and educational. A lot of acquaintances appeared, living from Vladivostok and the USA to Kazakhstan and Moscow.
On the last evening in Istanbul, we climbed the Galata Tower, from where we saw the panorama of the city at sunset, and later with night illumination - it was a great end to the trip!
At the hotel, after dinner, they could not part for a long time: they remembered the trip, looked at the photos, it was a little sad that the tour was coming to an end. The week flew by like one day. And on the plane, I specifically asked for a seat by the window in order to finally see Istanbul from a height and thus put not even an end, but an exclamation mark on this journey!
