[amazer2013]

Hey Sameer, excellent travelogue. I can't thank you enough for taking so much time and effort to capture and pen down each and every detail. In fact I'm planning a trip to Turkey with my wife in March 2015. I'd appreciate if you could answer these queries I have:
1. Did you plan the entire trip yourself? Or did you take help from a travel agent? Which do you think is better?
2. Do we need any special license to drive cars in Turkey? Or the international driver's license given by our local RTO would suffice?
3. Did you book hotels using makemytrip (Or similar)? Or did you go to the respective hotels' website to book separately?
4. Which Hot balloon company did you book with? 9K seems very reasonable.
5. How did you commute inside the city for local sight seeing?

Thanks in advance.

[khoj]

Hi Sameer, the shoot you mentioned is now up & running in the form of a tv advert for a chocolate major. Saw the ad some time ago and Aditi reminded me of your thread. Enjoyed all the snaps again, some more than others Ciao

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Up on getting up I was offered some refreshments and snack. There was a Bollywood actor Aditi Rao Hydari travelling with us and I wanted to take a snap with her. I requested the Steward to check with her if she would oblige for a photo op!She agreed and we met at the front of the cabin and clicked some snaps with her including a selfie!!. Apparantly she was travelling to Budapest for a film shoot. Rajkumar Rao her co actor was also travelling with her. Though we did not click any photos with him ;-).

[sameer sultan]

Originally Posted by amazer2013

Hey Sameer, excellent travelogue. I can't thank you enough for taking so much time and effort to capture and pen down each and every detail. In fact I'm planning a trip to Turkey with my wife in March 2015. I'd appreciate if you could answer these queries I have:
1. Did you plan the entire trip yourself? Or did you take help from a travel agent? Which do you think is better?
2. Do we need any special license to drive cars in Turkey? Or the international driver's license given by our local RTO would suffice?
3. Did you book hotels using makemytrip (Or similar)? Or did you go to the respective hotels' website to book separately?
4. Which Hot balloon company did you book with? 9K seems very reasonable.
5. How did you commute inside the city for local sight seeing?
Thanks in advance.

Hello brother!

Glad you liked my travelogue. Thanks!!

1) Yes we(friends and me) planned the trip ourselves. First we zeroed on what places we'd like to see in Turkey and then went about with the bookings online. Doing a trip on your own gives one the freedom. But at the same time it's quiet a lot of hardwork and patience. Depends on how much time you can devote for the planning process hence decide accordingly to do it yourself or leave it to the travel agent.

2) Indian DL is accepted in Turkey.

3) Booked online at booking.com. You can do a hotel search on trip advisor they give out the hotel rates from different booking sites for us to compare and book.

4) Precise tours Turkey(precisetours.com) They offered the cheapest rate for the Hot Air Balloon. Their service was very efficient as well.

5) In Istanbul we used public transport. Metro/Tram/Bus. In Cappodoccia precise tours arranges the pick up and drop from the airport/hotel to the hot air balloon lift off place. Transfers are included in the package. At Izmir/Pamukkale we had rented Europcar.

Have a safe and enjoyable trip. If you would like to know more details feel free to ask. Cheers.

Originally Posted by khoj

Hi Sameer, the shoot you mentioned is now up & running in the form of a tv advert for a chocolate major. Saw the ad some time ago and Aditi reminded me of your thread. Enjoyed all the snaps again, some more than others Ciao

Hi Sir,

You are right they had gone to Budapest for the ad shoot. Figured that out when Aditi tweeted about it.

[amazer2013]

Hello again Sameer!
We're counting the last 2 days before our Turkey trip starts (29th April). Need some information on currency. Since we cannot buy Lira in India, what did you do for cash? Can we use our Indian debit card to draw cash at ATM?
Thanks in advance.

[gsurya]

Originally Posted by amazer2013

We're counting the last 2 days before our Turkey trip starts (29th April). Need some information on currency. Since we cannot buy Lira in India, what did you do for cash? Can we use our Indian debit card to draw cash at ATM?
Thanks in advance.

• Best option is to buy USD or EUR from here & change into Lira locally, thats cheapest.
• Next best is to take a Thomas Cook or Citibank prepaid forex card & draw Lira locally or use to pay directly
• 3rd best is to use Indian international debit card & withdraw cash locally or directly use for transactions
• Worst option is to use credit cards

Enjoy your trip!

[sameer sultan]

Originally Posted by amazer2013

Hello again Sameer!
We're counting the last 2 days before our Turkey trip starts (29th April). Need some information on currency. Since we cannot buy Lira in India, what did you do for cash? Can we use our Indian debit card to draw cash at ATM?
Thanks in advance.

Hi Amazer

I had bought US$ and exchanged some in the airport for immediate expense and major amount in the many exchange shops in Taksim Square and Istiklal Street.

Yes you could also use your international debit card to withdraw local currency but the exchange rate might be more as some banks tend to levy a surcharge for foreign exchange.

Have an enjoyable trip.

[rst89]

Awesome travelogue about Turkey.

Turkey is definitely on my radar due to E Visa facility and Turkey Lira has fallen recently. So it is win win situation.

I was originally going to visit only Istanbul but other paces like Izmir and Antalya are also worth the visit. Let me see if I can club with a transatlantic visit.

[sameer sultan]

Re visiting Turkey after 5 years!

Hello everyone. I had visited Turkey in August 2014 and posted this travelogue on my return. I loved the country a lot the first time. I revisited again last month after a gap of almost 5 years and fell in love with the country all over again! The people are friendly though they do not understand English much. The food is just amazing. The sights are tourist friendly and the climate is amazing.

Plus this holiday in 2019 was more bang for the buck due to the devaluation of the Turkish Lira.


I thought I shall update/share my experience this time as well. I will not repeat the sights/places/experiences I had visited in 2014.

To start with let me share some stats.

Currency

2014

1 Turkish Lira was ₹28

2019

1 Turkish Lira ₹12!

Visa

2014 - I applied for the visa through VFS. cost around ₹5000

2019 - I have an US visa so I had to just get an ETA online for Turkey before departure for ₹3200

Flights

2014

I flew Jet Airways/Turkish Airlines via Mumbai ticket costed ₹50000.

(I feel sad Jet Airways have seized operations. They were a good airline. Miss them).

2019

I flew Oman Air via Muscat for ₹32000!

Domestic flights in Turkey costed almost the same this time as well.

Boarding Oman Air B737-81M at MAA


The flight was quite new with a fresh cabin comfortable seats good inflight entertainment. The leg room was a bit tight though.




As it was the morning departure from MAA breakfast was served in flight. I tried both the veg and non veg options. The food was not that tasty. Oman Air could improve on their catering.


We landed at the new Muscat International Airport after a 3:30 flight


The new airport at MCT is nice with broad walking spaces many food and shopping outlets play areas for kids and fast Wifi, the code for which is available through a kiosk upon scanning your passport. The toilets are good but not as clean as you would find in DXB. I found there were not much comfortable seating spaces at the common area of the terminal. Though there were many seats at the boarding gates. Also the gate numbers are displayed only an hour before departure hence it is a bit hassle to decide where to wait till the gate no is shown as there are A B and C gates with considerable walking. Having transited a lot through DXB I felt the MCT airport is not a patch on the efficiency of DXB.

There is not much of sunlight at the airport which does not give an airy feel unlike other similar new airports around the world. Guess it's a flaw in the architectural design. Overall it is a much better improvement from the old airport at MCT.

Some pictures of the Terminal. We had a 2:50 layover.








We boarded the flight at 1420 for an on time departure at 1440 to IST. When I had booked the tickets this flight was supposed to be operated by B737-MAX8. After the fatal Ethiopian airlines crash in early March I was a bit concerned flying the MAX. Thankfully all the MAX were grounded and the aircraft was changed to B737-800.As the earlier flight this was also nice. Lunch was served though I was not happy with the offering!


We landed at the Istanbul New Airport at 1900 after a flying time of 5 hours. I was excited to see the new airport at IST as it opened for full operations a few weeks back. I had seen a few YouTube videos to get a idea of the massive airport as we had a connection to make to Izmir on Turkish Airlines after a 4 hour layover.

The Istanbul New Airport was stunning spectacular and beautiful. I have never seen such a massive airport terminal.

Take a look at the pictures!

[sameer sultan]

We cleared immigration in no time and reached the arrival hall where our bags were rolling out. We transferred to the domestic terminal which is a floor up to the right of the international arrivals.

Our Turkish Airlines flight to Izmir(ADB) was scheduled to depart at 2300 but It was delayed by 55mins. We dropped our bags and proceeded to have dinner at the food court. I also exchanged some US$ at the airport though I regretted it as the rate I got was much lower than what I got in the city. Lesson learnt not to change a lot of money at the airport. Just change a minimum amount for immediate expenses till you reach your hotel.

As we had a lot of time at the airport I was marvelling at the design and interiors of the Istanbul New Airport and spent a lot of time exploring the terminal.

A sore point was the toilets were not clean for such a brand new airport. I guess it's an issue with the maintenance.

Some more pictures of the airport.













Our Turkish Airlines flight to ADB was to depart from G gates which was not very far from the security areas. We waited at the gate as boarding started only 10 mins before departure. Our flight another B737-800 departed after a 1.5hour delay to Izmir. It was a 45 min flight. Dinner was served consisting of a Sandwich and Aryan(Turkish butter milk) which was tasty.

We landed at Izmir Adnan Menderes International Airport around 130am.

I had booked a rental car as we were heading to Kusadasi on the Aegean sea coast to spend the next 4 nights which was about 70 kms from the Airport.

Since it was late in the night there were no customers at the Avis counter. All the formalities were completed and I picked up the car a Ford Kuga diesel AT.

My original booking was for Peugeot 3008, I had opted for this model as the boot space was huge since I had to fit 3 large and 3 cabin bags.

Avis informed that the Peugeot 3008 was not available they offered the Nissan Qashqai or the Ford Kuga. I did a quick google search to check on the boot spaces and opted for the latter which had a bigger boot. I was able to fit all the bags and my family of 5 seated comfortably we were on our way to Kusadasi with the help of google maps.

I had opted for Airtel's international roaming pack @₹3999 for 30 days with 5GB data and 500 local and India calls included.

Reached Kusadasi around 330am and checked into the Ilayda Avantgarde Hotel.

Called it a night after a 16 hour travel day of 3 flights and a car drive!

Some pictures of the hotel




The Ford Kuga was a fully loaded version. ICE was in Turkish I changed the language to English and synced my iPhone. Though Apple Car play was not available. The AT SUV was a pleasure to drive it had a lot of power.

Pictures of the Ford Kuga

[sameer sultan]

As the hotel is located right on the Marina of Kuşadası overlooking the Aegean Sea the views from the breakfast restaurant were breathtaking.

Kuşadası lies just 36kms from the Greece island of Samos. There are regular ferry service in the summers which takes around 1.5hrs. The sea side resort is popular with cruise ship tourist arrivals. Every morning there would come a cruise ship from Greece for a 12 hour stopover. The view of the huge cruise ship anchored on the harbour was spectacular.

Pictures of Kuşadası Marina from the breakfast restaurant






Every morning I spent a lot of time at the breakfast taking in the incredible views sipping Turkish cay......

...Black coffee with Simit

...Orange juice


We visited the Pigeon island located close by which has a small fort built on the mountain. Also took a ferry trip off the coast of Kuşadası for around 30 mins @ 10TL per person.

Pigeon island







We spent the rest of the evening strolling along the Kuşadası marina and had dinner at a Turkish restaurant Ramiz located inside the Sentur Marinas Kuşadası open air mall.

Some pictures of the Kuşadası marina and the open air mall

[sameer sultan]

The next day early morning I went for a walk along the sea front up to the cruise ship port. It was very peaceful with chirping birds and few people fishing along the coast. I also hiked up the stairs on the hill where Kuşadası is written like Hollywood!!

Pictures from the morning stroll










Fishing



Back at the breakfast










Open to sky gym on the marina

[sameer sultan]

On our third day in Kuşadası we visited the Ephesus Archaeological Museum which is about a 20km drive from the centre. The entrance fee is 60TL it's a 1.5km walk to cover the entire complex.

The highlight is the huge amphitheater.

Pictures from Ephesus











Later in the evening we drove up a nearby hill to take in the panoramic views of Kuşadası town before calling it a day after a final stroll on the Marina.

Some pictures from the hill view point




Random pictures from Kuşadası





Ended the day with another tasty dinner at Ramiz


The next morning it was time to check out and drive to Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport to catch Pegasus Air flight to Kayseri Erkilet Airport where we would spend 2 nights exploring Mount Erciyes and Goreme town in Cappadocia.

[sameer sultan]

Started at 630am from the hotel at Kuşadası to Izmir Adnan Menderes Airport to catch the 910am flight to Kayseri Erkilet Airport(ASR). I found the drive very scenic as while coming it was night so could not enjoy the views.

En route Kuşadası to Izmir Adnan Menderes



Traffic was sparse and we made good time to reach Izmir airport drop off the car after refuelling and checked in for the Pegasus Airlines flight to Kayseri.

It was 1:15 flying time on another B737-800.

Just before touchdown at ASR

Pegasus Airlines at ASR


I had booked the Peugeot 3008 and was happy to be allotted the Ford Kuga by Avis again!

This Ford Kuga was a mid version as quite a few features were missing from the earlier model.

We were on our way to Mt. Erciyes from Kayseri Airport which was a 35km drive uphill.

Ford Kuga from Avis Kayseri Airport


Drive towards Mt. Erciyes



Mt. Erciyes is a volcano with its highest point being 12000ft. There is a cable car station which takes up to 8000ft. There was a lot of snow sparse crowds and quite a few snow activities like snow mobile snow boarding were available. There is a cafe on top as well. Skiing facilities are available for pro skiers with an open lift to a much higher altitude.

There is a reception at the entrance to the cable car station where ample car parking is available free of cost. Many shops are there selling winter clothes gloves and skiing equipment and a few restaurants and rest rooms.

There is a beautiful mosque opposite to the cable car station adjacent to that is the Ramada Erciyes Resort. There are another couple of hotels as well.

The tickets for the cable car cost 7TL per person! That's ₹84!! At first I thought due to language problem I had heard the cost wrongly or the ticket staff is not selling me the correct cable car ticket. I used google translate to clarify and it was indeed only 7TL for the return ticket on the cable car. Having paid €€€ to visit Jungfrauh and Titlis in Switzerland this was a shocker.

We had an equally enjoyable if not better time playing in the snow at Mt. Erciyes like at Jungfrauh or Titlis. Very little crowds clean snow and excellent facilities.

Dirt cheap cable car tickets good and easy access from Kayseri Airport makes this mountain a must visit in Turkey and also a good alternative to the over run by tourists and expensive Swiss mountains.

Rolling the pictures.

















Traditional Turkish Manti for lunch at Tekir Cafe Mt. Erciyes


Beautiful Mosque at Mt. Erciyes


Ramada Resort Mt. Erciyes. I checked the prices it was a very reasonable ₹3000 for a night.


After spending few hours playing in the snow we started our drive to Göreme which was about 85kms. It was a 1:30 drive on excellent Turkish roads.