90 Days in Turkey Spring 2022

[Gaston aires]

The many different spellings for place names can be confusing, though Turkyie is the correct non English version

Early November we are going to Turkyie, Capadocia area visiting historic places. Not in our van however. The last few days in an hotel at Antalya for some well earned R and R.
Always loved the place.
Phil

 

[Ivory55]

Early November we are going to Turkyie, Capadocia area visiting historic places. Not in our van however. The last few days in an hotel at Antalya for some well earned R and R.
Always loved the place.
Phil

The exchange rate for turkey’s meant to be good, probably cheaper then driving there

 

[frwjd]

The exchange rate for turkey’s meant to be good, probably cheaper then driving there

Around 18 TL to a GBP
Diesel circa 80p/litre

 

[coroner]

Thank you for the very detailed info we are driving down to Fethyie early April coming back June taking car as wife needs a runabout for her and dog's while I fly back for work just had bloods back for pooches for animal export cert for Turkish Hoping to get a EU pet passport in Bulgeria or Romania on way down to save faffing around next time we will be staying at our holiday home

 

[Gaston aires]

The exchange rate for turkey’s meant to be good, probably cheaper then driving there

18/£1. Last time we went 2 years ago it was 10/£1
Phil

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[frwjd]

Day 96
Thursday 10th February
Good morning!
We never tire of these beautiful sunny starts to the day, sunshine all day and 12C today.
Today we're going to back track a little and visit Canakkale and will probably stay the night.
Tasks today are buy a data SIM for our Mifi, buy a pass for the Turkish road toll system and buy a months worth of medication with our prescriptions.
Nearly weekend, have a good day

Çanakkale - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Day 96
We woke to a beautiful blue sky and no clouds today. The leaves were barely stirring as the wind was so light and it actually felt just a touch warmer.
We're heading back to Canakkale today to get supplies and the Toll Pass that we've failed to get anywhere else. We're also low on LPG and very low on diesel!
The site owner strolls across while we're filling up the water tank to ask where we're going and to wish us a good journey. So does the camp dog, a gentle soul who, we're informed, strolled in a month ago and has stayed ever since. The other dog did the same thing - 4 years ago!
We chat and then I go and pay for the meal we had last night, soup with pasta in it and meatballs and a red cabbage and carrot salad - 175tl.
We're on our way by 10.50 and have to do the first about turn within 10 minutes! Once we were pointed in the right direction we head for the nearest garage, which luckily isn't too far away. The elderly attendant strolled over to us and a discussion was had about what we needed.
"Diesel" said John, "40 litres." The man queried this several times to be sure he'd understood the word "Diesel" correctly, but he didn't understand the "40 litres" part. John tried writing it on the palm of his hand - the man copied the movement on the black screen of the pump - then shrugged.
After several frustratingly unsuccessful attempts - I wrote it on my pad in big numbers and shoved it up against my closed window! He understood.
Next - the LPG/Autogas. Which, luckily, was easily understood. All seemed to be going well until suddenly, the alarm went off! It took John several attempts to get it to co-operate and while it was blaring away I was sitting looking through the front windscreen at a stream of goats - complete with goatherd - who were strolling across the garage forecourt in the direction of the toilet block!
It was one of those moments when you wonder if someone slipped something dodgy into your coffee!
John mastered the errant alarm and when I looked back the last goat was disappearing, with a flick of his tail! Surreal!
Back on the motorway, we passed one of the cardboard cut-outs of a Police car and Policeman that are put out to make people slow down. I'm unsure whether they work or not once you've seen one and realised it's not real! I suppose that if you get complacent about it then that's when you get caught out!
For the next several miles the scenery to both sides is a mix of olive groves and farmland, the whole area as far as the eye can see is flat. Then, to my left, a thin sliver of blue sea appears as we reach the sign telling us that Canakkale is in 20kms.
By the time we reach the "Canakkale 10km" sign, the strip of brilliant blue sea has widened dramatically and the olive groves and farmland have given way to a dense forest of high rise buildings topped with a mass of satellite dishes.
We get tantalising glimpses of sea now and then between the buildings and then start dropping down into the built up area leading into the town, eventually finding and parking up at a large car park with a sign telling us that it's "Troy Park".
I think it's rather like an "Arndale Centre" in UK. A shopping Mall with a diverse array of anything you may want, in shops of differing sizes. Our mission today is to get a Sim card for the Mifi. It has to be brought from a TurkCell outlet evidently.
The diverse array of shops don't have one! So, we take a walk into the town to hunt one down.
Our route took us through a park along the beach area where the Gallipoli defences (amongst others) were based. There's the remains of the old fort and various enormous cannons some of which, the information boards tell me, were commissioned in 1885.
We don't linger for long as the Sim card has to take priority, so head for the main shopping area. The shops here are diverse and many! Lots of UK brands are recognisable on the advertising boards and there are Turkish brands too.
We stop for a breather and a Cappuccino - or at least we tried! The waitress beamed at us but didn't understand. Everyone else around us was drinking tea - so we ordered 2 teas. Our explanation hadn't been as good as we thought as she brought us 2 teas, a glass of water and a Turkish coffee - and a beaming smile.
The cost was -81p in UK money!
We were perched on chairs that were the perfect height - if you were a child, but everyone else was sitting on them so we did too - carefully! The tea was absolutely delicious but the coffee too bitter for me.
We eventually find a branch of TurkCell with a sigh of relief!
Even better - the young assistant has a fair grasp of English and between that and the translated explanation that John had written out about what he needed, we eventually got the Sim!
The assistant also told us where to go for the Toll Pass that we needed - the building next to the Police Station - so off we went again. We found it ok - and were given a ticket denoting where we were in the queue. A Security Guard helpfully showed us to a notice on the wall to understand how to fill in the form necessary to purchase one.
Then John realised we needed a particular form relating to Dippy that he hadn't got with him! The V5. Our hearts sunk at the thought of having to go all the way back to Dippy and start from scratch again.
However - as luck would have it - it was in my backpack! With lots of other - stuff!
We'd lost our place in the numbered queue by this point so had to be given another ticket and start again. Eventually, it was our turn and we presented the form, the document, and the passport to verify who it was registered to.
The cost was £1 for the window sticker and then whatever amount you want to put on it. Every time you pass a Toll, it takes a sum out of your balance and you just keep it topped up. (I'm sure John can explain it better than me!)
On our way again, and John comes up with a route to a Chemist to try and get our next Prescription filled, just as I point across the road and say - Chemist! It actually said "Medical" but I could see the boxes of pills on the shelf through the window!
Crossing roads in Turkey is NOT for the faint-hearted! We took our lives in our hands and managed - somehow - not to get killed! John had again written out in Turkish an explanation about our prescription and it was all in our hands before you could say Jack Robinson!!
There was a little "discussion" via finger pointing and sign language about the dosage on some of them being different - so take half a tablet instead of a whole one etc. but it was as easy as it had been in Greece.
The cost - when John worked it out - came to 7p per tablet! Even cheaper than Greece.
We hustle back to Dippy and are horrified to realise that it's 6.30pm and the sun is setting. There's not time now to find somewhere discreet to stay overnight so - we're going to bed down in this incredibly busy carpark which is filling up as fast as it's emptying. John runs across to the supermarket to grab some essentials and makes sure I lock myself in safely.
Car doors are slamming, engines are revving, McDonald's is doing a booming trade in Burgers, motorbikes are zooming past and there's the tiniest glimpse of an orange sunset in the distance above where I THINK the beach is!
Hopefully, the Police will turn a blind eye to us and we can slip away in the morning without having upset anyone!

 

[frwjd]

Day 97
Friday 11th February
Good morning!
Yet another lovely start to the day, 11C forecast and no rain!
After the boy racers left soon after midnight this turned out to be a quiet ish stop.
We're going to stock up from the excellent MM Migros store next door then head to the archaeological site of Alexandria Troia then on to the Assos ruins at Dalyan. If we can find a suitable spot we'll stay there for a couple of nights.
The weekend starts here, hope it's a good one, what are your plans?

Day 97
I crawled into bed at 11.30 last night to the sounds of people chatting and loud music in the coffee shops. Cars were coming and going almost constantly...even when I woke at 3.30am it was busy.
I dozed off again and was woken up this morning by the alarm going off at 7.30. I peeped out of the window to find a tour bus and a couple of cars, but other than that all was quiet.
We needed to stock up on fresh food for at least a couple more days so had a quick breakfast and popped across to the shopping centre opposite.
We're still trying to get our heads around the different labels and packaging for foods here in Turkey so some of it was guess work, but we didn't do too badly
We'd had a young couple parked right next to DippyIII last night, and there'd been quiet talking and shuffling about, their car doors opening and shutting. We'd not taken much notice ...this is a car park after all!
However, as we reversed out I saw the local Driving School Instructor looking at me, shaking his head and tutting!
As we reversed further into the road I realised why and my jaw dropped!
The slight scraping sound I could hear was from an enormous cardboard box which had been shoved against Dippy's side!! Going by the picture on the side it had contained a full scale baby's pram!
It was big enough for John and I to both have climbed inside...with room to spare. In fact, we could also have had a three piece suite!
The instructor obviously thought it was our box and we were litter louts! Though what 2 OAPs would want with a pram is beyond me!
As we pulled away from the town the fields opened up, lots of them boggy and water logged.
The river responsible weaves along sluggishly, thick with mud, and a small herd of sheep graze on a mound of grass in the middle of it, completely unconcerned that they're cut off! For the moment at least!
Sat Nav Sally sends us down a road that narrows rapidly, with a canal to one side and a field of rocks to the other. We re-route onto a road that's wide enough for 3 cars...but is still under construction. However the construction team...and their tools and machinery...are nowhere to be seen!
We cautiously carry on and pass a field of cows, and then a boggy area where the cows are knee deep in mud and caked in it up to their shoulders. They look fed up and bedraggled and I am SO glad I'm not a cow!
We start to climb higher and eventually begin to see signs for Dalyan... destination in sight!
As we drop down the road narrows to only 1car width and the surface is terrible as we twist and turn for several miles with boggy marshlands to our left.
We pass dozens of derelict houses on the route and rows of new looking polytunnels. Sheep and goats are grazing everywhere as the road weaves left and right, up and down and then we see a sign for Iskelesi.
A sliver of beach is in sight along with tables and chairs and sun umbrellas. The signs advertising "Beach Hotel this" and "Beach Hotel that" are misleading as they're all shut!
A shepherd passes by with his flock and we see the first lambs in the field!! They're steady on their legs so probably a couple of weeks old.
(Yes, I used to watch Our Yorkshire Farm).
The road narrows again as we drop into Kosebere and pass tables of men drinking tea in the afternoon sunshine.
The road bends round to take us into Babadere and I realise that the red floor to the right side of us is actually the red roof if a house below the level of the road. A red squirrel dashes across the road in front of our wheels...we miss him!
Sally Sat Nav tells us to take the road to the right...which is a dirt track into an olive grove! So we ignore her, and 100 yards further on steam rises out of the rocks alongside the road... hot springs!!
We spot the signs for Apollon, our destination and turn in at the tethered donkey. No, that's NOT the name of a pub, it's a real donkey tethered at the side of the road, grazing.
Apollon is closed. And locked. So, we have a cappuccino while John re-routes the sat Nav.
While he's doing that, a man slowly drives past our window on a motorbike....leading an enormous herd of sheep! Some are very heavily pregnant and I sympathize as I watch them waddle down the road.
Off we go again, and soon pass a police car parked at the side of the road. One of the policemen waves a hand and I wave back...he grins and points us out to his partner.
The fields we weave through next are a mass of boulders, some have been heaved into circular structures with grass roofs. I assume they're used as stock shelters but they resemble prehistoric houses!
We're climbing again and to my left the land rapidly drops away in a series of steep terraces. The area is totally bereft of human habitation...and in the middle of it is...a football pitch!
Eventually, we come into a town that seems to consist of nothing but Boutique hotels, all closed. The road deteriorates dramatically and we turn round and go back, despondent.
Then ..we find Dalyan!
A beautiful harbour, a few restaurants and cafes with families sitting in the chilly afternoon sir, drinking tea and chatting.
I had to resort to taking the young lady waitress to a window and pointing to the washing up on an uncleared table to get her to understand I wanted a beer and a tea. Language barrier overcome we sat and decided...to stay!
This evening, we had a wonderful meal of fish and chips cooked by a man who showed us a photo of his Boss, a lady who has a fish and chip shop in England called The Fryer Tuck!!!
You couldn't make it up!!!

 

[frwjd]

Day 98
Saturday 12th February
Good morning!
It's already warming up here with a positively balmy 15C forecast
We've had our morning cuppa while watching the tiny fishing boats returning with their catches, this is a rustic but lovely little stop.
We're visiting the Alexandra Troias ruins later but nothing else planned apart from a return visit to last night's restaurant!
A few snaps of the harbour and restaurant.Day 98
Saturday 12th February
Good morning!
It's already warming up here with a positively balmy 15C forecast
We've had our morning cuppa while watching the tiny fishing boats returning with their catches, this is a rustic but lovely little stop.
We're visiting the Alexandra Troias ruins later but nothing else planned apart from a return visit to last night's restaurant!

Day 98
While we drank our coffees this morning a small blue boat chugged into the harbour. Within minutes a man has climbed up onto the quay with a black bin liner of fish, dripping a trail of water towards the restaurant...first catch of the day!
He's trailed by a line of cats and 2 leggy puppies, all sniffing the delightful aroma of what to them means breakfast!
Two other boats had left as he arrived and now appear on the stretch of sea the other side of the harbour wall, their wakes spreading out behind them like giant fans.
A couple of hours later several arrive back from early morning starts and moor up in front of us. The larger of them has 5 men on board, two of them are only teenagers and a proud Dad greets one with a big hug and a slap on the back that seems to say "Well-done, son."
The sky clouds over and the temperature drops as a consequence.
A cluster of cats converges on the boats and the fishermen throw them small fish to keep them from underfoot.
They dart away to gobble them down before another cat can steal them. The dogs try to muscle in but are no match for drawn claws...so they sit on their haunches with a humph!
Other boats arrive and there's a bit of jiggling for position at the quay as the buyers go from boat to boat, haggling over the prices.
We pop down for a closer look and watch as the trays of different fish are laid out, there's even a small lobster!
Some of the buyers have their phones to their ears, we assume they're matching supply to demand and haggling prices for the best deal.
One captain stands there with a quiet smile on his face, arms folded across his chest as he shakes his head at what he's being offered! He's wearing a wet suit with a fleece jacket over it
We'd seen 6 polystyrene trays of fish unloaded from his boat. There were also at least 2 fish between 3-4 feet long....small sharks maybe? How did they catch them in the net?
Behind him, his crew are dipping containers in the sea on the Port side (that's the left, to us landlubbers!) and washing the decks, scrubbing away with a broom.
The deal is struck and the containers handed over. He disappears into the cabin and then reappears carrying a pair of flippers...is that how the small sharks were caught?
A yellow fishing boat catches my eye as it passes... it's towing a grey fishing boat with a length of bright red rope...the grey fishing boat is towing a dinghy, which in turn is towing what appears to be a long length of net at least twice it's length? I have no idea why? It's like a Fishing Conga Line!
Answers on a postcard please! Or a post at least!
We set of for Alexandria Troias, passing through olive groves to both sides of us. Despite it being Saturday the workers are all busy, tractors going in both directions, one man has his wife sat on the trailer behind him...on a mound of branches and cuttings!
The city of Alexandria Troias was founded in 301BC and was in line to become the capital, but Emperor Constantine chose Constantinople instead.
It's decline was inevitable and in the 4C AD it was turned over to retired Roman Soldiers, as the land was fertile so could give them a living. The information boards tell us this and that it covers 990 acres of ground. ..that's a very big retirement home!
In the 16th and 17th centuries a lot of the masonry etc was robbed to provide building materials, especially for mosques in Istanbul.
Now..you can look through any patch of olive trees and see fallen masonry, arches, parts of columns, the same with the surrounding farmland.
The site is still undergoing excavation and parts of it are under metal cageing...you can look, but not touch. Some of the sections of portico have intricate carvings of cherubs holding swags of foliage.
There are sections of walls and columns, some intricately decorated and the fallen sections look like the bleached skeleton of a giant whale. Some herringbone brickwork forming one wall really stands out as it's so different.
I looked at 2 giant wooden "fans" in one wall...then realised the spokes were actually the walls of an ancient wooden bridge running left to right! Wow!
The security guard arrives as we're leaving, the site is ungated and free entry and we know there's another section along the road so off we go.
The next site has a run of 6ft high arches, blocked as if they might have been containers/stores...if you imagine wooden doors across them.
Further in there are two high arches of a bridge possibly 25 feet above me. They've been reinforced with metal sections to make them safe.
Tumbled masonry is everywhere and it's difficult walking...however, I decide to climb onto one of the large blocks...about 12ish ft off the ground...just so I can say that I stood on the walls of Troy to watch for the enemy approaching!
There's the enemy approaching...oh no it's not, it's 2 tourists!
I scramble down and head for the Nymphaenium and Bath House, which is so overgrown with trees and thorn bushes protruding out if the building site of fallen rocks and masonry that it's not safe, so I retreat.
We head back to Dalyon having decided that 900 acres was beyond us, but every field we look into has more and more evidence of the ruins of what was an enormous site in its day.
The last of the afternoon is spent watching the boats come and go and then eating some of today's catch at the restaurant this evening... delicious.

Dalyan, the view from our pitch

 

[125BEER]

Great blog.....keep it up

 

[frwjd]

In Turkey the alcohol limit in a breathalyser test is 0, nothing, zilch!

Precriptions
We came away with 3 months worth of prescribed medications, a total of 1008 pills between us! We also have another prescription for 3 months. When we get our prescriptions in the UK the package includes a copy of everything prescribed so we brought a few of those with us. The process is simple enough, go to a pharmacy explain that you are from the UK and are travelling and please would they fulfil our prescriptions, take your passport and acknowledge that you will pay. Google translate is your friend
In Greece the average cost was 17p per pill but in Turkey only 7p each.

In a cafe we had 2 glasses of tea, a Turkish coffee and a free bottle of water, total cost 81p

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[Graham Mew]

Greetings all

Wendy and I left the UK in Dippy III, our 2008 Rapido 7099F, on 7th November 2021 and have driven via the Balkans to Turkey where we arrived a week ago on February 7th 2022.

We have learned so much from this forum and there aren't a lot of Turkey travel posts about so I thought I'd create a post for the mutual benefit of anyone interested in coming this way and getting out of Schengen for 90 days. Like France, Turkey also offers a 12 month visa but I haven't properly investigated either yet.

We have a FB page Travels on a State Pension that covers the whole trip. Typically I post a brief note in the mornings which outlines our plans for the day and Wendy posts a warts and all rerview of our day every evening. If there's any interest and you don't do FB I could copy and paste those on here. We are certainly not seasoned camper travellers and, with a combined age of 137, we aren't the quickest at learning new tricks.

People travelling from the UK do not currently need a visa to visit Turkey for periods of 90 days or less.
Covid rules and regulations change almost daily so you should always check the current rules. In our case we have been fully jabbed with the third vaccination on 31/10/2021 and we had completed the obligatory Passenger Locator Forms.

We crossed from Greece into Turkey at Ipsala and the whole procedure lasted 35 minutes.
Window 1 - we were waved straight through
Window 2 - we showed our passports and they wanted to look inside the van, he just stood outside and peered through the open door! We were asked how much alcohol and tobacco we had and if we were carrying anything illegal. He asked to see all the alcohol I had mentioned and while I was away from the door retreiving it he asked Wendy for suitcases as he wanted to look inside those. She opened the wardrobe door and he just shrugged and walked away. We were asked to get out of the van and had our photographs taken from a camera on a fixed pole. We are both quite small but still had to crouch down for the lens
Window 3 - We had to show our V5 and insurance green card.
Window 4 - we had all our covid related stuff ready to hand over but they didn't ask. They pointed in the direction of a large buiding 50 yards away and said GO then comeback! The building turned out to house their vehicle xray equipment, they took our documents waved us through to the xray and asked us to leave the vehicle and take with us "cat and dogs". Duly x-rayed we parked up and returned to window 4 as requested where an officer just shouted GO at us so off we toddled.

In general the roads have been excellent, better than the UK, but there are still places where a good road peters out into a dirt track before reverting to tarmac again. The driving has been easy enough, other drivers are more polite than the Balkan countries. A word of warning though for all countries South of Slovenia, they take left hand bends with at least two wheels on the wrong side of the road and don't hurry to get out of the way when they see another vehicle coming towards them!

Garages are plentiful and modern with diesel between 80p and 88p per litre while LPG pumps charge around 43p per litre.
We plan to spend most of our time off-grid but there are far fewer places at the side of the road to overnight in. They are careful to ensure any rain can easily drain away from the road so there are often gullies running the length on each side. Stopping places on major routes are few and far between too.

When parking for the night we are very discreet, no camping and all blinds up and ensure our spot isn't obstructing anyone. We've stayed by a beach and on a quayside and the police haven't been interested in us at all. Officially so called "wild" camping is illegal in Turkey.
Their carriageways seem to be a little wider than ours.
The people are incredibly friendly!

That's it for now and I'm not sure which is the best way to report our travels and/or answer any questions you may have.
I don't want to clog the board up with all our daily posts unless there is a demand for it and you can follow our trip on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TravelsonaStatePension

We are also very keen to hear from others who have visited Turkey, all hints, tips and suggestions of places to visit are welcome!

Check out John and Mandy on YouTube, they are in Turkey now.

 

[Johnhc]

Spent some time in Turkey back in the late 70s on route to/from Nepal. Fabulous time but very different from today by the sounds of it. Roads then were dreadful very few were tarred, not even the Asian Highway so bone rattling corrugations for mile after mile. People were so friendly and we often woke to find baskets of food outside the van. Took in many of the sights going east but on return drove up to Trabzon on the Black Sea and put the van on a ship to Istanbul had to be craned on but we were able to live in the van on deck for the 4 day journey, it cost £28 for two of us and the van. For anyone travelling in Turkey you must go on the ferry from Istanbul to the start of the Black Sea, costs pennies (might be more now though) and fantastic fish restaurants at the halfway point. I’m following your thread with interest as I’m hopefully going to take the current van in the next couple of years, before my body falls apart. Have a good time and enjoy.

 

[Mad dog]

Great write up, thanks very much Are Turkey OK with allowing dogs in? Is there a limit on the amount of alcohol you can take in? I know you aren't supposed to take any into Morocco, but we did previously & glad we did - not easy to buy it!

 

[frwjd]

Spent some time in Turkey back in the late 70s on route to/from Nepal. Fabulous time but very different from today by the sounds of it. Roads then were dreadful very few were tarred, not even the Asian Highway so bone rattling corrugations for mile after mile. People were so friendly and we often woke to find baskets of food outside the van. Took in many of the sights going east but on return drove up to Trabzon on the Black Sea and put the van on a ship to Istanbul had to be craned on but we were able to live in the van on deck for the 4 day journey, it cost £28 for two of us and the van. For anyone travelling in Turkey you must go on the ferry from Istanbul to the start of the Black Sea, costs pennies (might be more now though) and fantastic fish restaurants at the halfway point. I’m following your thread with interest as I’m hopefully going to take the current van in the next couple of years, before my body falls apart. Have a good time and enjoy.

Hope you do get back here, it is an amazing place still.
In 1976 I packed my job in and travelled to Greece, best thing I ever did, they can't take our memories away

 

[frwjd]

Great write up, thanks very much Are Turkey OK with allowing dogs in? Is there a limit on the amount of alcohol you can take in? I know you aren't supposed to take any into Morocco, but we did previously & glad we did - not easy to buy it!

Had no problem buying beer, wine, raki

Regulations change constantly but I found the following -

Turkey customs regulations and import restrictions

There is no import tax for 200 cigarettes, 5 cigarillos (up to 3 grams each), 50 cigars, 200 grams of tobacco, 50 grams of chewing tobacco, 200 grams of wate-pipe tobacco, 200 grams of snuff tobacco. The Turkey alcohol import limit is 1 bottle of 1 liter or two bottle of 750 ml of wine or spirits (for travellers aged 18 and over). According to Turkey import regulations you can bring 5 bottles of perfume (up to 120 ml each) and medication for personal use. If you exceed the free import limit then your alcohol or tobacco products will be taken to airport storage that you can take back upon your departure from Turkey (airport of arrival and departure should be the same) during next 3 month and storage fee should be paid. There is no export tax for two kgs or 3 cartoons of local tobacco products, 5 kgs of alcoholic beverages, gift articles up to value of 5,000 TL. Antiquity is also one of completely Turkey prohibited items to export, as for new carpets, a proof of purchase is required.

Turkey Pet Passport - Current Dog and Cat Import Requirements

Your Turkey pet cat or dog passport will need to include proof of a pet microchip, rabies vaccination or blood titer test and an veterinary certificate for Turkey. Find out what you need to do on PetTravel.com.

www.pettravel.com

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[chrisandbev]

thanks for your posts

 

[GoldenVision]

Very informative, thank you. Please keep them coming!

 

[Malcolm Bolt]

Marvellous. Please continue to post about your adventures.

 

[frwjd]

Day 99
Sunday 13th February
Good morning!
It's been a wild and windy night and I'm talking of outside the van!
The forecast for today is cloudy and just 9C
We're leaving this beautiful spot in Dalyan and heading south to Buryaniye today, it's only a couple of hours away, another day another beach.
Enjoy your day!

Altincamp.com - About us

www.altincamp.com

Day 99
Last night was incredibly rough! The wind shook us all night long and outside there were various sounds of things being blown and battered about. The dogs were howling and barking at the rough weather and the cats were yowling at the dogs barking!
This morning was still very windy and the grey skies were almost indistinguishable from the grey sea. A line of tankers were on the furthest horizon - just smudges of a darker grey.
An elderly lady battled her way against the wind as she came to the harbour and sat on a bench, her hand gripping her headscarf to stop it being blown away. She didn't stay long, just long enough to put some food down for the cats, who abandoned their search of the bins and congregated round her legs instead.
The local dogs sat back and watched enviously - all except the little dog with Corgi-short legs! He had continuously sneaked into the restaurant last night via the electronic sensor in the door!
He'd been ushered out repeatedly, but gently. However, he followed hard on the heels of every new customer who came in - but always went to one table in particular. The group of 5 men at that table had been feeding him tiny morsels from their plates so he knew he was onto a good thing!
After the umpteenth failed ejection, the waiter got the broom and gently swept him along the floor to the exit - and outside! We were both laughing at the sight of this - as were the other customers. There were 28 men and 4 women at it's busiest - women were definitely in the minority, but still outnumbered the dog!
We sat and had a quick breakfast as the first bus left the car park. There have usually been 3 local buses here at any given time. The timetable appears to say they're every 3 hours so long enough to get to a different town for shopping and back as long as you keep an eye on the time.
Cars start to arrive ready for the returning fishing boats with their morning's catch and a faint pink tinge appears on the cliffs in the far distance as the clouds start to thin out.
A cat has decided to investigate Dippy's wing mirror and is sitting there admiring itself. John shoos at it from inside but it gives him an inscrutable look and ignores him! At my suggestion, he turns on the wipers and shoots a jet of water at it - it moves - in it's own good time!
As we fire up Dippy and slowly exit Dalyan there's a man chopping logs for the restaurant ahead of us, the one where we had a beer and coffee when we first arrived. We pass the main centre and on the outskirts there are several dinghies upside down on the grass - the name painted on one of them is Laz Cazcada! A close copy of the name of a restaurant back in Ingleton, where John used to live and where we both had many a good meal!
Our route winds yet again through olive groves to both sides and I glimpse oddments of ruined structures similar to yesterdays finds around Alexandria Troias. It brings it home yet again that the groves are probably planted on the bones of similar origins, as Turkey has traded in olive oil for centuries!
The flocks of sheep we pass now have considerably more lambs with them and the first herd of cows we see has a few calves, with very muddy, shaggy hides.
High to my left, my attention is caught by 30 or so goats grazing amongst yet more ruins, set out in a pattern of a structured large building and with a high tower to one end.
We 've been travelling on the D550 and the road has been very good up to this point and a joy to travel on - then we approach where a tunnel goes under the mountain but our road veers to the right and reverts to wildly swinging left and right to avoid large potholes!
We sweep down and to our right, under towering pine trees where we pass construction machinery on the roadway and men with hard hats and theodolites - possibly a road widening scheme?
There are tantalising glimpses of the sea as each turn takes us ever downward - I hadn't realised how far up we were! As we level out the scenery changes to a large residential area, quite run down and empty looking.
We pass an elderly lady trudging slowly along the side of the road, her left hand eases her back as her right hand grasps her walking stick. I hope she's nearly home!
The beach road takes us along a series of drab, run down and empty hotels and businesses. The houses here are big and expensive looking - the two opposites are quite incongruous. There are a mass of children's water/theme parks but of course they're closed as it's still out of season.
The beach disappears from view and turns into an industrial and commercial area - the name of the town pops up on a sign and just as quickly is followed by a "you are leaving....." sign. This theme continues for several miles and I hardly have time to log each name on my notepad before it's swopped for the next one as they blend seamlessly together! Baltesir, Altenick, Gure, Zeytinli - I give up! I know I missed some!
Ahead of us is a bus stop and the people sitting there jump up, hug, kiss - raise their hand... as we sail past! They thought we were a bus! (this has happened before!) The next few hundred yards it happens 9 times - we hate to disappoint them but - we're NOT a Bus! John tells me it's because we're based on a Fiat Ducatto - same as - a Bus!!
We get tantalising glimpses of the sea now and then between buildings so we know we're on the right track!
We reach Camp Altin, our destination, in record time and are greeted by the site manager, who takes our passports to photocopy but doesn't need our CV status.
He quotes us 184TL per night which is with electric and 14TL per wash for Laundry. We're shown to a pitch facing the sea - the beach is 2 metres from us!
The showers and toilets are open - but chilly! The restaurant is closed, as is the tennis and table tennis - a disappointment for John as he's a dab hand at table tennis!
The 2 washing machines are elderly (one of them may or may not be a Dryer rather than Washer, only time and experimenting will tell!) and the instructions re in Turkish of course but I'll worry about that tomorrow!
We take a short walk along a beautiful but narrow stretch of sandy beach littered with small stones and some pretty shells to find the several restaurants and bars that are supposed to still be open - but they're not! Disappointing - but not the end of the world!

 

[frwjd]

Day 100 !
Monday 14th February
Good morning
Happy Valentine's Day or, as they say in Turkey Sevgililer Günü.
It's a chilly but lovely morning and today's forecast is partial cloud, dry and 11C. Even better is that the air is still, no icy wind, yet.
Chores for today are doing the washing and stringing our line up followed by shopping for basics.
Perhaps we'll have a walk along the beach looking at the restaurants to determine if we will be dining out tonight.

Day 100
Having tried - and failed - to buy a Valentine’s Card during last week, I set up a musical eCard to be delivered to John instead! Ukelele music at 8.45am isn’t exactly romantic – however Valentines Day had actually started with a Bang just after midnight! Before you shudder and stop reading – it was actually 4 gunshots very close by to us!
We’re hoping it was someone after rabbits rather than Cupid!
I sat with my coffee and watched out of Dippy’s windscreen as the clouds overhead started to clear and the sweep of coastline to my left began to be washed in a soft glow of sunshine. It’s colder than I realise though! The entire sweep of this bay is hotels and beach camps, as we saw yesterday. I can imagine that they do a roaring trade in Summer!
As I’m watching the changes a lone seagull swoops down and struts about on the shoreline, picking up and discarding objects in the sand. He suddenly swoops forward and pecks fiercely at something in the water and an indignant small black cormorant rears angrily from beneath the waves! The seagull flaps hastily away with a squawk that seems to say “Oops. Sorry! My mistake, I thought you were a fish!”
After a leisurely breakfast we took 2 loads of washing over to the laundry – shed? It’s a concrete/brieze block unit with 2 very elderly washing machines inside and a huge metal drum whose purpose escapes us! The steps to enter are very high and I have short legs! I managed it – with John’s help. We had a go at understanding the Turkish instructions and got the machine working more by luck than judgement. One machine was in use already so we popped one load in and set off for the shops.
The roads have been a mix of very good – and awful! You can’t really call them pot-holes – they seem to more resemble a ditch instead! We swerve round most of them but some are camouflaged so well with the road that it’s sometimes too late and you just have to grit your teeth!
We’re trying to get to the large Migros shop – Sally Sat Nav takes us down totally inappropriate roads for our size, despite knowing that we’re too big! We re-route so many times that it’s become a farce – really isn’t funny at all!
The lightening of the situation – for me, at least – is the sight of a little black motor scooter with Dad driving, Mum perched on the seat behind him – and daughter sandwiched between their 2 bodies! Not too funny – until you realise that crouched precariously between Dad’s legs is a little boy, clinging to Dad’s trousers for dear life! Health and Safety – doesn’t seem to exist here!
We pass one of the cardboard cutouts of a Police car that’s supposed to be there to slow the traffic up– but someone has stolen the Policeman that usually stands next to it! I wonder if it’s being held to ransom!
The busy road is undergoing road repairs on both sides and confusion reigns as we try to work out the signs that are telling us we CAN turn right when another sign tells us we CAN’T turn right. The pedestrians cross the roads with lots of hesitation and their life in their hands as no-one seems certain of what’s what! There doesn’t appear to be much adhering to rules at times, and we’ve often had horns tooted at us when we stop at red traffic lights and even had one car drive around us to carry on going!
The narrow canal to my left is full of boats in all shapes, sizes...and conditions! A couple have half sunk and only the fact that they’re tethered to the bank has kept them above water. The fields and wasteground we pass are still very waterlogged and there are sand bags in places. There’s also a lot of litter – such a shame.
John has turned off the Sat Nav ages ago by now! He finds the Migros shop and a Carrefour as well! We head into the Carrefour as we can see that we fit, whereas the Migros is just enough out of sight for us not to risk it. Having parked up, I decide to stay with Dippy. I’m surplus to requirements for the shopping as John has it all under control and I’m uneasy at the sight of a few young men smoking and lounging around the car park– just chatting and using their phones, but I’m happier staying with her.
My hesitation is justified when after about 20 minutes, I watch in the mirror as 2 teenagers walk closely up the side of her and peer into my window! I laugh at the look on their faces as they realise I’m right there! They walk quickly over to the group of lads and chat, then disperse.
John comes back laden with bags and we set off to the Migros as he hasn’t been able to get the veggies he wanted. He parks up and I again stay – just in case. After a few minutes, a lady of about my age stops at the front of Dippy and rests her hand on the bonnet. She’s breathing heavily and doesn’t look very well and I’m just considering getting out to see if she’s ok when she realises I’m there. She jumps and her hand goes to her mouth. She gabbles what I assume is a profuse apology and hurries away.
We’re soon on our way back and I’m impressed by the vast array of different shops along our route. There seems to be everything you could ever need all in the space of just a coupe of miles. There’s a big media/electrical outlet too and I’ve asked John if we can pop in sometime before we leave to see what they have and take a look at the prices. You’ll have seen by our posts that things are a lot cheaper than we would pay in UK.
We’re soon back and rescue the washing and reload the machine (twice)! There aren’t any dryers so it’s hung out for the sea breeze to dry but it looks as though we will have to stay another day to get it all dry enough to put away. There aren’t many people on this site so all’s quiet and peaceful – we wonder how busy it gets in Summer!
The site internet connection is really struggling to cope and this post has taken a lot longer than I’d have liked! With an influx of Summer visitors it can only get worse!
I’m also trying to load photos – and an attempt at a short video! However it’s really struggling. I’ll keep trying though! Videos aren’t something I’ve posted before so you may have to bear with me while I adjust to what I need to do
John made a delicious meat casserole with fondant potatoes for dinner tonight – it was delicious!

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[frwjd]

Day 101
Tuesday 15th February
Good morning!
A clear blue sky all the way here and forecast to remain all day, that should get the washing dry! 12C.
Not much planned today but if the washing is dry early enough I might just give Dippy a wash.
Have a good day!

Day 101
The washing wasn't dry enough to bring inside so we've unexpectedly had to stay another day!
Wet washing is an ongoing problem unfortunately when you’re long term travelling. If it was tourist season then more sites would be open - with laundry facilities. Not all sites have dryers though, and not all sites are happy with people stringing a washing line up so the problem changes but doesn’t go away.
It’s the same with Toilets and Showers, some are open and some not. If the weather was warmer and you’re near the beach then a swim in the sea is a good alternative to a shower – as long as you can wash the salt water from your hair! Sometimes, the sea can be warmer than the shower block too!
Off Grid camping is ok – but would be a lot easier if you didn’t have to update your Facebook page daily! Once your laptop/phone battery dies or you have no signal then it becomes a problem. Water can be replenished at a garage or possibly even the local Pub/Cafe will fill a container for you at a pinch – but an internet connection is harder to find!
The language barrier hasn’t been too much of a problem up to this point. Google Translate has been a big help. We’ve even surmounted the problem of getting our prescriptions filled – so far!
The upside has been the people we’ve met on our journey over the last 101 days. Not just the ones we’ve met physically – like the lovely Mary, at Parkopolis in Athens. Mama Sofia, at New Triton Camping and Maria, at Camping Alexandros but also – YOU - the people who follow our Facebook page and encourage us with your comments and suggestions and of course your use of the LIKE button!
This was a BIG adventure for us to undertake at our age. However, the memories we’ve made will be with us for the rest of our days! So we both want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you. We hope you’ll stay with us to the end of our journey – no matter how long it may take, and continue enjoying the posts, and the photos, and spread the word amongst your friends.
More than anything – we hope that some of you may find inspiration in our adventure and follow suit.
Don’t die without embracing the daring adventure
your life was meant to be.
Watch this space for some attempts at posting videos! Don't judge me too harshly - I'm still learning this bit!!

 

[frwjd]

I'll post todays comments as soon as Wendy has finished them then we are up to date
Turkey is 3 hours ahead of UK time

For dinner we went to a local restaurant, 2 x beef meatballs with chilli chips, a small salad and two cokes. They were small portions with 2 big hunks of bread, total cost? £4.96!!

 

[gus-lopez]

18/£1. Last time we went 2 years ago it was 10/£1
Phil

When I went in sept/october 1997 it was 300,000TL= £ Retruning the following year in summer the wife exchanged £500 fro TL's at our bank. Should have checked ,needed a carrier bag at 1,800,000TL= £

Turkey Pet Passport - Current Dog and Cat Import Requirements

Your Turkey pet cat or dog passport will need to include proof of a pet microchip, rabies vaccination or blood titer test and an veterinary certificate for Turkey. Find out what you need to do on PetTravel.com.

www.pettravel.com

Handy to know, for UK residents mainly, that the 3 year rabies jab is not acceptable in Turkey although if it has been under 1 year from vaccination it appears to be ok.

I was also surprised bythe amount of lads working in shops ,market stalls .etc, that were Uk born & residents & mainly lived around Sheffield ,who flew out to work for there cousins in the tourist season.

Thanks for the postings it has been a great read & insight in to travelling to Turkey with the van.

 

[frwjd]

Day 102
Wednesday 16th February
Good morning!
A bit of a grey start but we're due a warm spell, 14C today, rising to 16C for the rest of the week.
We've had a lazy couple of days but are back on the road today, a short drive to Ayvalik.
Have a good day!

Ayvalık - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Day 102
Our last day on Camp Antic - time to move on.
The sea was silver this morning, no reflection of sky to turn it blue. It was dead calm with a soft haze settled across the reach of it and the only ripples were made by 5 Cormorants floating serenely just off the beach.
One of them bobbed suddenly below the surface and the movement left ever widening rings of bright water spreading out from where he'd disappeared. The others took no notice and carried on with their stately procession towards the rocks.
We had breakfast and broke camp as the sun started to clear the haze away. At reception, the manager made the bill up and asked me for "the photograph?" When I looked puzzled he asked again - this time adding the word electric - we were supposed to have taken a photo of the electric meter as we'd be charged by usage!
His lack of English and my lack of Turkish had meant that this hadn't registered when we arrived! He hopped onto his scooter and shot back to our pitch, returning triumphantly with the photo, which he showed me. (It meant nothing to me but I just nodded and agreed with him!"
The total for 3 nights - including 3 loads of washing machine usage, came to 684 TL (£37.62,) The electric had only cost 24 TL. of that!
The air is heavy with the smell of wood smoke from the olive groves as we set off for Ayvalik and it drifts lazily across the roads, obscuring our view, although this doesn't slow the traffic!
The trees to my right are thick trunked gnarled veterans and goats are grazing around the twisted trunks, the goatherd leaning on his stick as he watched them.
At about the halfway part of one long grove there's a tumbledown, red brick, 2 storey building with chickens pecking in the dirt around it. A pen of geese are flapping and complaining to one side of the building while to the other a rusty red tractor sits forlornly on the grass, one wheel missing and weeds growing up it.
We pause at the traffic lights - in Turkey, many of them have a countdown of 30 seconds under the lights themselves. An extremely good idea in my opinion - for pedestrians as well as drivers. To our right is a tiny, red, 3 wheeled car - he darts away with 4 seconds still to go -cheeky thing!!
We find Ayvalik and decide it's a lot more modern than we thought it was going to be, it's also incredibly busy and there's nowhere for something our size to park safely.
Setting off again we drive over the sea bridge to an island, with Lesbos to our right but still no parking anywhere, so over a 2nd bridge to the next small island and have a drive around there too. Apart from yet more olive groves we can't find anywhere suitable at all so have to retrace our steps. We do see several windmills though - wasn't expecting that!
We pull into a layby alongside the beach and sit to have a crafty coffee while we re-route - under the sign that says no parking for Campervans or camping for tents! Unfortunately - the milk we bought yesterday turned out to be yogourt - and curdled in the hot water so no coffee!
The setting is stunning alongside the beach, which is only a small sliver of stones at this section, but has lots of benches along the promenade to just sit and enjoy the view across the sea - which is lovely!
A scrap metal merchant in a truck full of twisted metal comes along the road, bellowing through his loudspeaker to announce his presence " Bring out your scrap!" The only thing that runs through my head, is when we learned about The Plague in History - "Bring out your dead!" I can't help giggling!
John has found directions for our new destination - the Ancient City of Bergama. We head off and pass industrial units, retail outlets, and derelict houses and hotels.
A tip up truck is offloading building rubble in a great cloud of dust. A mile further on is an architectural reclamation company, with piles of wooden beams, bricks, slabs, tiles, statues and wooden doors.
Further on the scenery changes to fields growing strawberries and rows and rows of polytunnels and several very large cemeteries. We roll into Bergamon and pass goats grazing almost on the steps of a large Mosque.
The men drinking tea in the pavement cafes stare as we rock and roll past them on the fiercely cobbled streets looking for the large carpark. When we find it - it appears to be a huge piece of wasteland with some large tip up trucks parked on it and more goats! Could be a noisy night!
Having parked up, we wander into town in search of an ATM and a Bar. A man sitting at the pavement suddenly asks us where we're from and nods when we tell him England. He passes that information on to his friend next to him as John asks where can he get a Beer?
The man doesn't know - neither does his friend. Another, older man joins us and is drawn into the conversation - which goes on for some minutes, then - result! "A long way!" is the answer!!
With a sigh of resignation we wander over to the banner that announces it is a Bazaar. The parade of shops is only half open and most of those that ARE open seem to sell gold jewellery, handbags or rugs. On the return journey though - we see Georgios's cousin! I'm sure you all remember the tale of "Gorgeous Georgios" from a few days back - see the photos for the one of his "cousin"!
The walk along the road is tricky - the roads are mostly cobblestones and have bits missing or raised - or dipped! Quite treacherous underfoot. We return to Dippy to get settled before looking for an evening meal and find we have new neighbours in the car park.
Several construction vehicles have pulled in, and a coach, and soon a small campervan rolls in too. A man who was under the bonnet of his car when we went out, is still there, mending something or other.
Passers-by wander over and chat to him, possibly offer help - he shakes his head at them and carries on. Eventually, he puts the tools back in the boot, closes the bonnet and reverses a few yards - then stops.
He gets out and looks around the ground where he'd been working, scuffs the ground with his boot. Then he pats his pockets - but doesn't find whatever is lost!. Then he opens the bonnet, picks something up from inside and puts it in his jacket - and drives off!
Entertainment over, we head out to find food and end up at a small cafe eating meatballs and chips and drinking coca cola. Very basic but not at all bad! £4.96p in English money! (for the 2 of us!)
It's John's birthday tomorrow, and we're going to spend it exploring the Acropolis and the other ruins around us. The Acropolis is on the top of an enormous hill so as the roads are too narrow for Dippy and too steep for our ancient knees - we'll take a taxi!

 

[Gaston aires]

When I went in sept/october 1997 it was 300,000TL= £ Retruning the following year in summer the wife exchanged £500 fro TL's at our bank. Should have checked ,needed a carrier bag at 1,800,000TL= £

Handy to know, for UK residents mainly, that the 3 year rabies jab is not acceptable in Turkey although if it has been under 1 year from vaccination it appears to be ok.

I was also surprised bythe amount of lads working in shops ,market stalls .etc, that were Uk born & residents & mainly lived around Sheffield ,who flew out to work for there cousins in the tourist season.

Thanks for the postings it has been a great read & insight in to travelling to Turkey with the van.

Most of the Turks living in the U.K. started from my old manor, North London. They along with Greeks and Cypriots came in around the late 50s.
Great bunch and the food was amazing.
Phil

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[frwjd]

Yes, I love food from all around the Mediterranean

 

[Mike Rivers]

Excellent post and thread. It’s posts like these that turn dreams into reality. A wealth of practical information changes your mindset from “too difficult, best stick with UK” to “well if they can do it, why not?” so best of luck and all that. ‘Fortune favours the brave!’.

 

[canopus]

Yes, I love food from all around the Mediterranean

Be careful on some foods. İşkembe Çorbası is tripe soup which Turks swear by after a night drinking Rakı. I like to describe it as ‘farmyard soup‘ it stinks and is made from other offal as well as tripe. They say it sobers you up, it made me ‘throw up’.

Another much loved dish is lahmacun, which is a delicious thin crunchy flat bread made from semolina dough and served with a thin covering of spicy minced lamb and tomtato. Sometimes called Turkish pizza.

 

[SOOZANDIAN]

Excellent information & will have a look at your FB blog . Thanks for sharing

 

[AlandSue]

Thanks for a great post , you make such vivid pictures for us , please keep it up .

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