Destination: Turkey

[justginger]

DH and I spent 17 days in Turkey this year.

We flew with Turkish Airlines to Izmir via Istanbul -- would NOT recommend them, lost luggage and massive delays. Perhaps just an isolated bad experience with an airline that has a fairly decent reputation.

Our itinerary was:

Overnight in Selcuk

Ephesus:







Train ride and mini bus transfer to Pamukkale:





Bus from Pamukkale to Olu Deniz:





Bus to Kas:





Bus, daytime AND overnight, to Goreme, Cappadocia:











Flight to Istanbul:










17 days seems very short when it's compressed to a few words and photos!

 

[Octavia]

JG, I'm surprised at your bad experience with Turkish Air -- I have flown the JFK-Istanbul route many times and have had nothing but good experiences. Domestic routes in Turkey, too. I'm sorry you got so unlucky with your flight!

Your pics are gorgeous, and I'm so jealous that you traveled more of the country in 17 days than I have in my half-dozen trips there. I'm FINALLY going to see Ephasus this fall, and am very excited about that. When I'm on my home computer, I will come back to this thread with some of my photos, recommendations, etc!

 

[justginger]

Octavia, we met a lot of people who were surprised by our bad experience with Turkish Air, so it seems that it has a good reputation. However, most telling for us was our experience in the lost baggage office - an ENTIRE FLIGHT from Chicago had no bags. Not a single one of the passengers received their suitcase. Apparently their luggage was loaded on to another plane by accident. What a disaster!

Please do upload your photos and experiences! This was a whirlwind trip; we tried to touch on the spots we found most appealing, despite the long distances between them. It was our first trip to Turkey and we hope to return, so it was sort of a reconnaissance mission. I really loved the Cappadocia region, though the Turkish people were extremely friendly everywhere we went. We were a bit overwhelmed by the mass tourism of Oludeniz - it seems that Americans have Cancun, Australians have Bali, and the British have Oludeniz! There were lots of overheard conversations that suggested people returned to the exact same places (hotels, restaurants, salons) year after year. Definitely not my style, but they were all happy as pigs in poo, so there's something to be said about that.