Turkey hotel, restaurant, sites, tour guide and driver recommendations for November, 2010 |
Our itinerary: * Arrived Istanbul, walked a bit, slept in Sultanahmet (Old Town). Spent next day sightseeing in Old Town. * Spent two nights in Cappadocia, then back to IST for a night. We had a guide and driver in Cappadocia. * Five nights on the Aegean Coast: two nights outside Ephesus (in Sirince), a night in Bodrum, two nights in Fethiye. We had a driver only. * Four nights in Beyoglu (Istanbul New Town). Walked a lot. Also travelled by tram, ship, and subway. Normally I make all travel arrangements on my own, but this trip was complicated (a lot of far-flung places were on our list, it was clear we’d need a car and I didn’t want to drive) so we worked with an agency. I contacted Lale Aran, co-owner of SRM Travel (www.srmtravel.com). Phone +90 (216) 386 7623 (to call from inside Turkey: (0216) 386 7623) lale@srmtravel.com You may know Lale from the Rick Steves TV shows and podcasts. She and her husband wrote the RS Istanbul guidebook. Lale had many good ideas for an itinerary that worked, places to see, and places to stay. I highly recommend SRM if you don’t want to arrange everything yourself. Plus, Lale can get cheaper domestic flight tickets in-country than foreigners can on the web (and you probably won’t want to wait until you’re in Istanbul to book tickets). Istanbul |
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(Pera Suites are a block from the famous Pera Palace Hotel if you’re looking on a map). The area is lively at night and even though the windows are double-paned, there is a hole in each for ventilation, so every word (and shout and late night song) rings clear. It helped to block the vent hole with pillows and to run the air con for white noise. The other challenge at Pera Suites is language (if you don’t speak Turkish). The staff are very friendly and want to be helpful, but they have limited English and aren’t able to assist with directions or information or recommendations. But they try their best! We recommend the place, especially if you are noise-tolerant (or are usually out making noise). Food: You can get many variations of Turkish and regional food around Istiklal and in the other nearby neighborhoods. You will find surprisingly few restaurants offering other cuisines (Thai, Chinese, Italian, French, etc.) We saw a few Chinese restaurants. By chance we had some of our best foodie experiences a block from Pera Suites, at Enstitu, the restaurant of the Istanbul Culinary Institute. The food was fantastic and the value was great. Both meals we had at Enstitu were much better than at trendy Leb-y-Derya restaurant nearby, but at half the price. (Also, unfortunately, without the great Leb-y-Derya view). The Enstitu staff are friendly and helpful, led by manager Gila Birman. Enstitu is near the Pera Museum and is open for lunch and dinner, closed Sunday. |
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Cappadocia |
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Mustafa Kursad Turgut Aegean Coast |
Our home-cooked meal |
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We didn’t book a guide for our tour down the Aegean Coast, but we wanted a driver. I was concerned that there might be some language challenges, because Lale couldn’t guarantee a driver with strong English. But to our delight, Nuri was great! His self-taught English is extensive and once again we made a local friend. Nuri would ask hotel staff about sights to see in the area and helped us access Turkish food options we wouldn’t have found otherwise. |
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Cave living in Mustaphapasa |
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As a driver he was safe and courteous and like Deniz, Nuri shared a lot about his life and events in Turkey. He works for Ertur, an agency in Kusadasi. You could write Nuri directly, or ask for him through the Ertur website. Again, if you get in touch, please mention our names. Nuri Ezer The first two nights on the coast we stayed in the hills above Ephesus, in the village of Sirince. With Sirince as a base, we visited Pergamum and Ephesus. I didn’t care much for Sirince (it’s touristy and the food was mediocre) and I found the Kirkinca House rooms to be uncomfortable. If I was to do it again, I’d likely try Selcuk instead. |
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Lunch with Nuri |
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Charming Euromos |
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On the way from Sirince to Bodrum (third day) we visited Priene. Then Nuri suggested another stop, at a small, roadside temple site covered in Lonely Planet, but not heavily visited. It’s called Euromos, and it was one of my favorite stops of the trip. The temple has columns on two sides and sits in a quiet, forest setting. We were the only people there (even the ticket office was empty). It was fun to explore, and to imagine folks like us coming here in the past to pray or for a festival. Euromos was just one of Nuri’s great suggestions. For us Bodrum is overpriced and overdeveloped but it has a world class underwater archeology museum set in an old Byzantine fort. Don’t miss the museum if you are at all interested in the classical world. And there are great views of the twin harbors of Bodrum from the castle walls. |
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In his quest to learn about the area, Nuri gleaned local recommendations for visiting Lycian tombs and other ruins. He drove us to a site in the mountains called Pinara. It was fun hiking over the mountain to see the tombs and well-preserved theater. Again, we were nearly the only people there. Take water with you as there are no services at this slightly remote site (4 km of bad roads). From our Fethiye base we also hiked in the picturesque “ghost city” of Kayaköy, deserted at the time of the great population shift in 1924, when Greeks were forced out of Turkey and Turks out of Greece. The walls remain, but no one has lived there since. We also visited Xanthos (Lycian, Greek and Roman ruins) where they are discovering new roads and new mosaics every year. As at Ephesus, they have uncovered only a fraction of the site. Turkey is great, safe and easy. You need to go! |
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http://faculty.washington.edu/swittet/Satyananda/index.htm http://faculty.washington.edu/swittet/Turkey/ http://faculty.washington.edu/swittet/SGLBookClub |
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