Antalya: how I got to know non-beach Turkey
My wife and a one and a half year old child and I went to Turkey for a week in order to conduct high-quality and inexpensive shopping. When choosing a tour, the main criterion was to get to Antalya - a city where there are many shops with high-quality branded clothing. Why in Antalya? Istanbul seemed more expensive to us in terms of the cost of the flight.
Tour operators offered the devil that horrible for exorbitant money. For a week in a poor 2 * hotel with breakfast and dinner, they offered tours for 25-28 thousand rubles, not counting fuel surcharges and infanta, which is another 3800 to 7600 rubles, depending on the air carrier. After weighing all the pros and cons ("for" I found almost none), we decided to take tickets to Turkish Airlines with a change in Ankara. It bothered me a little, because we had never flown like that before. And how much time on the road (including waiting at the Ankara airport for 3 hours) our restless son will endure, I did not know.
The fears turned out to be unfounded. I don’t know about other children, but for our son, the shorter the flight, the better. It turned out that a little over 2 hours from Ankara was the limit for his ideal behavior. He obviously sat up in the cramped room of the plane and was eager to prove to the world that the energizer is a sleeping pill! ))) In addition, a regular flight turned out to be not even many times, but an order of magnitude better than a charter flight: departure on time, comfortable seats and distances between them, excellent food, excellent service... That's what I always dreamed of when flying charters of Transaero and Ural airlines! )))
The airport in Ankara met us not in Russian hospitably! Instead of the pomposity of numerous shops and places of ripping off tourists (as in all our airports), we were greeted by a very tidy, tidy airport, where instead of Cerberus with metal detectors and pretty customs-killers, very prompt, always ready to help Turks worked, not sinning with procrastination and literal nomenclature! Literally 5 minutes later we were already in the waiting room for our flight to Antalya. Another pleasant surprise was that we didn’t have to wait and drag luggage: the Turks automatically transfer it to the next flight.
And here we felt the main difference between Russia and Turkey! The airport was quiet, there were a lot of toilets (probably 30 pieces), there were playgrounds for children, where they could play and ride for free! It was immediately felt that everything was done specifically for the people, and not against them. just like we always do!
Walking around the airport, we did not notice how 2.5 hours passed and announced the boarding of the Ankara-Antalya flight. Again "regular", and again all the above pluses. The flight lasts only an hour, and the staff even had to be efficient in order to have time to feed everyone with light meals! Before we had finished chewing the last crumbs, it was time to land at the airport of Antalya, which we knew so well.
Antalya was brutal and greeted us at midnight with 32 degrees and about 80 percent humidity. I admit, after 18 degrees of "heat" from Moscow, I did not expect such a blow of fate from this not the most African country! ))) Nevertheless, we reconciled ourselves and somehow quickly adapted to the 40-degree heat and air conditioning +20-22 degrees in rooms and buses. My son was so invincible that he never repeated my experience with a slight runny nose and a slight cough. So trust the doctors after that! )))
I will not talk about our hotel and the time spent in the shops, because some will find it tedious and protracted, while others will find it greatly reduced and not thorough. I will go straight to the main thing - Antalya.
It immediately became clear to me: Antalya is not a beach resort! This is an urban resort. There are few tourists here, especially few Russian tourists. which indescribably pleased me and especially my wife, who very "respect" the culture of our compatriots. The city lives by its inhabitants to the fullest! Here all prices are in lira, and unlike beach resorts, prices are very adequate and reasonable. After Alanya, I noticed it immediately, with the naked eye. Oddly enough, the Turks do not know English well, they answered the question "Du Yu Speak English" as a standard "e little". And indeed it was "a little"! Quite "e little". However, I immediately recalled Russia, where, when asked “do you speak English, ” a group of young people began to exchange glances in bewilderment and even laugh, twist their fingers at the temple, saying, oh, these are foreigners! By the way, I noticed the following character trait among Russians: when our people go abroad, you very often hear from them a reproach about the country/city/hotel: "they don't speak Russian at all"! That is, our people sincerely come to a foreign country, believing that almost everyone there should speak Russian! True, our people do not at all think that when tourists from Germany, France, Japan, not to mention hundreds of other countries, come to our country, it turns out that we do not speak any foreign languages at all, including English. Here the Russians utter another masterpiece phrase: "what the hell are they going to our country if they don't know the Russian language? ".
Well, okay. . . What struck me with Antalya? Here I saw the real Turkey. Yes, yes, yes... As it does not sound pompous and amateurish. Here I saw a real city, in the form that it is. And admired!
It turns out that the Turks are a highly moral nation! If the most highly moral nation in Asia is the Japanese, then in Europe it is the Turks! Doubt? No need! ))) Turks are very friendly people, different from Europeans in that not everything in life is determined by money. It is worth stopping on the street with a map, as a seller will immediately emerge from the store or a passerby Turk will come up and offer help. Everyone on the bus gives way to women. Always without an offer, they rush to help bring in or take out a baby stroller with a child. Where did you see this in Russia?
By the way, in Turkey the attitude towards children is almost idealistic! They are loved here, one might say, adore! With our child, despite the fact that he is a foreigner, they constantly played, smiled, numerous people could pat his cheek. Are you saying it's not hygienic? Here! In Russia, they constantly justify their indifference to other people's children in different ways! And our people could well learn from the hygiene of the Turks! ))) All the streets are made in such a way that you can drive everywhere in a wheelchair! Everywhere congresses from parebrikov, arrivals in shops. This applies not only to children, but also to the disabled! And you won't find anything like it here! There are elevators everywhere, not even in the centers, but just in the shops. I was not even amazed, but discouraged! Everywhere I could climb with a stroller.
In Turkey, in general, everything is done for people! There are many fountains here, there are taps with water where you can wash and freshen up. Every establishment has toilets, and believe me, all of them are free!!!! ! In Russia, the toilet is a primordially national and rare delicacy that is not sold everywhere and for a lot of money!
I was surprised by the public beach of Lara Birlik... Perfect sand, free sunbeds (sorry, sun loungers), 80 meters from the water's edge there is a paved promenade for pedestrians, which has free toilets, changing rooms and even showers! But even that didn't surprise me! Behind all this caring household there was a large area of land, which housed grill ovens, barbecues, tables and benches, as well as taps for washing fruits and vegetables! And there were not 5-6 of them, there were really a lot of them! A few dozens! People could safely bring meat, vegetables, fruits with them and cook wonderful dishes! And the authorities did it just like that, out of the kindness of their hearts! Really, fantasy? ))))))
Prices in Antalya, as I already wrote, are very real. Expensive fare, but given that a liter of gasoline is 5-6 times more expensive than Moscow, the fare is slightly higher than the same Moscow - it's not expensive! Agree that something is wrong here! Maybe, after all, it’s not their generous hauliers, but ours who are snickering and snickering?
Food is almost like ours, but still cheaper. But fruits and vegetables are 2-4 times cheaper! Well, that's understandable! But it was not clear to me, why are the prices in cafes so high? In Antalya, by the way, they are significantly lower than in the same Alanya. But having properly understood (having tried), it became clear: we have the first, second and third in Russia! And they have it all on one plate! You order, say, a kebab with rice, they bring a basket of bread (rather than small), then they bring salads, sauces... Half a table is already full, but there is still no dish! Finally, they bring huge dishes, on which, indeed, kebab with rice! But besides it, there are also greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and much more! It becomes clear that in order to overeat, it is enough just to order one dish! My wife and I visited the Leman cafe every day (do not take it as advertising), where we took 1 dish for each, and we also fed the child with it. So, dinner cost us 40 lira, or about 720 rubles! Expensive? Here!!!
In general, one can talk about Turkey for hours, days and even months. Yes, there are good and bad people everywhere. But in my opinion, their percentage is more important! ))) We calmly left an iPhone for 1000 dollars on a public beach and went for a swim, and no one stole! We have never seen drunks, even drinking alcohol on the street. I did not see the homeless and beggars. When a disabled person on an electric gurney drove up to me, I handed him a lyre, he in return handed out a package of napkins. To my denial, they say, don’t, take it like that, he flatly refused to take the coin until I took the napkins!
I hope that the growing economy and globalization will not spoil this great country with great people. And especially the example of visiting tourists, who involuntarily bring a considerable share of their own into any culture... Turkey - you are beautiful!