So why do we not respect ourselves so much that we deprive ourselves of the best???
Maybe this story should not be written here, but I don’t know where, but I really want it to be read by interested parties, i. e. those who want to earn money, or those who want to save money !! ! This year, my vacation turned out to be unscheduled... the entire plant was closed for two weeks due to the lack of sales of the goods we produce, and we were sent on vacation. It's February outside, it's cold, and if not cold, then it's dirty and damp, there has been some snow this year... And I decided to go to the warm thermal springs for treatment. And since I love not only medical, but also historical and pilgrimage tours, I was looking for a "three in one" tour. The fact that I had not yet collected money for a summer vacation by February introduced its own limitations....and imagine my surprise when all the "straight lines" of my requests crossed in Turkey. At Pamukkale. There are plenty of thermal springs. There are more than enough stories in general, and Hierapolis (from the female name Hiera), and ancient Ephesus,
with the house of the Virgin Mary and the wall of desires, and the temple of Artemis for women's practices... In general, inspired to the point of trembling, I began to look for a tour. And here my first "why" appeared?? ? There are no tours from Moscow to Pamukkale. Only the so-called individual, such as elite tours. My question is why there are no tours? , four eminent tour operators could not give an intelligible answer. They muttered nonsense like "winter is not the season, " as if in the summer people were breaking into thermal (warm) springs. Most of all, in the summer Turkish heat +40 degrees, also in thermal springs !! ! That is, logical questions like "and I thought that in the thermal springs NORMAL people swim in the season when you can't swim in the sea, " for some reason put everyone in a stupid expression and nothing more. To reduce the cost of the trip, I had to look for OTHER ways to solve this issue. Namely, I took the cheapest tour, (respect to the Chip-trip),
in great hope to leave for Pamukkale in another day upon arrival in Antalya. But in Antalya, I was waiting for a second blow from the question called "WHY"... Excursions to Pamukkale at this time of the year were constantly canceled, with the excuse "the bus is not going to. " It's strange, I went to the hotel in a full bus of 40 people, and therefore I could not believe that some of the vacationers would not just want to swim in freedom, at least for a couple of days... I think it's all about advertising this trip. A couple of days after arriving in Antalya, I still bought a tour from the Oki-Doki street tour operator, and went to Pamukkale with German tourists. There were tours with German and English speaking tourists every day, and THEY collected buses to the healing springs! With the same company, "Oki Doki", I agreed to stay at the Pamukkale "Travertine" hotel for 5 days. Yes, on the tour I did not understand a word of German, but I had a store of knowledge gleaned about Pamukkale on the Internet,
ample for a pleasant trip. On the third day of my stay in Pamukkale, I still saw Russian tourists from Kemer, who were brought by Tez-tour. (Respect to Tez tour! ) So I spent 5 days in the Cleopatra pool enjoying a few (2-3, sometimes up to 5 people but not long a day) bathing in the purest mineral water, sunny days and the first point of my plan fulfilled.
Ephesus was my next stop. A visit to the house where the Most Holy Theotokos lived the last days of her earthly life, tying a ribbon on the wall of desires, and meditation in the Temple of Artemis.
Here I went the same way, namely to the Pamukkala tour operator. And again an excursion with English-speaking tourists, with Koreans, Japanese, Dutch... yes, sadly, but ALMOST a fact... Why almost a fact? Yes, because we don’t want to, but they DO NOT DRIVE us!! ! Our tour operators dictate to us which shopping tours we should go on,
after all, there are no people who want to go on cultural and recreational trips ?? ? Who else, but I do not believe! In Ephesus, I talked with 3 Russian girls who also went on a tour with the Germans, who also did not understand the guide's words, but there was a desire, and the Internet was on the phone !!!
In short, gentlemen, now information for the economical, what have I learned useful from all these trips? That it is also cool there in winter, this is the first thing. What to ride them, Turkish intercity even on buses, even on trains, very comfortable and not expensive. For example, a ticket from Pamukkale to Antalya with the Kemil Kos transport company costs 19 Turkish lira. (this is approximately 323 rubles or 11 dollars) The road will take 3-3.5 hours. All the way you will be entertained by a TV set (or radio or the Internet) since the monitors are built into the back of the front seats, twice along the way you will be given tea and cookies, after 1.5 hours they will stop for a toilet not in a tourist cafe, with prices not in euros and in Turkish liras. Upon arrival in Antalya, you are the same,
the main ticket, a small bus of the same transport company Camille-Kos, will deliver to the address you specified, in my case to the hotel. The shock of their service haunted me for a long time! WHY can't we just respect ourselves???
The third point of my plan was the city of Demre. The former city of Myrrha Lycian, from where Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker, very revered by the Christian faith, came from, I did not realize the world of Lycian. True, the reason was not in an unsuccessful tour operator, I found an alternative to this, but in the weather, the first day of my entire 10 day trip it was raining! With thunder and lightning!! ! But he did not remain unused! It's time for spontaneous shopping! Walking from the sea to the hotel, Lara world, I went to the Leder shop by korkmaz (No. 412 / D), to be honest, to dry off, word for word with the seller Naime, and now she is taking me to the factory, where I am for 800 dollars. I’m buying myself a sheepskin coat (I must say that in Russia it’s not at all easy for me to do this, since my size is 52-54...
) For the fact that I bought a sheepskin coat, they gave us a car for 2 hours, and Naime asked what I want to see in Antalya, a waterfall? Old city? or something else?? ? But, let me remind you that the rain poured like a bucket, and despite the fact that I really like to see all sorts of beauties... the waterfall and walks around the city have disappeared, but I had an idea to buy something from knitted blouses or decent trousers... Having voiced this, I was taken by a nice woman to a NON-TOURIST knitwear store, where I honestly spent all the money, leaving only for a hammam.
Hamam in the off season is a special topic! As I understand it, the main thing is not to buy a package of 5 sessions for $100. I went for these 100 dollars only 3 times, BUT !! ! every time in a new hammam. And in every hammam I was washed and massaged so cool!! ! of course, in the hope that I will buy a package, and the second or third time it will be possible not to give all my best, since I will still come here 4 and 5 times... I did it wrong and did not regret it.
The best package I received in my hotel. For $3.4!! ! hours. There was only one break for relaxation no more than 10 minutes, 15 minutes. saunas and 15 minutes of Turkish bath, and the rest of the time massage... first with a mitt, then soapy, then oily. The massage was done by Selam. I don’t know where I got the strength from, but I made the procedure unforgettable! Or maybe because there were few customers... I don’t know, but I personally used the charms of the “out of season” to the fullest !! ! What do you wish!