Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Turkey
I am heading to Turkey for 2 weeks this summer on a travel/study tour for educators (gotta love grant funded travel!) The itinerary is set, and is very full. So, other than itinerary advice, what else can you tell me about traveling in Turkey? Anything from must-try foods to what-to pack... I'm all ears! Oh, and I love to read as much as I can about a place before I visit -- so any book recommendations? Thanks!
Re: Turkey
Maui, November 2011
I've only been to Istanbul so my advice is strictly for Istanbul.
Get ready to haggle. Everything is a negotiation there - don't pay full price for anything from a market. Negotiate. Also, if you want fancy spices like saffron, make sure it is PURE saffron and not a mix. I don't know how much you would pay for it now but I would ask your guide before agreeing on a price with a vendor what you should pay. I felt like the entire time we were there, everyone was trying to rip us off (except our hotel - our hotel was awesome).
Cab rides were also a haggle. Agree upon a set price BEFORE getting in the cab and be ready to walk away (if you do a meter, they will drive you a long way and you'll have no idea because you're in Turkey!!!). Also cab drivers are crazy. They would back up the wrong way down on off ramp to get on the freeway just to avoid a u-turn. We got stuck in traffic with one on a two way street - he drove up the wrong way until a car would come, pull off on the shoulder and repeat until we got to our hotel.
We were there because my husband had a training and son and I tagged along. We didn't get to choose our hotel so we ended up way far away from the tourist district and took cabs everywhere. Every time we wanted to go back to the hotel (cabs from the hotel weren't shady because they were hotel cabs), we would have to walk up to a cab driver, offer him 10 Lira to drive us to hotel. He would say, "No, no, 30 Lira." We would say "no 15 lira" then both walk away. Cab driver would then turn around and say, "OK ok, for you this one time, I do it for 20 Lira." 20 lira was what it cost to get to the hotel. It was annoying and painful.
But the food is amazing. Because we had our son with us, we didn't eat at a ton of fancy restaurants - we mostly picked local cafeteria style restaurants. Food at those places was delicious and so inexpensive. The meat spices were amazing, the vegetables were yummy, and my son was obsessed with their bread.
Is a turkish bath on the agenda? I didn't get to go to one because of my son but a bunch of people we were with did and said it way amazing.
Try a turkish tea - it is usually complementary after a meal. It is strong and different (almost a coffee but not quite).
We also ate at Dunkin Donuts one day. Shhh don't judge
I just wanted a darn donut! We went to the Kanyon Shopping mall because we were there at Christmas and someone told me they would have a Santa there (they did!). It was really cool shopping but if you're there for a limited time and not a huge shopper, I would skip it.
Have a great time!
Is there a chance you can extend your trip after the group? Because if they aren't going to Cappadocia it would be a shame to go to Turkey and not go there.
As for books, I loved "The Bastard of Istanbul" by Elif Safak. It's a wonderful book and faster paced than Mr. Pamuk's.
Oooh, thank you so much for the book recommendations. I'll be checking out both of them.
And thanks for the other travel advice as well. I think sunscreen will be the first thing in my suitcase -- I take that stuff everywhere!
We are going to both Istanbul and Cappadocia... in between I know Troy, Gallipoli, Ephesus, Konya, Catalhoyuk are on the itinerary (off the top of my head -- there is probably more..) Not sure about the Turkish Bath. Maybe!
And, to answer your question, Santorini, it is a program just for educators through the Turkish Cultural Foundation. I'm a high school social studies teacher and I am beyond excited about this opportunity to visit place that I teach about each year -- Turkey is one of those places that I am just enchanted by and have always wanted to visit.
Thanks again, everyone!
Ok, so apparently it isn't that surprising -- they are in 30 countries outside of the US. I guess I've just never come across one in my travels! Interesting.
Here is the recap from my trip to Istanbul, Ankara, and Cappadocia:
http://community.thenest.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/14564391.aspx
(Sorry some of the photos are gone. I had some serious technical issues with my website)
Must-eat: Everything! Seriously, I didn't have a bad meal in Turkey, from the low-end street food to the nice restaurants. I especially like the g?zleme stuffed pancakes and the million varieties of baklava (we found a sweet shop we liked and went back multiple times to try all the different options).
Must-pack: Shoes that are easy to remove and put back on after you visit the mosques. Also, you may need to leave them outside quite often, so don't choose anything too high-end. A scarf/shawl that you can use to cover up a bit more when it feels appropriate. At some of the less touristy mosques I just felt more comfortable covering my head.
And my book recommendation is Birds Without Wings about Ataturk and the Turkish war for independence. It's a beautifully-written book with a lot of history, and I doubly recommend it if you've ever read (or plan to read) Middlesex, because it gives a good context for the situation with the Asia Minor Greeks that opens the book.