Turkey, travel and tour

Turkey is truly a unique country, as it is a wonderful, almost unbelievable blend of eastern and western culture, and it seems that Turks took the best out of both. The marvelous culture is harmonically melted with Western comfort and style.

You are cursed to have a great time once you fly into Antalya with a pre-ordered "all included" package at one of the hotels of the city, where service is truly on the 5-star level. You will experience some culture and spend most of the time on the wonderful beaches. There are certain things that you have to put on your "to do while in Turkey" list. Don't forget to try the famous Turkish tea and the specially-prepared coffee made in a Turkish tradition. Try also the lukum and khalva deserts, which Turkey is famous for. Two must-visit spots are the market and the haam (Turkish sauna).

When at the market make sure you only show interest in the things you need. Turkish salesmen are true masters of sales. Once they see you are interested, you have no chance to walk away without a purchase. Make sure you haggle with them. The first price they name will be outrageous, but that is the tradition. There are ways to get a 50 or even a 70% discount. Just do your best, and if you can't negotiate, find someone who's good at it and drag them along. Otherwise you have all the chances to get seriously ripped off. Don't worry about looking silly while negotiating, it is the tradition and everyone does so at the Turkish markets.

The Hamam is not like a regular sauna you might be used to. It is very good for your health, especially if you smoke. It will wash all the tar in your lungs out. It is a sauna, where the temperature is much lower then in a regular one, but there's plenty of steam, which cleans out your lungs as you breathe it in and out.

If you are interested in true comfortable vacation, choose the Lykia World hotel. It's not really even a hotel - it's a tourist city with its own bars, restaurants and other attractions.

Some people are satisfied with that, but some want to find more. During the past centuries Turkey was home to 33 different cultures and civilizations, and all of them left their marks. The things truly worth seeing are The city of Prophets - Fethiye, 12 Islans tour in the Fethie Bay, Oludeniz Lagoona (speechless views, you'll understand only when you see it), Lykean tombs, Tlos - a famous Necropolis, Butterfly valley and many other tourist destinations.

Turks are very easy-going and love humor, but two things you shouldn't ever joke about are religion and the Ataturk, the first president of Turkey. Both of those topics are highly respected and jokes about them will not be tolerated.

Drinking in public is not a very good idea, you might find the police picking you up pretty soon. Women should be careful as Turks are very good at seduction. If you are not interested in a man that has approached you, the best thing to do is to act tired or busy. The men usually quit their compliments and approaches once you do that. Telling them straight up "I don't want to talk to you" isn't a very good idea - you might hear something bad about yourself or even find a cigarette butt in your drink.

If you don't feel too lazy and go on tours, yet still take your time at the beach and spas you will surely enjoy your trip to Turkey.