Come to Turkey !!
Several people have mentioned that they want to come to Turkey. So I will write down all my thoughts on traveling in Turkey.
Turkey in General - Is a great place to travel. There is enough to do and see to keep you busy for months. The West (which I have not seen to much of yet) is filled with mediterranean beaches, Roman Ruins (even Troy), and other fun in the sun stuff. The East has mountains and is more conservative and Islamic and steeped in culture and tradition. The central region has some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen.
Ankara (where I live) is a concrete city almost void of character and charm. (I hate to say it, but it's true) But it is centrally located and makes a great base to explore the rest of Turkey. There are some sights to see here, and there are a couple of really great museums. All-in-all there is about 2 days of tourist things to do in Ankara - And I would be thrilled to serve as guide! Because Ankara is not a tourist destination, there hotels here are uninteresting. They are all simple concrete buildings (usually about 5 stories) with simple rooms and simple lobbies.
METU (where I go to school) is on the outskirts of town. But if you come to visit, stay in Kizilay (the city center) or Ulus (the old city) and I am just a short bus ride away.
Istanbul is incredible! It is both eastern and western; modern and ancient; and every other contrast you can imagine. Istanbul contains the most beautiful buildings I have even entered. (but of course I'm american and we are lacking in ancient monumental buildings) There is plenty to keep you busy in Istanbul for days. Chris and I found Istanbul a bit expensive (almost on par with visiting a small american city) but others have insisted it was just the neighborhood we stayed in.
Costs - Turkey is not as cheap as Mexico but also not as expensive as the US. I think of it as US prices always on sale. Of course this also depends on where you are. In the small towns things are inexpensive and in large cities things cost more.
Weather - It is really cold now. Spring will be nice. I think even early spring will be nice. The coast is milder and the central planes and mountains are harsher.
Language - People in Turkey speak Turkish. However, most younger people also speak english in varying degrees. Whenever I need help understanding something there has always been someone there to help. Sometimes the first person I ask doesn't speak english, but I have never had to ask more than two people.
Transportation - Getting around Turkey isn't bad. Big comfortable buses take you back and forth between any two cities. Forget your images of Mexican chicken buses. These buses are comfortable, stop every 1.5 hours (probably so people can smoke), and serve cakes and tea. If you are going from one side of Turkey to another, consider flying. A round trip ticket on Turkish Airlines is generally about $120 and that beats riding even the nicest bus for 24 hours.
In the cities there are buses, dolmushes (smaller buses that leave when they fill up), taxis, and subways. There aren't bus maps or schedules, but if you are going from one popular destination to another it isn't bad. If all else fails - take a taxi. When I get lost, or the buses don't go the way I thought they would - I hail a taxi.
Turkish People - Turks are reserved people. They don't smile at you on the street, even if you smile first. They also don't form lines well. Those two things being said, once the first word is spoken you realize how incredibly nice the Turks are!
Safety - I think Turkey is safer than home. For example, when you ride the dolmush, passengers passes their fare to the seat in front of them and eventually to the driver, sometimes changing hands 5 or 6 times. If there is change, the change is passed back too.
Another example, if you are a single woman riding a bus, the seat next to you will be sold to a woman, or they won't sell it at all. Both times I have taken a long bus ride alone, I have been seated next to an Islamic woman in a head scarf. On both occasions they made sure that I found the bathroom at the stops, and made sure I got something to eat, and made sure I got off at the right place and even made conversation with hand signals (since we couldn't talk).
Cats - Cats are the national pets of Turkey. They are everywhere, inside restaurants, inside hotels, and inside stores. There is even one living inside the post office.
Smoking - Turks smoke. What else can I say? It's a bummer........and non-smoking sections in restaurants never really took off here.
That's all I can think of for now..............If I think of more info, I will post it.
See you soon!
Turkey in General - Is a great place to travel. There is enough to do and see to keep you busy for months. The West (which I have not seen to much of yet) is filled with mediterranean beaches, Roman Ruins (even Troy), and other fun in the sun stuff. The East has mountains and is more conservative and Islamic and steeped in culture and tradition. The central region has some of the most beautiful landscape I have ever seen.
Ankara (where I live) is a concrete city almost void of character and charm. (I hate to say it, but it's true) But it is centrally located and makes a great base to explore the rest of Turkey. There are some sights to see here, and there are a couple of really great museums. All-in-all there is about 2 days of tourist things to do in Ankara - And I would be thrilled to serve as guide! Because Ankara is not a tourist destination, there hotels here are uninteresting. They are all simple concrete buildings (usually about 5 stories) with simple rooms and simple lobbies.
METU (where I go to school) is on the outskirts of town. But if you come to visit, stay in Kizilay (the city center) or Ulus (the old city) and I am just a short bus ride away.
Istanbul is incredible! It is both eastern and western; modern and ancient; and every other contrast you can imagine. Istanbul contains the most beautiful buildings I have even entered. (but of course I'm american and we are lacking in ancient monumental buildings) There is plenty to keep you busy in Istanbul for days. Chris and I found Istanbul a bit expensive (almost on par with visiting a small american city) but others have insisted it was just the neighborhood we stayed in.
Costs - Turkey is not as cheap as Mexico but also not as expensive as the US. I think of it as US prices always on sale. Of course this also depends on where you are. In the small towns things are inexpensive and in large cities things cost more.
Weather - It is really cold now. Spring will be nice. I think even early spring will be nice. The coast is milder and the central planes and mountains are harsher.
Language - People in Turkey speak Turkish. However, most younger people also speak english in varying degrees. Whenever I need help understanding something there has always been someone there to help. Sometimes the first person I ask doesn't speak english, but I have never had to ask more than two people.
Transportation - Getting around Turkey isn't bad. Big comfortable buses take you back and forth between any two cities. Forget your images of Mexican chicken buses. These buses are comfortable, stop every 1.5 hours (probably so people can smoke), and serve cakes and tea. If you are going from one side of Turkey to another, consider flying. A round trip ticket on Turkish Airlines is generally about $120 and that beats riding even the nicest bus for 24 hours.
In the cities there are buses, dolmushes (smaller buses that leave when they fill up), taxis, and subways. There aren't bus maps or schedules, but if you are going from one popular destination to another it isn't bad. If all else fails - take a taxi. When I get lost, or the buses don't go the way I thought they would - I hail a taxi.
Turkish People - Turks are reserved people. They don't smile at you on the street, even if you smile first. They also don't form lines well. Those two things being said, once the first word is spoken you realize how incredibly nice the Turks are!
Safety - I think Turkey is safer than home. For example, when you ride the dolmush, passengers passes their fare to the seat in front of them and eventually to the driver, sometimes changing hands 5 or 6 times. If there is change, the change is passed back too.
Another example, if you are a single woman riding a bus, the seat next to you will be sold to a woman, or they won't sell it at all. Both times I have taken a long bus ride alone, I have been seated next to an Islamic woman in a head scarf. On both occasions they made sure that I found the bathroom at the stops, and made sure I got something to eat, and made sure I got off at the right place and even made conversation with hand signals (since we couldn't talk).
Cats - Cats are the national pets of Turkey. They are everywhere, inside restaurants, inside hotels, and inside stores. There is even one living inside the post office.
Smoking - Turks smoke. What else can I say? It's a bummer........and non-smoking sections in restaurants never really took off here.
That's all I can think of for now..............If I think of more info, I will post it.
See you soon!
posted by Lisa at 3:08 AM
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