Turkey package holiday

Hi All,

I have decided on the easy and cheap option of a package holiday at the
beginning of October (see thread "Advice on a european package or
driving holiday"). It seems turkey is by far the cheapest, so that is
where I shall go (probably around 150 GBP per person). I would be very
interested in hearing anyones thoughts on what it is like. In
particular, I have the following questions;

A) Is the weather likely to be hot enough to sit on the beach and go
swimming? I have not been able to find a good weather histroy site
that gives me this information.

B) Which resort should I go to? It seems that most of the holidays are
in the Bodrum region, in one of; Altinkum, Bodrum, Gumbet and Kusadasi.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these? Our priorities are (roughly
in order);

History. It would be nice to be able to hire a bike or car and go and
explore some ruins or other interesting sites.
Beach. In particular interesting snokalling and rock pools, so a plain
sandy beach is not great.
Fishing port. My friend is a vege, but he eats fish. It would be a
big advantage to be able to buy fresh fish and cook it ourselves.
Night life. We are not expecting Ibiza type things, but to be able to
get a drink in this Muslim nation would be an advantage, and to be able
to go out and meet people would be good.
Sight-seeing. A large interesting city would probably keep us busy for
a day or 2, so access to something like that would be an advantage.

C) Can one get by with English? We will make an effort with turkish,
but I would imagine that starting from zero we will not get very far.

I have decided on the easy and cheap option of a package holiday at the
beginning of October (see thread "Advice on a european package or
driving holiday"). It seems turkey is by far the cheapest, so that is
where I shall go
A) Is the weather likely to be hot enough to sit on the beach and go
swimming? I have not been able to find a good weather histroy site
that gives me this information.

Try wunderground.com. Shpuld just about be warm enough but I don't
swim myself.

B) Which resort should I go to? It seems that most of the holidays are
in the Bodrum region, in one of; Altinkum, Bodrum, Gumbet and Kusadasi.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these?

Probably about the same. As a town, Bodrum will have the most going
for it. Fish will be available from the market, but getting it cooked
won't be that much more expensive.


C) Can one get by with English? We will make an effort with turkish,
but I would imagine that starting from zero we will not get very far.

No way will you learn a useful amount of vocabulary in that time, but
learning how to pronounce it properly makes a big difference. It's
so easy that it's only polite to make an effort. There is only one
sound not found in English, the u-umlaut vowel. So get an introduction
like "Turkish in Three Months" and work just on that (and maybe how to
count).

Two of the placenames you listed are pronounced *very* differently by
Turks from the way British tourists say them. The locals must cringe.

============== j-c ====== @ ====== purr . demon . co . uk ==============
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Jack Campin - bogus address wrote:
I have decided on the easy and cheap option of a package holiday at the
beginning of October (see thread "Advice on a european package or
driving holiday"). It seems turkey is by far the cheapest, so that is
where I shall go
A) Is the weather likely to be hot enough to sit on the beach and go
swimming? I have not been able to find a good weather histroy site
that gives me this information.


Try wunderground.com. Shpuld just about be warm enough but I don't
swim myself.

That is a great site, thanks. It looks like 70 F is about average, 21
C. Should be OK, but not too warm.

B) Which resort should I go to? It seems that most of the holidays are
in the Bodrum region, in one of; Altinkum, Bodrum, Gumbet and Kusadasi.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these?


Probably about the same. As a town, Bodrum will have the most going
for it. Fish will be available from the market, but getting it cooked
won't be that much more expensive.

Really? I guess I have not spent much time in such a poor country, but
I cannot imagine how buying cooked fish woul dbe comparible to the
market. Oh well, I shall just have to find out.

C) Can one get by with English? We will make an effort with turkish,
but I would imagine that starting from zero we will not get very far.


No way will you learn a useful amount of vocabulary in that time, but
learning how to pronounce it properly makes a big difference. It's
so easy that it's only polite to make an effort. There is only one
sound not found in English, the u-umlaut vowel. So get an introduction
like "Turkish in Three Months" and work just on that (and maybe how to
count).

Two of the placenames you listed are pronounced *very* differently by
Turks from the way British tourists say them. The locals must cringe.

I shall see if I can get a CD or some such of turkish prononciation.
Just to get as far as thank you, yes, no, that one I usually find makes
a big difference.

You cannot get such things on-line as an MP3 or something can you?

Thanks for your input.

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

I have decided on the easy and cheap option of a package holiday at the
beginning of October (see thread "Advice on a european package or
driving holiday"). It seems turkey is by far the cheapest, so that is
where I shall go (probably around 150 GBP per person). I would be very
interested in hearing anyones thoughts on what it is like. In
particular, I have the following questions;

A) Is the weather likely to be hot enough to sit on the beach and go
swimming? I have not been able to find a good weather histroy site
that gives me this information.

Probably.

B) Which resort should I go to? It seems that most of the holidays are
in the Bodrum region, in one of; Altinkum, Bodrum, Gumbet and Kusadasi.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these? Our priorities are (roughly
in order);

History. It would be nice to be able to hire a bike or car and go and
explore some ruins or other interesting sites.
Beach. In particular interesting snokalling and rock pools, so a plain
sandy beach is not great.

You can combine the two on the Bodrum peninsula! There are Roman ruins just under the
water which you can snorkel around.

Fishing port. My friend is a vege, but he eats fish. It would be a
big advantage to be able to buy fresh fish and cook it ourselves.

No problem - although eating out is cheap enough and restaurant owners will often
take you into the kitchen to show you the fish they have before you order.

Night life. We are not expecting Ibiza type things, but to be able to
get a drink in this Muslim nation would be an advantage, and to be able
to go out and meet people would be good.

You'll have no problem - it's not Saudi, alcohol is freely available. Gumbet is full
of nightclubs, bars and tacky restaurants (mostly Indian/Chinese/Fish and chips!).

The Turks are very friendly, we were there for just two weeks and it felt like we
were leaving loads of new friends behind when we left.

Sight-seeing. A large interesting city would probably keep us busy for
a day or 2, so access to something like that would be an advantage.

C) Can one get by with English? We will make an effort with turkish,
but I would imagine that starting from zero we will not get very far.

We never had a problem. I did get a course in Turkish from a couple of friendly bar
staff and I managed to master numbers and "how much" type conversations, plus
greetings etc. Also "get lost" and worse, as you do tend to get hassled in markets
etc - but they tend to leave you if you reply in their language.

--
Andy

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi All,

I have decided on the easy and cheap option of a package holiday at the
beginning of October (see thread "Advice on a european package or
driving holiday"). It seems turkey is by far the cheapest, so that is
where I shall go (probably around 150 GBP per person). I would be very
interested in hearing anyones thoughts on what it is like. In
particular, I have the following questions;

A) Is the weather likely to be hot enough to sit on the beach and go
swimming? I have not been able to find a good weather histroy site
that gives me this information.

Probably.

B) Which resort should I go to? It seems that most of the holidays are
in the Bodrum region, in one of; Altinkum, Bodrum, Gumbet and Kusadasi.
Does anyone have any thoughts on these? Our priorities are (roughly
in order);

History. It would be nice to be able to hire a bike or car and go and
explore some ruins or other interesting sites.
Beach. In particular interesting snokalling and rock pools, so a plain
sandy beach is not great.

You can combine the two on the Bodrum peninsula! There are Roman ruins
just under the
water which you can snorkel around.

Fishing port. My friend is a vege, but he eats fish. It would be a
big advantage to be able to buy fresh fish and cook it ourselves.

No problem - although eating out is cheap enough and restaurant owners
will often
take you into the kitchen to show you the fish they have before you order.

Night life. We are not expecting Ibiza type things, but to be able to
get a drink in this Muslim nation would be an advantage, and to be able
to go out and meet people would be good.

You'll have no problem - it's not Saudi, alcohol is freely available.
Gumbet is full
of nightclubs, bars and tacky restaurants (mostly Indian/Chinese/Fish and
chips!).

The Turks are very friendly, we were there for just two weeks and it felt
like we
were leaving loads of new friends behind when we left.

Sight-seeing. A large interesting city would probably keep us busy for
a day or 2, so access to something like that would be an advantage.

C) Can one get by with English? We will make an effort with turkish,
but I would imagine that starting from zero we will not get very far.

We never had a problem. I did get a course in Turkish from a couple of
friendly bar
staff and I managed to master numbers and "how much" type conversations,
plus
greetings etc. Also "get lost" and worse, as you do tend to get hassled in
markets
etc - but they tend to leave you if you reply in their language.


Much has already been said but .....
Normal weather should be very pleasantly warm during the day, possibly a
jersey or whatever in the evening if you like eating outside, as do we.
For history, Kusadasi is a splendid centre for the west coast remains -
Ephesus plus a lot more. But the beach scene's not really there.
It's an easy two-day excursion to Istanbul, Troy, Gallipoli etc.
No point self-catering - meals are very fresh and very cheap.
Drink is no problem.
Kusadasi has essential, if not raving, night life.
Language is no problem whatsoever - but essential words are appreciated, as
everywhere.

Surreyman

wrote in message
ps.com...

You cannot get such things on-line as an MP3 or something can you?

This site http://www.travlang.com/languages/indextext.html has some basic
phrases in many languages as .wav files. Enable your pop-up stopper
though!

Ian

"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

We never had a problem. I did get a course in Turkish from a couple of
friendly bar
staff and I managed to master numbers and "how much" type conversations,
plus
greetings etc. Also "get lost" and worse, as you do tend to get hassled
in markets
etc - but they tend to leave you if you reply in their language.

Trouble is, they think all English people use phrases like "Asda price",
"lubbly jubbly" etc., so use them to address us. Annoying for Brits, and
totally incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with UK supermarkets or
sitcoms!

Ian

Ian F. wrote:
wrote in message
ps.com...


You cannot get such things on-line as an MP3 or something can you?


This site http://www.travlang.com/languages/indextext.html has some basic
phrases in many languages as .wav files. Enable your pop-up stopper
though!

Thanks, that is really usefull. Probably would be easier if they put
them all in one file with the english, but a whole lot better than
nothing.

"Ian F." wrote in message
...
"Andy Pandy" wrote in message
...

We never had a problem. I did get a course in Turkish from a couple of
friendly bar
staff and I managed to master numbers and "how much" type conversations,
plus
greetings etc. Also "get lost" and worse, as you do tend to get hassled
in markets
etc - but they tend to leave you if you reply in their language.

Trouble is, they think all English people use phrases like "Asda price",
"lubbly jubbly" etc., so use them to address us. Annoying for Brits, and
totally incomprehensible to anyone not familiar with UK supermarkets or
sitcoms!

Yup - ISTR a bar in a Turkish resort (or in might have been a Greek island) called
"Only Fools and Horses" which played reruns of the sitcom all day every day! And it
seemed to be full most days! Yes - let's travel 2000 miles and sit in a bar all day
watching a UK sitcom!

--
Andy

"Henry" wrote in message
...
The Kurdish exiles here have a very effective propaganda poster they
stick up around town from time to time, especially when the season comes
to book winter holidays. I haven't seen it in a while now, so this is a
paraphrase. It goes something like this:


"Western Tourists! Come to Turkey!
We are very happy to welcome you and your money.
The foreign exchange you bring in helps finance our
valiant Turkish army in their struggle against the Kurdish
terrorist insurrection in the southeast of our country."


Something to think about, particularly if you're the kind of person for
whom morality is important.

Some people would say the same about the UK.

--
Andy