Turkey is a little heaven on earth
Recently, my husband and I went to Turkey to the Kemer Botanik Resort Hotel (4 stars). I would like to share my experience, because before the trip we read a lot about the features and tricks of the Turks. Let's start by points.
HOTEL
Beach.
The botanist exceeded all our expectations. We rate it at 5. Although it is located on the outskirts of Kemer, this did not bother us at all, since the beach near the hotel is large, there are always sunbeds at any time of the day, the beach is across the road from the hotel (but which road, chicks run there , roosters, tangerines grow, etc. in general, very beautiful).
Food.
The food was very varied. Every evening, some yummy was grilled (for lovers of meat and fish). Food will be to everyone's taste, as a wide variety of salads, vegetables, Turkish sweets, fruits (watermelons, melons, peaches, plums, apples, grapefruits, oranges, cherries), various soups, by the way, they have a traditional kefir soup (quite interesting), cold, hot dishes - all this is in great abundance, so no one will remain hungry.
Animation.
Animation took place every day, guests were always involved (optional of course), but it was a lot of fun. Children's discos every evening, after the program there are already adults and every day a transfer to the club (optional). The animators are very funny and kind. By the way, what distinguishes Turkey is hospitality. They always say hello and always smile.
Turkish night
The hotel also holds a Turkish night on Saturdays, a table reservation is $ 10 (for any number of guests, the table is increased). But, as it turned out later, it was possible not to book, as there were still places left, but not the best, of course. But the holiday itself is very beautiful. Champagne and a huge ice cream cake are taken out at the end. ) Belly dance, fire show, dances, a dance similar to our round dances - all this is very fun.
Although despite the fact that the hotel is not very youthful, but more family-friendly, we were satisfied and had time to meet various young couples.
Numbers.
The rooms are very comfortable, the air conditioner worked well, everything was fine, every morning the cleaning lady made beautiful things for us on the bed. Although there were no double beds, we moved two single beds, propped them up with a bedside table and chic.
MARKET
Dollar or Turkish Lira
In dollars, it will be more convenient for you to pay for excursions or some expensive things, but for buying gifts, sweets, etc. exchange 30 dollars for lira. This is because what costs 1 dollar can be bought for 1-2 lira (1 dollar = 2.5 lira). Be sure to exchange for lira at the MAIL, where the exchange rate is more profitable (2.62 approximately at the time of writing this review). The post office looks like: a yellow building on the main road of Kemer and it says Ptt.
Bazaars.
Walking around Kemer, and indeed any other city, you will stumble upon a lot of bazaars with a bunch of goods. Something to remember: the price the seller says is THREE times too high, so bargain with him starting at the shocking price. For example, an item costs $6 and you are asking for $2.
What to buy for yourself or as a gift: olive soap: it is usually white from DALAN, and bay leaves are added to green. It costs 1 dollar.
Pomegranate sauce (should be thick), Pishmane, Rakhat lukuum (sweets should be taken by weight, they are homemade, and the rest are factory-made with dyes), pomegranate tea, hammam towels are convenient to sunbathe on them (dry quickly), any textiles in times cheaper than in Russia.
On Mondays and Tuesdays, the local bazaar arrives from 8:00 in the center of Kemer, this bazaar is especially for the Turks themselves and the prices there are much lower.
TOURS
Guide or street agency?
The most exciting question for all tourists. When we were going to Turkey, I read a lot of articles on this topic and we decided to take it on the street at our own peril and risk. And you know, never regretted it. We experienced how the guides fool tourists. We drove from Pegasa. As soon as the guide did not intimidate us. And the secret is this: The tours of the operator and the street agency are the same (below is a photo with proof). The fact is that the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey is very puzzled that the factories develop and the shops sell, so they sponsor both the street and the guides. Both of them sign a special agreement that they make stops at a textile, leather factory and a wine cellar (Pamukkale tour).
Therefore, the myths that street agencies bring them to stores, but guides do not, are just MYTH #1.
Myth #2 - The insurance company won't help you if you borrow from a street agency. If something happened to you, then you have the number of the insurance company, you call there and they won’t even specify WHERE you took the tour, they don’t care. : ) And all the terrible stories that some aunt Masha broke something herself when she left the street agency and had to pay $ 8.000 to transport herself to her homeland is just a horror story to beat money out of you. Therefore, hotel guides ask you to meet immediately on the day of arrival, so that you do not have time to orient J.
Maxwell
We took all excursions from Maxwell. It was a pirate yacht, Pamukkale, Demre-Mira-Kekova, DoluSu Water Park, and also a hammam.
The hammam procedure is the same everywhere, and the fact that you are told in your hotel that a visiting hammam is bad is another way to get money out of you. We had a hammam at the hotel for $35 per person, we went from Maxwell for 10 per person. The difference in price is palpable. We were picked up from the hotel and taken to the spa center, everything was done very professionally there, we walked there, looked at the peacocks, drank tea and took us away. Everything is very cultural.
Guides and buses on excursions
The buses were all good with air conditioning, with curtains, you could buy water inside the bus, although it is better to take more water with you. Our guides were Aigul and Erdal - they were on top. My husband previously traveled from Coral and there is something to compare, he says that heaven and earth. So it was interesting. I liked Erdal more because he joked more, but they won my heart and I fell in love with Turkey!
By the way, our driver was an elderly Turk and he drove so softly that we constantly left tips for him. ))
Separately about the water park DoluSu
That was a bomb, unfortunately I didn't take a picture of it, it's on their website. Pegasus offered us the Troy water park, they advertised it so much that we were upset at first, but then it turned out that Troy was on fire recently and half of the slides were closed there, but this brand new one is just a bomb. It costs $55 for two and includes lunch. We were scared that the dinner would be small, but nothing like that. There is a huge pizza / chicken / hamburger + any drink to choose from. In the water park in the heat, I don’t really want to eat, of course, but the amount of food was quite surprisingJ True, I always take apples with me, because I don’t eat fast foodJ
In addition to Maxwell, there are Ginza and HeroTour, but they are slightly more expensive.
In general, the result is this: Turkey is definitely a paradiseJ
