Holiday In Turkey

[Rob Fisher]

My wife always wanted to go to Turkey and I really didn't want to go but it was her turn to choose and last holiday was in the USA so what the hell... let's go to Turkey. What a pleasant surprise... compared to the really expensive holiday we did in Europe the Turkish trip was a fraction of the price! We decided to do a bus tour for a change and we booked through Trafalgar Tours. Trafalgar themselves don't do the tours but they have an affiliate company that does them in Turkey... it seems that only Turks can be tour guides etc. Our tour guide was great and spoke good english and had a really good sense of humour!

I just loved the food in Turkey and this was a very sweet dessert and the first food we tasted on arrival!



We started and finished the bus tour in Istanbul... Here is a shot of Istanbul from across the Bosphorus.



Istanbul and Turkey in general is a mixture of the very modern and new to the very old and ancient!

Me with my first cup of Turkish coffee... if you don't have hairs on your chest you will have after one cup of this!



A selfie of my wife (Anthea) and I on the Mediterranean coast!



You need shoes to walk on the beach!



More to come shortly...

 

[Rob Fisher]

The hotels we stayed on the bus tour were of a very good quality and they catered for the american, english and Japanese markets so the breakfasts and suppers were normally help yourself and the spreads were great!



If you love seeing old churches, Mosques and Roman ruins then Turkey is the country for you! There are more Roman ruins in Turkey than there is in Italy!



Anthea really loved the history of the country and we saw more than one or two Roman ruins on our travels.



The one thing I loved about Turkey is there are cats everywhere... no one seems to mind them and everyone seems to feed them.



Everywhere you go you are offered Turkish Tea... I'm not a big tea lover but I learnt to drink it there! Always served in these little glass cups..



One of the most enjoyable stops was at a hotel built on hot springs... high in sulphur and other good minerals...



More to come...

 

[Rob Fisher]

There must be at least eight billion Mosques in Turkey and the majority of the population are Muslims. But these are laid back Muslims... they drink and smoke and have fun... I really love the Turks... they are a loverly people. I have to say that after travelling around Turkey is one of the nicest countries I have visited and I could even live there. The food is great and so are the people!



Another stop over was more hot springs but this time the minerals coming out the ground was snow white!



Another shot...

 

[Rob Fisher]

Stunning shot of the Mediterranean 5 floors down from our hotel... To get to the sea you had to take an elevator.



When visiting Mosques the men have to wear long pants and the girls have to cover their heads out of respect.

 

[Rob Fisher]

Visiting the caves where people used to live in in ancient times and still did in the early seventies was fascinating...

 

[Gizmo]

Looks like an amazing holiday Rob.

 

[Rob Fisher]

If you get to Turkey you really have to do the Balloon Ride over Cappadocia! Simply breathtaking!

 

[Rob Fisher]

Me going Turkish!

 

[Rob Fisher]

Doing a boat cruise down the Bosphorus there are a lot of stunning buildings and some very very expensive real estate!

 

[Rob Fisher]

The food was bloody marvelous!

 

[Gizmo]

That food looks amazing.. Rob I think I have fixed the issue of copying from word to here. Would you mind seeing if its working when you get a chance?

 

[Rob Fisher]

The bus tour was pretty hectic but so worth it because we got to see a lot of Turkey and we didn't have to think... all we had to do was remember what time to get up to be on the bus and the rest was taken care of. We saw all the sites and got all the information we wanted... I didn't think I would enjoy a bus tour but it was great... plus you get to meet people from all over the world and make new friends!

 

[Rob Fisher]

After the tour we hired a mansion to just chill in with family for a week and that was also good fun...


Shoes needed on the beach!

 

[Rob Fisher]

That was a short story on Turkey! One of the nicest holidays we have had and compared to just about every other country we have visited on the plane the cheapest and most friendly...

 

[Gizmo]

Cant get over how yummy that food looks. Anyway. I have enabled a new editor please see now?

 

[Rob Fisher]

To answer some of your original question @Matthee...

Logistics, mode of travel - You could do the trip by car if you wanted because the roads are good and the traffic is manageable... for me the bus trip was the answer because they knew where they were going and we could just chill in the bus... wish was was vaping at the time because spoke breaks I lived for.

Expensive or not - Way cheaper than I expected and very good value for money. Leather Jackets and Carpets are great deals if you are into that. I bought the most awesome leather jacket (soft as anything) but have only managed to wear it once in Durban.

We felt safe all the time... but I know there has been some unrest in Turkley in recent times and would check with the travel agent when you get closer to the time.

Must see is Istanbul and the markets, Churches and Mosques. Cappadocia, the caves and the Balloon ride is the MOST important!

 

[Tom]

i don't want to spoil anything, and I guess you were not vaping at the time....but:


http://www.electroniccigaretteban.org/country-Turkey-electronic-cigarettes-ecigs-ban.htm

 

[Rob Fisher]

i don't want to spoil anything, and I guess you were not vaping at the time....but:
View attachment 1416

http://www.electroniccigaretteban.org/country-Turkey-electronic-cigarettes-ecigs-ban.htm

Well that is a huge bummer!

 

[Tom]

i think u can take, but you are always running the risk to have your stuff confiscated. so, I would not take the Reo on this trip @Matthee

Turkey is very popular destination for German tourists, all in socks and sandals, I also read some time ago the vaping xp on the german forum. I will check it out for you as soon as I can get to it, ok?

 

[Sharrivz]

really awesome Rob

@Tom ok so wont be doing a holiday there then damn

 

[Silver]

Rob, what great photos and lovely descriptions about your trip. My wife and i have considered a trip there before but we didnt go, we ended up going somewhere else. I will show her your posts. We may consider it again. Thanks. Your posts help a lot!

 

[Andre]

Thank you, Rob. Much appreciated. Very tempting.

 

[CraftyZA]

Oh freaking wow!
*adding turkey to my bucket list, right after the European & German bike tour!*

I've only left the country twice. Once was a diving holiday in Mozambique, and the other was a holiday in Kuwait. (which was supposed to include a dive in Egypt - Red Sea)
When you read Kuwait you will think how boring. However it was not.
Unfortunately I deleted all the photos in anger. The girl I was dating at the time dumped me 3 days after we landed in back in SA.
That aside. Remnants of the war can bee seen every where. The marvel is in the culture. It is fascinating. Obviously beeing the strongest currency in the world, it was not exactly cheap. In 2 weeks i managed to blow my whole salary, so that month all my debit orders bounced. did not feel like I spent a lot. But this was part of the adventure. Their lower income class looks like our middle class. So we ate where they ate, and visited where they visited. It was good.
Alcohol is a banned substance. So forget that beer or glass of wine. The hard rock cafe only sells mocktails. ie, cocktail without the kick. Pizza Hut was awesome. Speaking of those, you can hear there is a huge American influence there.
every one in their 20's drive a Mustang. I've seen so many mustangs there that the mustang almost lost it's magic to me. The middle aged men all had jaguars, and older men and many woman drove mercs.

Sorry to ramble.
What I wanted to say is, when you plan your next big holiday, just add Kuwait to your research.
We still planned to take a dive in the red sea, but that never happened. All the flights was fully booked to egypt. This was poor planning on my side. Flights from kuwait to egypt was fairly cheap. and we already managed to organize scuba gear for the dive in egypt. For me and the girlfriend of the time, the flight and dive would have costed me about R4000. Not that expensive if you think about what sort of experience that would have been.

 

[Sharrivz]

You all are giving me serious wanderlust!!!! I have never left South Africa!

 

[Melinda]

I've been to Israel, Egypt, Australia, smaller ones is Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique. On my bucket list is Russia, Greece and somewhere where it snow a lot for a White Christmas