Vacation again in October, then winter
"When summer comes, it's a hot time,
And the shadow melts on the gray stone,
Just shout loudly at the children's dumps,
Talk, walk and think lazily.
When the sun scorches over the city hangs,
And from the smoke of cars the head goes round, -
I will remember the cool blue lakes,
Where once an old tram went.
Vacation again in October, then winter "
Picardian Third, 1991
As with most of us, this year's summer vacation has been thwarted due to known quarantine restrictions. The first countries that agreed to receive Ukrainian tourists (both in the presence of a negative test and without), announced their intentions only in the second half of summer. That's why I didn't see any sense in going from hot Kyiv to even hotter Croatia, Montenegro or Turkey in August. It was decided to postpone the holiday to October.
And the weekends were mostly spent in the woods on the shores of lakes in the well-known Kyiv suburb of Pushcha-Vodytsya, where the singing of birds and the diversity of vacationers organically fit the division of old trams №12 and 17.
We were going to Turkey for the first time. He refused package offers from travel companies, although the price was sometimes very attractive. First, I'm a fan of big cities, and offers of recreation were mostly in small resorts 100-150 km from the big city. Therefore, Antalya was chosen. The Antalya Inn Hotel (HB) for two cost 255 euros (booking on the well-known booking. com). Tickets were originally planned to take on the website www. charter tickets. com. ua , waited a long time for the "price bottom" for a certain flight (for some reason we did not like flights at night), but 8 days before the flight date, when the price began to decline rapidly, the necessary tickets on the site slipped last minute!
(on the "shop shop" if there were less than 4 available tickets for the flight, there was a corresponding note "lost 4.3, 2, etc. "). I had to contact a friend cgistalker, who found the specified tickets in his database. The price from the site almost did not differ and amounted to 11986 UAH for two for RT, the ticket price included one place of hand luggage (up to 7 kg) and 1 place of luggage (up to 23 kg). On the Kyiv-Antalya route, the carriers were UIA (departure at 12:55), and on the return - SkyUP (departure on the day of ticket purchase was scheduled at 14:35, but the next day it was postponed to 16:10).
Terminal D of Boryspil Airport looked almost empty compared to the pre-quarantine hours, and only the temperature measurement near the entrance frame was added as a security measure. Of course, there were significantly fewer flights, mostly charters to Turkey, but also regular flights to Warsaw, Munich, Prague, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Minsk.
Both flights had Boeing 737-800s (this is the most modified aircraft modification in the history of passenger aviation). The cabin at SkyUP was even a little more spacious due to the fact that they did not have business class seats, unlike UIA, although in SkyUP the board was divided into 32 rows of seats, and in UIA into 31 rows. In both cases, the salons were 90% full, leaving a few vacancies. On both flights, passengers were offered free water (in UIA - bottled Bonaqua - a 0.5 liter bottle lay on each seat, in SkyUP bottled "Morshinskaya"). So, they sat in Antalya on time, did not ask any questions at the border control, just a stamp in the passport - and free.
After receiving the luggage, we go to the square in front of the airport. Here, package tourists are met by buses and taxis. Approximately 100 m from the arrival terminal (it is impossible not to notice) is the bridge from which the city tram AntRay goes to the center.
A civilized escalator lifts tourists to the bridge. The cost of travel in the tram is different and depends on the method of payment. If you pay by bank card (suitable with PayPass) - the leather trip will cost 3.20 lire. If you buy a ticket in the form of a transport card AntalyaPass - 3.50 lira plus 5 lira for the card itself. One-time ticket (can be purchased both at the machine and from the driver) - 5 lira. I paid with a payment card of a Ukrainian bank, there were no failures.
Once we talk about the financial aspect - in my opinion, it is more profitable to use a payment card in Turkey than to buy cash lira for hryvnia or other currency. Judge for yourself, taking two hryvnia cards (Visa and MasterCard of the same bank) on the trip, the payment rate changed daily and was in the range of 3.59-3.67 UAH per lira (this despite the fact that the bank still took a commission of 1% per conversion, she taken into account in the course). Cash lira in Kiev before the trip (early October) could be bought at 4.00-4.
20 грн. , in the exchange office of Boryspil airport for UAH 5.29. , in the exchange office of the Antalya airport for UAH 4.40. Feel the difference. Of course, he had a small amount of lira from Kyiv with him just in case (for fruit, ice cream, etc. ), but he paid for the main purchases with a card.
From the airport to the city center (stop IsmetPasha) tram takes us in 30 minutes. Stops are infrequent, the distances between them are large (approximately 1.5-2.0 km). All passengers in masks. First impressions of the city - little vegetation, mostly tropical, many new buildings. In the city center there are many shopping centers and a lot of traffic - cars and buses. Which is not surprising in principle - Antalya is the fifth largest city in Turkey, with a population of about 2.2 million people.
So, we leave at the stop IsmetPasha. Right next to the stop is a large flea market, many 1-2 storey shops, aimed exclusively at tourists, the main range - souvenirs and consumer goods.
In shopping malls, as I will tell later, the range is more interesting and cheaper. After walking around the perimeter of the market and crossing the line of another tram (tram "Nostalgia", takes you to the beach), we go to one of the main attractions of Antalya - the Clock Tower:
To the right of it is another business card of the city - Yivli Minaret (Corrugated Minaret):
Yevli Minaret (Riflin Minaret)
Along the Tower, on Uzun Karsi Street, we dive into the "slums" of the old city to get to our hotel, which is located just near another city attraction - Hidirlik Tower (exact address of the hotel - 41 Hidirlik Street). The hotel can be reached by another route back a little by tram and through the third attraction of the city - the ancient Hadrian's Gate:
Adrian's Gate
Go to the old town (the so-called Kale Ichi district), go first on Hadrian Kale Capisi and then on Hesapci Street. However, orienting the name of the street will not help the tourist - the streets are indicated on the houses only at intersections. Therefore it is necessary to go a wide street without turning anywhere - one street simply to pass in another.
Here, finally, is our hotel:
50 meters from it - the promenade, the tower Hidirlik (Hidirlik) ...
...and Karaioglu City Park, and on all sides - many cafes, souvenir and clothing stores and other hotels. Satisfied with the hotel, although the sound insulation is weak, the staff is mostly English, breakfast is served, but sufficient. Breakfast was served on the outdoor rooftop terrace with the following views:
For dinner we were sent to another hotel (Blue Sea Garden), which was located in a garden of fruit trees (pomegranates, tangerines) with daily live music.
Dinner on the menu. All drinks, except water, are available at an additional cost.
Our vacation was combined, a combination of staying on the beach with reviews of different attractions of the city. Regarding the beaches. Antalya is famous for two large beaches located within the city of Lara and Conyalti. Larry can be reached from the city center by public bus KL08. The nearest stop to the old town is 50 m near the exit from Karaioglu Park (landmark - Antaliaspor football club shop, located just at the stop), in the opposite direction - near the shopping center "Mark Antalya". Why I talk about it in such detail - this bus route in different directions most of the way goes through different streets. In other words, it goes around the city center in a circle.
Lara is a sandy beach, Conyalti is a medium pebble beach. As you may have guessed, both beaches are located in opposite parts of the city and near them are built "hotel neighborhoods". Especially impressive is Conyalty, where the number of hotels of different stars is measured in dozens. Lara is a little more modest. The main tourist attraction of the Lara district is the Lower Duden Falls. They are located at the confluence of the local river Duden near the Mediterranean Sea:
Height - over 50 meters:
Of course, the waterfall is accompanied by observation decks with essential souvenir and fruit trays, and Russian-speaking animators (apparently from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan), who for a small fee offer to take pictures with giant parrots. "Ara").
There are seating benches near the observation decks.
And from the shade there is hard - only flower bushes:
I imagine how hot it is in summer. Especially popular among tourists are sea excursions to the waterfall with the possibility of swimming:
Of course, in the dark, the waterfall is illuminated by special floodlights located nearby. A significant disadvantage of accommodation in the hotel near Lara - the proximity to Antalya airport. While we admired the waterfalls, planes took off or landed over our heads every five minutes.
As you may have guessed, in addition to the Lower Waterfall on the Duden River, there is another Upper. The distance between it directly downstream is 14 km. Visiting both in one day is very problematic, as there is no direct city bus between them.
We got to Upper Duden by bus 66 from the shopping center "Mark Antalya", to the stop "Duden Salelesi".
The only problem is that it is a stop on demand. Since there is no complete map of the city, as well as the scheme of bus 66, (to be precise - the scheme exists on the website of the public transport operator Antalya, but it is only in Turkish), we had to turn to local help.
The locals were happy to help and pressed the right button in the bus at the right hour. Walk from the center for about 30 minutes. The route runs to the northern part of Antalya. Unlike the eastern Lara district, which is modern and multi-storey (12-16 storey residential buildings, many new office buildings, schools, shopping and office centers), the Kepez district, where the Upper Waterfalls are located, is mainly a private housing area.
Private houses in Antalya - consist of at least two floors (and sometimes higher) and look something like this:
The area is not very old, but has all the hallmarks of authenticity. Surprised by the large number of mosques, visible from each bus stop. We go out near some forest or natural park. At first, nothing reminds of the proximity of a tourist attraction. But if you walk a few tens of meters along the bus, and turn right at a small intersection, you will immediately find yourself among the souvenir layouts, behind which it is impossible not to notice the entrance with a ticket office. The cost of the entrance ticket is 5 lira, payment only in cash, in souvenirs also - only in cash, WC is paid (1 lira). The park is located on a hillside, so there are many steps, both natural and man-made, sometimes slippery or shaky, so you need to move very carefully.
Business card of the park:
It is possible to visit a small cave under the waterfall:
There is no cafe on the territory, there is on the territory, but with views of the waterfalls.
The park has many benches and tables, visitors come with their own, the contingent - mostly local, very few tourists. The whole day should not be allocated to the park, a maximum of 2 hours, well, plus the road of course.
In the opposite direction (to the center) you can get not only by bus 66, but also 80. If someone is interested - just at the back stop there is a small Turkish supermarket A101, and a little further - SOK supermarket. Prices are slightly lower than in the most extensive and widespread network of Antalya MIGROS.
But on the way to the bus stop (in the parking lot, opposite the entrance) you can see another unexpected attraction for us - camel parking:
Photo on a camel 10 lira, ride 20 lira.
And now back to the beach theme.
The best, in my opinion, the beaches of Antalya are in the area of Conyalti. To get from the center on an old tram (Nostalgie Tramway), trams on route two - black and white:
Traffic intervals are significant. Go to the final stop. The areas in front of the beach area consist of brand new buildings of 7-8 floors, in the Euro-Mediterranean style (like Juan-les-Pins or Lignano), which has many signs for the sale or rental of apartments:
From the stop to the beaches you have to walk 300 meters, and some of them on a fairly steep serpentine descent. From here, the pebble beach stretches for almost 10 km, along which there are pedestrian and bicycle paths.
View of Konyalti beach from the final stop of the retro tram
There are playgrounds for mini-football, volleyball, tennis court, just lawns for relaxation.
On the other hand, the large station complex (several hundred meters long with through passages), which consists of dozens of catering establishments, cuisines of various cuisines of the world, has not even reached the end. Tables are mostly on the street, under umbrellas. The waiters are all totally in masks. Prices are quite humane.
For example, a large donor with chicken and vegetables is only 12 lira, a large pizza from 30 lira, ice cream from 3.50 lira.
Beaches are mostly free, except for beaches from expensive hotels (such as Rixos) with wooden walkways to the water, sunbeds and umbrellas. The water is very clear, but 3 meters from the shore begins a great depth. Benches and shade (from trees) are only at the beginning of the pedestrian zone.
The hotels are located on small hills with steps to the sea and an elevator:
It also overlooks two huge flags on the masts: the flag of Turkey and the flag of the local football club Antalyaspor:
By the way, about football. Antalya has a major league football club, already mentioned above.
But apart from him, some local football fans give their sympathies to other Turkish clubs - Istanbul's Galatasaray and Fenerbahce. This is evidenced by the relevant stores of football paraphernalia in different parts of the city, flags on the balconies of houses and ads for the recruitment of children to the relevant football schools, abundantly hung in the city.
Talking about a beach holiday in Antalya, we must mention another beach.
It is located in the Sarisu area, in an olive and coniferous grove at the foot of the mountain with a cable car. It is on the outskirts of the city, further west of Conyalty, behind a large cargo port and oil terminal. You can get there by bus KL08, go to the final stop. The way to go from the center (stop in the area of Muratpash, 200 m from the shopping center "Mark Antalya", but on the other side of the boulevard 100 yil Blv.
Along the bus route you can see the Central Stadium of Antalya, the Palace of Sports, the Palace of Film Festivals (Antalya hosts an annual film festival), an amusement park with a huge "Ferris wheel" (in the evening light can be seen even from the Old Town) ...
...as well as a very interesting object - one of the "ATM hubs":
Areas are completely dormitory, not new, without the resort-Mediterranean gloss:
In Antalya, it is not customary to install ATMs anywhere (in shopping malls, pharmacies, educational institutions) - but only in strictly defined places. What else caught my eye in the place - the lack of post offices in the traditional sense. So several times I saw institutions under the PTT sign and a post horn - but they saw only "postmen", employees selling stamps, postcards, envelopes - was not observed
Even the axis and the final stop. It is located near the cable car stop, in fact outside the city, between the sea coast and the mountains. To the sea - 200 meters, which you pass through a fully decorated pine forest, many cafes, picnic grills, tables, shops with beach products, there are police and rescuers:
The beach is fine pebbles, sunbeds are free. Only locals have a rest. Few people.
It was surprising that many of them bathe in clothes (and women can be understood - apparently not allowed by religion, but quite grown men)…
But back to the cable car. Ironically, it is her turn (there will be a weekday). The cost of lifting is 20 lira for adults. You can also pay by card. Leather cabin for 6 people, but allows a maximum of 4 (average seat, social distance):
As you climb, the views are stunning:
But when climbing to the top meets some horror:
The upper stop is quite crowded, a restaurant, 2 cafes, a gift shop and very small observation decks.
But look!
The new residential area (20 identical houses) looks especially exotic next to huge fuel tanks… (next to a cargo seaport with an oil terminal):
By the way, there is a highway to the mountain:
After sunset, we return from the beach near the city center (which was the penultimate day of the trip), where we finally close the topic of Turkish shopping.
"Shopping in Turkey". How much in this word. My story about a holiday in Turkey was not complete if this aspect had passed. For most tourists staying in Antalya on package tours, guides recommend the 2 largest shopping centers (Mark Antalya and Terra City), as well as the local market. Of course, we visited all 3 of these facilities. They didn't buy anything there.
Because the real shopping in Antalya in other places.
The central alley of the Old Market smoothly passes to the main shopping street - but it does not have a name on electronic maps! - it is impossible not to notice it, on both sides there are large department stores (such as "Cetinkaya" or "LC Waikiki"), and very small shops with selling prices. Prices in LCW Antalya are lower than in LCW in Kyiv.
For lovers of Turkish perfumes there is a chain store Ali Ozkan (their analogue of our Eve and Watsons or German Rossmann or dm). There you can buy Turkish masks (Turkish, not Chinese, with the Turkish barcode 692) for 15 lira per pack of 50 pcs. The most interesting shops are located on IsmetPasha Street (there will be an AntRay tram) between IsmetPasha and MuratPasha stops.
Well, first, interesting names (attention to green letters):
And secondly, these are shops from factories, a clear thing of Turkish manufacturers. Prices in general, and in KOZA in particular, are very low. But sold only in bulk (wholesale of 6 identical speeches), but you can bargain, cards are accepted for payment. The quality of speeches is decent.
If you still want to buy at retail - just opposite, go through the tram line, Koroglu store.
This is not the last day of the trip. Check out before 12:00.
We also planned to get to the airport by AntRay tram. But about an hour before an hour of heavy rain, which did not dare, to go 600 meters with suitcases and umbrellas to the tram stop on the narrow wet streets was unrealistic, so we decided to discover another mode of transport in Antalya - a local taxi. The price tag at the hotel reception by taxi to the airport showed 80 lira. Asking the receptionist to call. I no longer have the required amount of cash lire, so I offered the euro.
80 lira was easily converted into 10 euros. I think if I was looking for myself in the city center - it would be more expensive.
At the airport 3 hours before the flight. The international airport terminal (T1) impressed with its size (160 luggage check-in desks) and almost no waiting seats.
Sleeping high prices in local fast food (donor with a drink - 49 lira, for comparison, in the city for the same snack - no more than 15), but pleased with the presence of a pharmacy selling drugs from European manufacturers in Antalya pharmacies are quite rare - not even you can see every stop of public transport - so a healthy nation).
Baggage check-in without questions. Duty-free struck simply unrealistic prices compared to prices in the city (0.5 kg of Turkish delight in the city 15-20 lira, at the airport 12 euros, 1 liter of olive oil in the city from 29 lira, at the airport - 20 euros). 1 euro in mid-October in Turkey cost about 9.3 lira.
Probably, the prices in Duty are calculated on so-called. "Package tourists" who were settled on the outskirts, and never left the hotel: -).
The return flight (SkyUP, flying them for the first time) was remembered, as I said at the beginning of the story, enough space between the rows of seats, despite the fact that there were 32 rows in the cabin (I guess because in the cabin there were no business class seats, all seats only economy), as well as the so-called. "Shopping on board" lack of souvenirs with the symbols of the airline. Well, the company is relatively young, only 4 years on the market, experience comes with time: -)
From the airport "Boryspil" to Kiev decided to get by air express, the ticket price is now 80 UAH, but the timetable in fact does not coincide with the Internet. But still, 40 minutes by train, another 50 by minibus - and we're home. Impressions from the first vacation in Turkey are only positive.
