Turkey - October 2015
Travelling to Turkey for my very first time was very straight forward, the Monarch flight out was very quiet and trouble free, the only gripe I have is with the somewhat stern, unfriendly airport staff at both Leeds/Bradford and Dalaman airport. On leaving the airport terminal building we had been instructed to carry straight on towards the semi circle of rep's desks, where our taxi/transfer driver would be waiting and sure enough he was, holding a board with my wife’s name on. He was a very friendly chap (his name was Arif), helping my wife with her case and took us to his vehicle (the transfer driver was booked through the villa at £80 return). We were pleasantly surprised to find a Mercedes-Benz mini bus, with more luxurious, leather interior than we've had previously in other transfer vehicles and even more impressive was when he gave each of us a cold bottle of water.
Travelling to Turkey for my very first time was very straight forward, the Monarch flight out was very quiet and trouble free, the only gripe I have is with the somewhat stern, unfriendly airport staff at both Leeds/Bradford and Dalaman airport. On leaving the airport terminal building we had been instructed to carry straight on towards the semi circle of rep's desks, where our taxi/transfer driver would be waiting and sure enough he was, holding a board with my wife’s name on. He was a very friendly chap (his name was Arif), helping my wife with her case and took us to his vehicle (the transfer driver was booked through the villa at £80 return). We were pleasantly surprised to find a Mercedes-Benz mini bus, with more luxurious, leather interior than we've had previously in other transfer vehicles and even more impressive was when he gave each of us a cold bottle of water.
Sun Villa
The journey to the villa in Ovacik was approximately 1 hour 15 minutes from Dalaman Airport, there were plenty of inclines along the route for the Mercedes to navigate, but some lovely scenery along the way. On arrival at the villa we were also met by Osman, who had brought the villa keys for us, my wife paid him and after Arif had helped us with the bags they left us to it. My wife’s friend had joined us for our holiday and she was very impressed on entering the villa, she had not booked/stayed in private villas before.
The journey to the villa in Ovacik was approximately 1 hour 15 minutes from Dalaman Airport, there were plenty of inclines along the route for the Mercedes to navigate, but some lovely scenery along the way. On arrival at the villa we were also met by Osman, who had brought the villa keys for us, my wife paid him and after Arif had helped us with the bags they left us to it. My wife’s friend had joined us for our holiday and she was very impressed on entering the villa, she had not booked/stayed in private villas before.
The villa is spread over three floors, the lowest level containing living room, kitchen and access to the rear where there was a lovely outside space. Just outside the patio doors was a table for outside dining, including a barbeque, decent size pool (strangely the steps to enter the pool were at the deep end) and a smaller kids pool, with many pool inflatable’s.
The first floor (this is where you enter the villa from the Ovacik Cd side) has a bathroom to the right as you enter. The shower was lovely and powerful, but strangely the shower head made by Mercedes. Opposite the bathroom is a twin room with two balconies, one directly outside the bedroom and another which went in front of the double bedroom. The large double bedroom was straight ahead from the entrance and had a chair in the corner and double wardrobe. Moving up to the top floor, it also has a double room and twin room, but both of these have en-suites.
The couple who own the villa have made things more comfortable for not only themselves, but for us too, with little things like a UK extension lead, adapter plugs and mosquito plugs available, really handy if you forget yours. They had recently added Wi-Fi to the villa and some people had commented on the internet being slow and at times it was slow and intermittent and could be frustrating, however whilst out at bars and restaurants we found most of them had free Wi-Fi, you just need to ask, the Suntrap in Hisaronu was one of the faster connections.
Supermarket
Leaving the villa by the main entrance on the first floor, head down the steps and through the gate, which is Ovacik Cd and turn left, walk a short distance and turn left again down towards the aqua park, at the bottom there is a small corner shop, with really friendly owners, but if you turn right and head along the main road (Ataturk Cd) approximately 300 yards, there's a BIM and AZDA Express over the road on the left.
Leaving the villa by the main entrance on the first floor, head down the steps and through the gate, which is Ovacik Cd and turn left, walk a short distance and turn left again down towards the aqua park, at the bottom there is a small corner shop, with really friendly owners, but if you turn right and head along the main road (Ataturk Cd) approximately 300 yards, there's a BIM and AZDA Express over the road on the left.
Getting About
Firstly you will notice the roads; signage and driving laws are much different to the UK, with quite clearly no rules, no care and no hands free telephone systems. There are plenty of scooters with helmet free riders, rough roads and vehicles overtaking each other regardless of which side of the road they are on.
Firstly you will notice the roads; signage and driving laws are much different to the UK, with quite clearly no rules, no care and no hands free telephone systems. There are plenty of scooters with helmet free riders, rough roads and vehicles overtaking each other regardless of which side of the road they are on.
If like us you choose not to hire a car, other than walking there are two main options for getting around. The easiest is by taxi, these are usually yellow minivan style vehicles and they will beep at you when they pass you walking along the street, to let you know they are passing without a fare if you want them, but even better, there are many little "stations" on a lamp post, where you simply press a button and a few minutes later taxi will appear. The second option is the dolmuş, the local bus service, but not your typical bus service, these white mini buses, (similar to a small coach) drive up and down the main Ataturk Cd every 5 minutes, they also beep like the taxi's to let you know they are there. It will cost you 2 turkish lira, but be warned they do not mess about taking your money, closing the door and setting off all at the same time and there's a strong chance you will be stood up holding on tight while they whizz along at what feels like an insane speed. We also found waiting on Ovacik Cd at the stop outside the villa was a non starter, with no buses arriving at the times published online or on the signpost and had to walk down to Ataturk Cd.
A little tip given to us by the villa owner for increased security, don't get picked up from the villa, as that means the driver knows you are out and he may tell others who could then use it as an opportunity to attempt breaking in, we walked a little further to another taxi button, rather than using the one right outside and we got them to drop us off at the Moneba Suite Hotel next door.
Hisarönü
About 10 minutes ride from the villa, we visited here a few times, the first night we travelled in by taxi, after walking a little we pressed a taxi button and one arrived in less than 5 minutes. We went to Barracuda, which was lovely and then on to Barrumba for drinks. We visited the next day to look around the shops, which are aimed at the British tourist, with very clearly named "copies" of well known stores, containing loads of fake goods, which most of is actually not bad quality or price, if they removed the designer names and logos. There are many shops selling similar items and most prices are ironically in pounds, so you may decide to take pounds as well as lira, but it's advisable to know what things are really worth, the exchange rate and always barter, the ticket or first price is never their best and if you're lucky you'll even have a laugh with them.
About 10 minutes ride from the villa, we visited here a few times, the first night we travelled in by taxi, after walking a little we pressed a taxi button and one arrived in less than 5 minutes. We went to Barracuda, which was lovely and then on to Barrumba for drinks. We visited the next day to look around the shops, which are aimed at the British tourist, with very clearly named "copies" of well known stores, containing loads of fake goods, which most of is actually not bad quality or price, if they removed the designer names and logos. There are many shops selling similar items and most prices are ironically in pounds, so you may decide to take pounds as well as lira, but it's advisable to know what things are really worth, the exchange rate and always barter, the ticket or first price is never their best and if you're lucky you'll even have a laugh with them.
Ölüdeniz
Walking from where the dolmuş dropped us off, I immediately felt there was a distinctive better look and feel, compared to the more commercialised and somewhat tacky Hisaronu. This is a beautiful and quite unique place, I don't believe there are many places where you can be walking along the promenade and there are para-gliders (see videos further below) coming down and landing in front of you. Walking further along the promenade is a road running away from the front known as the strip, with its neon signs, shops and restaurants. it's like a better version of Hisaronu and much nicer to walk down.
Walking from where the dolmuş dropped us off, I immediately felt there was a distinctive better look and feel, compared to the more commercialised and somewhat tacky Hisaronu. This is a beautiful and quite unique place, I don't believe there are many places where you can be walking along the promenade and there are para-gliders (see videos further below) coming down and landing in front of you. Walking further along the promenade is a road running away from the front known as the strip, with its neon signs, shops and restaurants. it's like a better version of Hisaronu and much nicer to walk down.
The first time we visited, we headed to the Blue Lagoon, a very beautiful, popular place, providing crystal clear, (very salty) seawater in a more calm, lake like form. To enter the Blue Lagoon beaches you have to pay, but it's worth it at only 6 Lira each and once you've found your sun bed, you won't want to leave. There's plenty of changing room huts, so pack a rucksack with your swimwear, towels and sun cream, you may also want to consider taking some waterproof shoes to wear (you could buy some cheap ones for your stay from a shop in town, but don't wait till you get to the beach, as there are no shops selling a good selection at a throw away price), as it's a pebble beach and uncomfortable on your feet walking into the sea. In the water you get a fantastic view, with the para-gliders above, mountains all around and if you have a waterproof camera, use it!
Ölüdeniz is a lovely place to go on an evening, there's a lovely vibe/atmosphere, plenty of restaurants and cocktail bars to go in and when we were there it was a lot busier than Hisaronu.
Help Beach Lounge
We decided to go Ölüdeniz one evening for a meal here, starting off with some cocktails outside, we then went inside for food and the menu is quite big, with a very big seafood selection, including octopus! We couldn't sit in a large booth at the front, it was already reserved and as there was only three of us, they were keen to save these for groups of 4+, so we sat further in, on the chunky chairs and tables and the atmosphere was just right. |
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Sugar Beach
The second time we went to the Blue Lagoon, we arranged a pick up to go to Sugar Beach, which is on the opposite side of blue lagoon to the council/local beach we were on before. You can book a pick up via the Sugar Beach Facebook page, but we didn't get a response in time, so when my wife noticed a waiter at the Help Beach Lounge in Ölüdeniz had a Sugar Beach t-shirt on, she asked him and he took our details and rang it in for us.
Arriving at Sugar Beach it's definitely quieter than the council/local beach we first went to, it's also sand and not pebble and the sun beds are more spaced out. It didn't have the same look or feel for me, partly due to the scenery, being closer to the edge and entering the water you had to navigate around the rocks. There's a bar/restaurant and waiters will bring drinks/food to your sun lounger, as the parasols are numbered and you can also choose to pay the bill at the end. We chose to eat in the restaurant seating area, but were surrounded by 5 cats waiting for food, one even jumped up on the chair and sat behind our friend and was going to try jump over onto the table, they might be cute, but it's annoying when you're trying to eat.
The second time we went to the Blue Lagoon, we arranged a pick up to go to Sugar Beach, which is on the opposite side of blue lagoon to the council/local beach we were on before. You can book a pick up via the Sugar Beach Facebook page, but we didn't get a response in time, so when my wife noticed a waiter at the Help Beach Lounge in Ölüdeniz had a Sugar Beach t-shirt on, she asked him and he took our details and rang it in for us.
Arriving at Sugar Beach it's definitely quieter than the council/local beach we first went to, it's also sand and not pebble and the sun beds are more spaced out. It didn't have the same look or feel for me, partly due to the scenery, being closer to the edge and entering the water you had to navigate around the rocks. There's a bar/restaurant and waiters will bring drinks/food to your sun lounger, as the parasols are numbered and you can also choose to pay the bill at the end. We chose to eat in the restaurant seating area, but were surrounded by 5 cats waiting for food, one even jumped up on the chair and sat behind our friend and was going to try jump over onto the table, they might be cute, but it's annoying when you're trying to eat.
Shiraz
Just down from the villa on the Ataturk Cd, we first came here for breakfast one morning and two of us had the giant breakfast, I asked for scrambled egg and it was a bit different, but it was lovely, so we came back for our evening meal. I got prawn borak for starter, Izmir Kofte for main course (the sauce had a really beautiful flavour) and chocolate cheesecake for desert, with a white coffee to finish and although the atmosphere was a little quieter than others, mainly due to its location, it was the best meal out we had and would highly recommend it! We returned twice more for breakfast and it was nice to see the owner Suat (Stuart) was really friendly and fully hands on taking orders and clearing plates, when we asked him what time he opened, he said he would open 15 minutes earlier so we could get breakfast before being picked up to go to the airport. Sadly Suat (Stuart) wasn't there the next morning when we came for breakfast and you could tell, the guy who was a bit miserable, the breakfast was not hot enough and it looked like they had run out of bacon, not giving us 2 rashers each, as the giant breakfast should come with. |
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Dalyan Mud Bath and Turtle Hospital Excursion
We booked this excursion while we were in Hisaronu at Tiny Akropol (my wife had done some research online and found Tiny Akropol to be well recommended), the guy we booked it with at Tiny Akropol in Hisaronu was very helpful and friendly.
We booked this excursion while we were in Hisaronu at Tiny Akropol (my wife had done some research online and found Tiny Akropol to be well recommended), the guy we booked it with at Tiny Akropol in Hisaronu was very helpful and friendly.
The bus ride was about 1hr 15 minutes from our pick up point at The Grand Ucel, with a stop at a small market only 5 minutes from where we got on the boat. The boat ride was the best part of the trip in my opinion, with beautiful scenery; it takes about 30 minutes to get to the mud bath. If you didn't put your swimwear on before you left, there are some changing rooms, but they advise you to leave your belongings on the boat, so we took our bags back after we had changed. |
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The mud bath wasn't quite what I expected and although this might sound a little strange, it was quite thick mud in places and difficult to move in, where I expected something a little more close to muddy water. It's definitely an experience and something most people only do once and after the photographer who comes along took some pictures of you doing some zombie like poses (you can choose to buy a disc of photos for 90 turkish lira at the end, which is really nice, to get the photos of yourself you can't take), you can either get showered or jump in the lake if you’re a good swimmer.
The return boat journey took us past our start point and further along to the Kaunos cemetery, which is high up in the cliff side. The guide gave us a quick explanation to the story behind it and it is very impressive when you consider the scale and lack of modern day tools.
Once we arrived back to the start point, we stopped for lunch, before the boat left we had been asked if we would like fish (trout) or chicken and paid for the optional extra blue crab. We sat down to eat and it was a very basic lunch, with cous cous, bread, salad and soup for the starter options and the main chicken came with rice and salad, we also had to pay for drinks separately. Back on the coach we headed to the Dalyan turtle hospital 20 minutes away.
The turtle hospital was a little disappointing, consisting of about 5 large tanks, a few large and one baby turtle and not what we expected. We appreciate the work they do here is more important than the commercial, visitor aspect, however expectation was a more purpose built structure and more turtles and in turn, help raise more funds from visitors. From here it was a short walk to Iztuzu "turtle" beach and although we were glad to see sand, it was a little breezy and cloudy, and here we had an hour to do what we wanted, but sadly not as nice as our previous beach day at Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon.
The turtle hospital was a little disappointing, consisting of about 5 large tanks, a few large and one baby turtle and not what we expected. We appreciate the work they do here is more important than the commercial, visitor aspect, however expectation was a more purpose built structure and more turtles and in turn, help raise more funds from visitors. From here it was a short walk to Iztuzu "turtle" beach and although we were glad to see sand, it was a little breezy and cloudy, and here we had an hour to do what we wanted, but sadly not as nice as our previous beach day at Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon.
Fethiye
From Sun Villa's, Fethiye is approximately 20 minutes on the dolmuş, we got off at the last stop near a large mosque. We headed down from the dolmuş stop, past the mosque and then turned left in front of the mosque, which takes you past a police station and just a little further on your left is umbrella street. Walking around umbrella street in Fethiye is a much nicer experience than Hisaronu, with a lot less hassle from cheeky Turkish men, however there's no harm in a bit of bartering with the Turkish guy who can do a very good cockney accent, which makes you realise just how much they know about the UK and us Brits. There's also a large modern shopping centre, (Erasta) to look around, however we didn't visit.
At the end of umbrella street you can see Fethiye harbour across the road, lined with quite large boats one next to the other. There's plenty of restaurants also running along opposite the water and great for a refreshment stop, whilst looking out at the beautiful view. You can carry on following the harbour 'round for quite a distance, but after reaching a monument we turned back and cut through the streets to head back up to catch a dolmuş back to Ovacik. Fethiye is nice place to visit, however you'd probably only visit the once, unless you return one evening for food/drinks.
From Sun Villa's, Fethiye is approximately 20 minutes on the dolmuş, we got off at the last stop near a large mosque. We headed down from the dolmuş stop, past the mosque and then turned left in front of the mosque, which takes you past a police station and just a little further on your left is umbrella street. Walking around umbrella street in Fethiye is a much nicer experience than Hisaronu, with a lot less hassle from cheeky Turkish men, however there's no harm in a bit of bartering with the Turkish guy who can do a very good cockney accent, which makes you realise just how much they know about the UK and us Brits. There's also a large modern shopping centre, (Erasta) to look around, however we didn't visit.
At the end of umbrella street you can see Fethiye harbour across the road, lined with quite large boats one next to the other. There's plenty of restaurants also running along opposite the water and great for a refreshment stop, whilst looking out at the beautiful view. You can carry on following the harbour 'round for quite a distance, but after reaching a monument we turned back and cut through the streets to head back up to catch a dolmuş back to Ovacik. Fethiye is nice place to visit, however you'd probably only visit the once, unless you return one evening for food/drinks.
On the morning we were leaving Turkey to come home, there was a thunderstorm in Ovacik and the lightning lit up the sky, it was quite a spectacle to watch and very different to what we usually see in the UK, with no rain, constant rumble of thunder and almost continuous lightning flashes, sadly my video below doesn't quite do it justice and didn't pick up the constant rumble of thunder either.