Villa Tulipan Hotel - Antalya

The Villa Tulipan was a bit difficult to find, but it was a great little hotel. It is very close to the harbor and a small beach that is through a restaurant. It is also close to a very helpful merchant that will point you in the right direction and then try to sell things to you later.

You ring the bell and when the owner opens the door, you are greeted by him, his assistant, and a very friendly dog. The rooms are all upstairs. There is no elevator here, so it might be difficult for some older people or people with really heavy baggage. Our room was cozy without being tiny. The view was very nice as well. The bathroom might be a problem for some people. It is one of the smallest we have encountered, and we used to live in Korea. It isn't a big deal as long as you aren't picky.

The breakfast is a standard Turkish breakfast. They don't have boiled eggs, but they will fry some up for you. They will also hold baggage all day, which they did for us. A transfer to the bus station only costs 25 lira. It's a nice luxury to treat yourself to if your bus leaves at night the way ours did. The Villa Tuilpan is a nice place for those who aren't picky. It isn't really a true budget hotel, but it is only a step or two above one.

Kayahan Hotel - Kas

Kas is a beautiful town, and as such has attracted a multitude of visitors. Many visitors means many hotels and pensions, and boy does Kas have them by the dozens. Some of them were closed or operating at half-staff while we were there (low season and all). But I can imagine how full every room is and how busy the streets are in the middle of summer. The Kayahan Hotel is located on a street that has many other hotels and pensions; it's actually called “Hotel and Pension Street”.

We booked Kayahan on booking.com because they had a special rate for the winter season. We spent a little extra and got a sea view room. It was amazing and totally worth the price! The room had a balcony that overlooked the town and the harbor and the sea. The bed was soft and had extra blankets for the cold night. Most of the hotels in this area of Turkey have air-conditioner units that turn into heating units instead of a radiator; Kayahan is no different. The bathroom had a shower stall and everything else. It took about 5 minutes to get hot water, but had no problem once it got going.

The hotel had a fantastic terrace on the top floor where they served a typical Turkish breakfast. It also overlooked the sea and town. There were small openings above the windows where little birds would squeeze through and come into the room to try and eat some bread. They never disturbed people eating, only when people left. The staff had to be quick about cleaning up, otherwise the birds would attack the bread basket if there was any bread left over! But like I said, they never disturbed us otherwise.

They have a pool but we did not partake. They also offered laundry service which was nice. On your way to the hotel from the bus station or city center, you have to walk up a slight hill, but it's not terrible and every hotel is on a hill. Overall, we recommend the Kayahan and especially the sea view rooms!

Deep Blue Sea

Antalya is the main city on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. It is a large city of about 1 million people. We spent two days here, mainly exploring the old town and harbor area. There is also a very large and popular beach, but it's far from our hotel so we didn't go.

Our first day we arrived via bus from Kas. The bus station is a lot further from the center than in Fethiye or Kas. We took a tram to the old town; it must be new because it was clean and they spoke Turkish and English for the stations. We found the old city (Kaleici) just fine; however, finding our hotel was another problem. The small, winding streets are lovely to get lost in, but not when you have a backpack or you're hungry for lunch. Unlike Russia, thankfully, many Turkish people speak English, so we asked around for the street or hotel. A nice man helped us find it, but wanted us to return to check out his shop. When we did, he insisted on us buying something. We said we weren't interested, as we had already bought a few souvenirs. Finally he remarked, “What can I sell you?? Postcards? Necklaces? Purses?” “Oh, nothing thanks. We're finished shopping.” And we walked away. He picked the wrong tourists to help! You can read about our hotel in our review (Villa Tulipan).

Hadrian's Gate

Kaleici is a nice area to spend an afte

rnoon wandering around in. You could walk for hours and still find a small street you missed. The streets are lined with tourist souvenir shops, cafes, pensions, carpet shops, and restaurants. Many places put tables outside so you can enjoy the atmosphere while sipping your drink. Along the harbor front are more cafes and restaurants. Along the cliffs on the water are even MORE cafes! This is definitely a place for sitting, relaxing, and having some tea. While walking back to our hotel, we stopped to buy some nuts. The man offered us a taste of some salty and sweet nuts; they were quite good, so we wanted to buy a few. Maybe a small bag, but nothing more than a snack. Well, the man started doing his shtick and 2 minutes later we were stuck with a large, 1 kilo bag of mixed nuts!! They've provided a good snack ever since.

After a walk along the harbor and marina, we accidentally found the main site of the old town, Hadrian's Gate. Built in Roman times, the three-arch gate still retains many of the sculptures that make it beautiful. For dinner, we went to Corner's Cafe. The man who runs the place is so nice and friendly. We only bought two fish, two teas, and a water, and he gave us bread, tomato and spice spread and yogurt and garlic spread, and a salad for free. Not to mention they all tasted great. This is the one thing about Turkey we love: the food is plentiful and always flowing. After stuffing ourselves full, we went back to the hotel and relaxed.

A view of the small beach.

The sunset from the harbor.

The next day we had all day to do everything and nothing, as our overnight bus to Cappadocia was at 9:30pm. We started the day off right with a huge breakfast and a few hours chat with our hotel neighbors; an Australian couple and two Korean girls on vacation from studying abroad in the Netherlands. We talked about Korea a lot, how much we miss the food and how much we miss the culture. It was fun to chat and reminisce. It was the first time Rich and I really missed Korea. We got going around lunch time, where we walked down to the marina and hopped on a boat ride for 30 min. It was advertised in a brochure as one hour, the man selling us the ride said 45 min, but ultimately it was 30 min. No matter, it was a mere $6 for the ride. We sat out front and saw some waterfalls, the cliffs, and a few hotels. The water, however, was a beautiful blue, and the breeze felt great against the hot sun.

On the boat

For lunch we wandered around the harbor, trying to avoid the overpriced cafes and restaurants (most things were listed in Euros, making a normal dish twice the actual price). We finally found a one-room cafe that had four things on the menu: fish, toast, something with pumpkin, and another dish we didn't know the name. So we ordered a set fish menu (fried fish, salad, and a glass of raki), and a cheese toast. Turns out the fish are what we saw the fishermen off the Galata Bridge in Istanbul fishing for. They were tiny, cut open, breaded and fried. They were so delicious and went great with the raki! The rest of the day was spent wandering more of Kaleici, hanging out in cafes, getting dinner with the Korean girls, and finally heading to the bus station to catch our bus.

Tiny cafe and tasty fish

The last sunset on the Mediterranean

There were no problems once we got on the bus (made by Mercedes-Benz of all companies!), but at one point in the middle of the night, around 4am, the bus hit a car, or perhaps the car hit the bus, we don't know. The bus swerved and woke everyone up, and 5 minutes later there was a lot of screaming and yelling going on, two police cars showed up, some other buses stopped, and a few other cars stopped as well. We had no idea what was going on as everything was in Turkish, but it definitely left us with little sleep.

Stay tuned for our next update as we regale you with stories from Cappadocia!

Kas and Carry

Kas (pronounced Kash) is a small seaside town of about 5000 inhabitants. We spent three nights, but would have spent more. Kas is set into the mountains that rise steeply out of the sea along the southern coast of Turkey. In fact, any time there is flat land against the coast there is a small city. The road followed the mountains along the coast, which made for a beautiful drive into the city from Fethiye! Kas is very hilly, and the surrounding mountains are capped with snow (just a little bit). Walking around the city, you will constantly go up and down on the roads. Despite the majority of businesses being closed, there was a lot to do in and around the town.

Day ½

We arrived from Fethiye in the late afternoon, checked into our hotel, and relaxed a little bit. After about a half hour of unwinding, we decided to walk around the town. It was mid-afternoon, but not much was open. The tourist season ends around early October, so places had been slowly shutting their doors for over a month by the time we arrived. We ended up finding a small pebble beach where we ran into two fellow Americans (Dennis and Amanda). We got a few drinks and decided to go sea kayaking and get dinner together for Thanksgiving (the next day).

A small lookout.

Day 1 – Turkey Day!

We got up early, because we had no idea whether the tour company would want to take four people kayaking or not. It turned out they got seven. So, around 9AM, we headed off to the sunken city of Kekova. We got a crash course in kayaking just in case anyone going was that athletically inept and shoved off. The water was a little choppy, it is the Mediterranean after all, but no one fell in. The Mediterranean has some of the bluest water either of us have ever seen. It was fun just being out there.

We took a short break on the island that is home to Kekova. Only a few hundred meters of the island are available to make landing, because the rest is protected as an archaeological site. After about a half hour, we paddled around to the side of the island where we could see Kekova.

The city looks like it is still slowly descending into the sea. The most prominent thing you can see underwater is the old wall. We actually got our kayak stuck on part of the wall. The guide told us to stick close to the rocks just in case other motorized boats were around, because it is calmer and we would have less chance of getting tipped over. He didn't tell us that parts of the underwater city were only barely so, and our kayak could get stuck on them. Luckily, we got ourselves unstuck without assistance and without tipping over. You could tell it was the wall, because on one side of the kayak was shallow rock formations and the other side was a steep drop off. It was different from a shelf though, because there was no slight curve, just a 90 degree angle straight down.

You can still see the remains of the old Lycian city along the rocks, but we are pretty sure you would need an aerial view to really see the city. Still, kayaking was way more fun than just taking a boat tour out there. We would definitely do it again.

After we took a quick look at the sunken city, we headed over to another small island village for lunch. This village is only accessible by boat and one wildly overgrown hiking trail. We had some sandwiches, because not a single restaurant in the village was open. After lunch, we were given time to explore a little, because there is an old castle on one of the mountains. We walked up to see it, but we didn't go in. Honestly, we're a bit ruined out by this point. You can't walk more than five meters in Western Turkey without running into Lycian, Greek, Roman, or Greco-Roman ruins. Apparently, the smallest amphitheater (we've seen plenty of these too) in Turkey is inside the castle walls. It holds just 350 people, which means the population of the surrounding area was only 3500.

We attempted to hike up to a panoramic viewpoint, but the path was overgrown. If we weren't in swimsuits and flip-flops we would have attempted it, but there were a lot of thorny plants and burs. Dennis climbed up one part of the rock, but he didn't even get close to the actual viewpoint. We eventually headed back down, but the view was pretty nice from that part.

Around 3, we paddled back to the marina and drove back to Kas. We all took a two hour break, and then met back up for Thanksgiving dinner. Instead of turkey, we ended up with grilled chicken, lamb, beef, fried mussels, and hummus. Oh yeah, we drank a couple bottles of wine as well. What will make this Thanksgiving memorable though isn't the fact that it was in Turkey, it is because of the terrible music we were subjected to.

Two men came in, one with a drum and one with a horn. They started playing extremely loud. I don't think anyone actually enjoyed the music. We were thinking about paying them to go away. At one point, he was playing directly into my ear, and I was thinking about taking away his horn and breaking it. Playing loudly is one thing, playing loudly and being obnoxious on purpose is another. After dinner, we got a few more drinks and then went home.

The island and the restaurant.

Another castle

Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 2

We decided to check out the open-air market the town holds every Friday. We were both surprised at the amount of fruit that was there. You will be able to see in the pictures just what kind of variety they had. It made us seriously consider moving to Turkey. We just might in the future, you never know. After browsing a little bit, we ate something that could only describe as a Turkish-style quesadilla. They took two very thin pieces of dough and put cheese, lamb, spinach, garlic, and onion in between them and cooked it on a hot stone. It was delicious. We got fresh squeezed orange juice and pomegranate juice to wash it down, and then we relaxed for the rest of the day.

Fruit!

Tea and spices.

Turkish quesadilla.

Day 3

We packed up. They were nice enough to drive us to the bus station for free. We jumped on the bus, and five minutes later, we were on our way to Antalya.

And Unto the World...

A Przylucki was born. Henry John Przylucki was born at 4:01AM Tuesday, November 22^nd at 8 pounds 5 ounces. Baby and mommy are healthy and happy. Congratulations to Ed and Amanda!

He has Amanda's eyes, but definitely a Przylucki nose (poor kid).

Everyone say: awwww

Alis Hotel - Fethiye, Turkey

We booked this hotel on booking.com because they had a great deal on a double room. It advertises as being close to a small beach, but we didn't see it. It's also not very close to the marina nor bus station in town (about 1.5 km). So when we arrived, we took a taxi that cost about $6.50 (expensive!). The hotel is situated near the boardwalk along the seaside, which is very nice. They also have a pool out front which would be nice if it were really warm.

The reception lady is a very sweet British woman who was very understanding when we discovered we selected the wrong date of our arrival. We still got a room, though (thankfully it's low season!). We ended up with and older room with two twin beds that had been pushed together, and another twin bed in the room. The ensuite bathroom was reminiscent of Korea – the shower wasn't separate, just a shower head over an empty space in the bathroom. There was also a balcony with two comfy chairs that had a small view of the ocean. For what we paid (50 lira/$30 / night), it was perfectly fine.

They added this cute little touch as well.

Breakfast was a typical Turkish breakfast: cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, bread, butter, cheese, jams, coffee or tea, and eggs. Our second morning they served potatoes, fried bread, and sausages in addition to the regular breakfast. The hotel is definitely more of a budget hotel than a mid- or high-end place. But the service was excellent and the breakfast was great. It's a great walk along the boardwalk from the hotel to the center of the city. If you want a cheap place to stay that still provides service and breakfast, choose this hotel. If you want something more central or more recently renovated, then choose a hotel in the center.

The Mediterranean Diet

We got into Fethiye around 9PM on Monday November, 21^st. The bus ride was quite the cultural experience. When we left Aphrodisias, there were only four people on the bus. So, the bus driver would honk at any pedestrians along the way, slow down, and see if anyone was going to Fethiye. We picked up a half dozen more people this way in the first half hour. Eventually, the bus got pretty full. Every time he passed or was passed by a mini-bus, they would honk horns at each other. The strangest thing that he did was randomly stop by the side of the road where a guy had a bunch of gas cans, get gas with the mini-bus still running, and smoke near the gas pump while all this was going on. It wasn't a normal gas pump either. It was a mechanical pump with an improvised funnel and a hose that went into the mini-bus. In addition to this, his cell phone was never out of his hand. He was either texting or talking the entire time. That is whenever he wasn't flirting with the girl sitting up front. At first it was frustrating, but then all we could do was laugh at the absurdity of it all.

When we finally got to Fethiye, we went straight to the hotel (see Alis Hotel Review). The next day, we got up, showered, ate breakfast, and went about wandering around the town. The very first thing I did was get a barber shop shave. It was the first time I had done it, and I was a little nervous. They move pretty fast with that sharp little piece of metal next to your throat. I can definitely say though that it is the closest shave I have ever had. It was worth the $6 I paid, and I'm hoping to do it again before we leave Turkey. Perhaps I'll get a Turkish shave complete with fire and threading.

After that, we walked along the waterfront. They have a lot of very lovely cafes lining the harbor. We stopped in a couple for tea and pomegranate juice ($1.50 for a large glass). We also saw the tourist boats, but it is low season, so they were all docked and not in the mood to try to lure us in for tours. We did a little shopping in the old district and ate lunch.

Not a single one of these boats was running.

That's a large glass of fresh squeezed pomegranate juice for around $1.50

This was one of many outdoor cafes along the harbor.

You can definitely tell it is low season

This is where the Mediterranean diet part comes in. We decided we should take in some of the fresh caught fish while we are here. For lunch we had sea bass for the rock bottom price of $11. It was accompanied by a salad. It was in the middle of town near the boats, so it was “expensive.” Dinner is where we got a really great deal. Emily got moussaka and I got swordfish steak. The swordfish steak was also $11, but it was the size of Emily's face, about an inch thick, and came with fries and a sizable salad. This was all accompanied by fresh baked flat bread, naturally. Emily's moussaka was the size of a football, and came with a separate dish for sides at the bargain price of about $9. We were absolutely stuffed after, but managed to squeeze in some baklava and Turkish coffee. We're trying not to gain too much weight, but that will be a difficult task over the next week or so as we eat make our way through the Mediterranean.

Eggplant with potatoes and meat as a cold starter. On to Turkish pizza and sea bass for lunch.

The coastline at night

Swordfish steak and moussaka

Outdoor dining in November. Nothing better.

Mighty Aphrodisias

Here is a special note for current or former NYU students who read this blog:

If you've ever wondered why your financial aid package wasn't as big as you had hoped, Aphrodisias is likely the answer. The excavation of the site was begun by an NYU professor in the 60's, and is still being sponsored by NYU today. There is your fun (or not so fun) fact of the day.

Aphrodisias was the capitol city of Caria in the days of the Roman Empire. For this reason, they had a large stadium in addition to the normal amphitheater (which was in every city) and the senate building. The stadium is perhaps the most impressive thing about Aphrodisias. It had a seating capacity of around 30,000, and it is still mostly intact. There are a small number of seats missing from one of the corners, and the athletic field is about two meters higher than it once was, but you can still get a feel for what the stadium looked like. Unfortunately, the marble is no longer glittering white.

Another fascinating site is the gate at the entrance of the city. It's a four-entrance gate with 16 columns, and beautiful carvings along the top. Aphrodisias had a school of sculpture in the city, a very famous one in Roman times. The people of the city were considered something akin to cultural assets because of their sculpture work, and they demonstrated their skills by decorating buildings with beautiful friezes and reliefs.

This was once a gate.

This is the stadium. Still largely intact.

The other excavated sites include a bathhouse (of course) where the entire pool has been uncovered, one of the largest agoras we have seen, a theater that had carved marble faces in the friezes expressing all sorts of emotions, and the temple of Aphrodite, which the city is most famous for. According to our guide, this Aphrodite was not the same Greek goddess of love we all think of. Most of the goddesses in the area took on the names of Greek goddesses (Aphrodite, Artemis, Hestia, etc.), but they were almost exclusively earth-mother goddesses that were meant to bring bountiful harvests, happy homes, and fertility to the region.

Just hanging out in the senate building.

Emily walking through what used to be a pool.

Approximately half the agora

The small-ish amphitheater

Most of the reliefs and statues have been moved into a museum that is part of the tour to protect them from the elements. Copies stand in their place outside. The detail that can still be seen in the reliefs is very impressive. The number of statues that have been unearthed is quite high, and the museum is definitely worth a look.

These are those carvings they were talking about.

One additional note about Aphrodisias: it is one of the least defensible cities we have seen. It isn't build near the sea or on top of a hill. It isn't centrally located in relation to the rest of the state either. It became important because of its marble quarries. The region around Aphrodisias still produces most of Turkey's marble. Those marble quarries supplied a large swath of the Roman empire. Aphrodisias is a fun day trip for any historian or any NYU student. It is good to see where your money goes, I guess...

Artemis Yoruk Hotel - Pamukkale

The Artemis Yoruk is the very definition of a budget hotel. It isn't the cleanest, and it isn't the most well-kept, but it has a roof, four walls, and a bed. Each room even has its own bathroom. They also have an outdoor pool, a warm indoor pool, a sauna, a Turkish bath (that costs extra), and a place to get massages if you so choose (also extra). The breakfast is quite good. It was much better than the previous hotel we stayed in.

The beauty of the Artemis Yoruk is in its location. You can walk there from the exit of the travertines in less than ten minutes. The street it is on is lined with restaurants and bars. A surprising majority of them offered Korean food. We decided it was best not to give that a shot after our experience in Russia.

The only glaring point against the hotel is the fact that the city's mosque seems to be located in its backyard. Not that I have anything against mosques in general, but remember that Muslims pray five times a day. The first call to prayer is at 5:45AM. Neither of us knew that until we stayed at this hotel. It's actually a lovely sound any other time of day, but as a wake-up call, it would be much better around 8.

There is nothing terrible about the hotel, and there is nothing great about it. As long as you don't enter the hotel expecting a Hilton, you should be just fine.

Ice Age

**NOTE: We had some trouble uploading photos, so you can read about our adventure and we'll post more photos later.

On the 5^th day of our whirlwind journey through historic western Turkey, we arrived at Pamukkale in the afternoon after a 3 hour drive, yummy buffet lunch (with half-bottle of wine!), and a tour of an onyx carving workshop. Both of us were not sure what to expect from this location. We guessed it had to do with ruins (as our last 4 stops were all Greek and/or Roman ruins). Well, we got some ruins, but we also got something completely unexpected and fantastic.

The ruins at Pamukkale are the ancient city of Hieropolis. It was founded in 200BC and like every city went through Greek and Roman rule until an earthquake covered the city with dirt. Currently there is only a theater, bath, main street, necropolis (cemetery), and agora uncovered. There are some other stones that have been excavated but they look more like a pile of stones rather than something important. Our guide gave us a quick tour of the site, pointing out the main locations, took us to “Cleopatra's pool”, and finally the travertines. More on that later...

Looking into a sarcophagus

Our first look at the travertines.

Agora

When we arrived at the ruins we were were pretty underwhelmed. After seeing Pergamon, Priene, and Ephesus, these ruins were not exciting. The city was twice the size of Ephesus, but only half the population. The city also did not use aqueducts like most Roman cities; they relied on the warm water from underground springs to provide water.

This is why people come to Pamukkale – the warm, underground springs. The pool our guide took us to is a thermal spring that is 'good for health'. The water was a lovely 32.5 Celcius. Unfortunately, it's also 25 lira (about $18) to go swimming in it. We didn't have our bathing suits, so decided against it. In the summer, though, it's apparently packed with people lounging in the pool, on the deck, and at the cafes around the pool. If you don't want to pay for the pool, you can visit the travertines.

This part was by far the best of our Turkey trip. Pamukkale in Turkish means “Cotton Castle”, mainly because of it's color. The mountains outside of the village have a strange white color, because of calcium carbonate from the thermal springs. The water runs down the side of the mountain and leaves behind pools of chalk, warm water, and strange, white rock formations. You can take photos of it from the top (where the ruins of Hieropolis are), or you can take a walk in the pools and on the rocks as you descend the mountain.

Richard and I were staying in Pamukkale village for a night, so after our guided tour of Hieropolis, relaxing pool-side, and taking photos from the top of the mountain, we descended. The travertines are a UNESCO world heritage site, so you must take off your shoes and wade in the water in bare feet. On the top of the mountain, the water is warmest (almost the same temperature as the thermal spring pool). As the water runs down the mountain, it gets colder, and in some places where there is no water running at all, the rocks are ice cold. The silt from chalk and calcium deposits act as sand in the bottom of the pools, and it's all squishy when you walk in it!

Close up of what the travertines look like

Wading in the warm water pools

The water ran down the mountain in these channels

Kiss

A big channel and the side of the mountain

Hi Rich! The path from the top

The water continually runs down the mountain, shaping the white stones and creating pools, until it reaches a large lake at the base of the mountain. The water began forming the travertines around 14,000BC. If you go to Turkey and you manage to get out to this point, spend at least a day and night in this area to really enjoy Hieropolis, Cleopatra's pool, and most importantly the travertines!!