World Travel Warehouse - Turkey

Hotel Review: Gezi Bosphorus Hotel - Istanbul, Turkey

2011-10-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

by World Travel Warehouse on Oct 10, 2011

Hotel Review - Gezi Bosphorus, Taksim area

I've now stayed in about 20 different hotels in Istanbul.

While I don't proclaim myself to be an expert (yet) - I'm working on that, and maybe I'll attain Expert Status before I die. I do, however, think I'm getting a good feel for good and bad hotels in the city, and other locations around Turkey.

So this most recent visit to Istanbul, and I've stayed in a lovely new hotel located just off Taksim Square called Gezi Bosphorus Hotel.

I cannot say enough good things about this new boutique hotel. From the moment I arrived at 3am in the morning, to the day I departed and they helped me get my bags in the car, I've been astounded by the stellar service and comfort levels I experienced at this property.

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The view from my Deluxe Bosphorus room - Gezi Bosphorus

My bed was as comfy, no even MORE comfy than my own bed at home. I could LIVE at Gezi forever I think, and I've become painfully particular about hotels over the years, so to say I want to "stay" in ANY hotel, is a BIG statement for me to make.
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Bosphorus View Deluxe room

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Bed that feels like heaven

Breakfast buffet daily was incredible with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, pure honeycombs (nice touch!) and the finest Turkish coffee.

Have more questions about Gezi Bosphorus Hotel or Istanbul Hotels?

Feel free to Contact Us. We specialize in Istanbul & Turkey Travel

Taken from Gezi Bosphorus Hotel's website:

"Gezi Hotel Bosphorus is the newest hotel on the strip, doors opened on September 2010. GHB located at the hearth of Istanbul, on the Taksim Square. Just steps away from the glamorous Bosphorus Bay, Historic old town, shopping and business centers.

Hotel's style is "Timeless" luxury design, and the philosophy is to bring new understanding and approach to hospitality: In GHB you are treated like star. 63 perfectly crafted rooms for our guests; 7 different fashions and room concepts to make your stay un-forgettable. From the lobby, restaurants, and pillows and even from your showers "Bosphorus and Istanbul" view is Guaranteed!

Meeting rooms with contemporary architectural design can be adapted like your local home-away office. Restaurants & Bars offer the most amazing Bosphorus view with a retro decoration and delicious snack and fine dine menus. Spa & Fitness Center features unique rituals, skin care treatments, Steam & Sauna, Turkish bath and Professional Gym equipment."

Hotel Review: Hotel Next2 - Istanbul Turkey

2011-04-26T13:51:00.000-07:00

by World Travel Warehouse on April 24, 2011

Hotel Review - Next2 Hotel, Taksim area (off Istiklal)

As a travel agency owner, I have an opportunity to stay in many hotels – some good, and some not so good, but no matter how good or poor a place is, service always makes a difference.

Entrance to Hotel Next2, Istanbul

At Hotel Next2 in Istanbul, I stayed in an A Suite (no kitchenette) and it suited my needs perfectly as I am try to enjoy local Turkish dining every chance I have. With breakfast included in daily rates, there was no need to bring groceries in. The B Suites (with kitchenettes) are even nicer than the A, and the A were extremely nice!

Another nice feature of these rooms is the addition of an extra room (great for families) with extra bedding in the separate room. This room also has a small table for those times you do decide to eat in.
Hotel Next2 is in a great location just minutes off Istiklal Avenue near Taksim Square in Istanbul (new city side) – Beyoglu. The hotel is rated as a 4.5* overall, and I can comfortably say this meets that standard easily in terms of cleanliness, location, amenities and service.

It's also right next door to a police station (for those who are security conscious), just a 2 minute walk off Istiklal Ave. with the beauty of being close to the action, without any of the noise.

The people who run this property were extremely friendly, as all Turkish people are known to be. Extremely efficient and courteous, the team of Faruk, Khan, Sabri, Sennur, Kasim and everyone else who work SO hard to make this hotel Next2 and 5Oda successful – do a perfect job. They always treat you like friends, never “clients” of the hotel, and the hand-made breakfasts every morning are such a nice touch!

Bright & Airy Breakfast room

The Suites with kitchen were also as neat as a pin and comfortable as you can see from the pictures below.

Kitchen area from Suite B

On the whole I would comfortably recommend either of these properties to any of my Istanbul bound clientele.

Please Contact Us if you have any questions.
World Travel Warehouse

Travelers opting for Turkey over Greece

2010-12-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

North American and other travelers are voting with their flip-flops and tennis shoes for Turkey over troubled Greece, one of the world’s top 20 tourist destinations, according to media reports.

That development comes despite Greek hotels slashing prices and scaling back staffs in a bid to recover from TV images of street riots.

“That is bad news for Greece, which is already facing declining growth and budget deficits,” notes the Wall Street Journal, particularly since tourism makes up about 15 percent of the Greek economy.

So far, tourism revenues are down almost 9 percent this year compared with the period in 2009 -- itself a bad year -- according to the latest Bank of Greece data.

In May, Athens hoteliers saw some 30,000 cancellations after protests rocked the capital, leaving three bank workers dead.

Meanwhile, just across the Aegean Sea in Greece's longstanding rival Turkey, this year is shaping up as a record time for tourism.

Popular beach resorts such as Antalya are straining to cope with overflowing hotels and bars.

Revenues in the second quarter for the industry as a whole were up 7.4 percent, compared with last year, while passenger arrivals in the first half were up by a quarter, according to Turkey's airport authority.

“The good news for Greece is that the worst appears to be over as price cuts and a calmer news cycle persuade late bookers to visit. Tourist arrivals have been rising lately,” said the Journal.

Greece, with its ancient monuments and sunny Mediterranean climate, is one of the world's leading tourist destinations, attracting almost 15 million tourists last year.

But vacationers can find the same blue waters, ancient Greek ruins and similar food just a few miles away from many of the Greek islands. Turkey attracted 27 million tourists last year, a roughly 3 percent increase, according to official statistics.

"We have everything the other European resorts have here: sunshine, history and tourism infrastructure, only cheaper," says Erdem Yilmaz, a restaurant owner.

This tourism trend appears to have more than made up for the loss of revenue from Israeli tourists, who are avoiding Turkish resorts in the wake of the clash on board a Gaza-bound aid ship in May, when Israeli commandos shot dead nine activists from Turkey.

Turkey has other challenges to overcome, including a reignited domestic conflict with Kurdish insurgents, who have threatened to hit Turkish urban centers and tourist resorts. That threat hasn't materialized yet, but the pace of terrorist attacks along Turkey's borders has risen significantly since the spring.

All of this leads some observers to think the Turkey-Greece turnaround could have another swing in the other direction.

By David Wilkening

I've discovered that Turkish People are like Newfoundlanders...

2010-11-03T07:32:00.000-07:00

by World Travel Warehouse on Nov 3, 2010

Since the very first day I arrived in Istanbul in 2005, and each time I've returned, I've always felt very comfortable in the city of Istanbul.

This level of comfort has always bewildered me, for a number of reasons:

1) I don't like immense crowds (yet Istanbul is home to about 75 times the people that my city has) [200,000 vs. 15,000,000)]!

2) I cannot stand traffic (yet I sit back and go with the flow when I am in Istanbul)

Back then, I couldn't quite grasp why I felt so comfortable in this mystical city, so far away from my own city of St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada.

It has only been over the course of numerous years, and many, many trips to Istanbul and also the beautiful country of Turkey, that I have discovered why I feel so "at home," when I am there.

Turkish people are very similar to Newfoundlanders!!

He was pretending no, but he was playing and agreed to have his picture taken

Friendly & Welcoming: Both Turkish people, and Newfoundlanders are friendly and welcoming to the point of making people from larger cities (where people are often just anonymous strangers) almost uncomfortable. In some large cities where everyone is a stranger, some people (not all) have a detached way about them, but I have never found this to be the case in Istanbul - despite the a city having 15 million (and growing) residents!

For their overtly friendly nature, I can't help but compare every single beautiful Turkish person I've met, to Newfoundlanders. They will take you in their car to the other side of town, if you need help. They will walk with you for a mile/km, to help show you the exact way to a location you're unfamiliar with, and talk to you about your family and your life along the way. I absolutely LOVE this friendliness and it is one of the main reasons I can't help but compare Turkish people to Newfoundlanders (and love them both).

Funny:
(Have a great ability to laugh at themselves and not take life too seriously)
How many dudes will dress up in a belly dancer outfit to entice you to buy it?
Seriously, C'mon! I love this guy and his entrepreneurial skills!

It's a fact that Newfoundlanders (most of us anyway) are known to have a laid-back nature, where we can laugh at our mistakes, and ourselves, and move on. We don't take life too seriously, and enjoy each day as it comes - for the most part.

Turkish people (at least the ones I've met as a tourist visiting different places, and also the dear people that have become close friends of mine), have a very easy-going, laid-back nature. Every Single Turk I know enjoys life to the fullest - this is pretty much true of most Newfoundlanders I know too.

Ask any Turkish person about Bayram and see if there's not laughter and good times involved!!??

Live in tall, narrow multi-coloured houses (see below)! When I arrived on the cruise ship in 2005, I looked around in awe at what I saw in Istanbul and thought to myself, this city is "like home." This feeling became even more evident as I walked down the narrow streets behind Topkapi Palace, where the streets are lined with tall, narrow, multi-coloured houses. This is a somewhat unique spectacle to see, and I've only seen it in a few other places, St. John's Newfoundland, some Nordic countries or cities, such as Stockholm and of course Istanbul.

I felt immediately at home with these narrow streets and tiny houses (despite the fact that St. John's has about 1/100 the population of Istanbul).

Istanbul (Halic) Turkey

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St. John`s, Newfoundland

Most people live outside the main cities & retain old fashioned ways:

This applies to many people in both places, and the people outside the city centers tend to retain old-fashioned and traditional ways. These rural dwellers are even more wonderful in nature and personalities (is that even possible?) than the city dwellers.

Not to crap on city-dwellers (I used to be one) but people from rural communities tend to have more of an easy-going, and peaceful way about them. Maybe it's due to the less frenetic pace enjoyed living outside the city core - I tend to think that's the reason. There also seems to be a throw-back to simpler times and life is lived at a slower pace in rural communities. I like it and I like old-fashioned, simpler ways of living too.

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Lady in Turkish traditional garb spinning wool for rug-making, Cappadocia, Turkey

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Fishing community in Gros Morne, Newfoundland

Endearing:

I do think this also goes with the welcoming and friendly nature as noted above, but there is an endearing quality to both Turkish people and Newfoundlanders that just makes my heart content. I truly have not encountered this true-to-your-soul type of close, endearing kindness in any other country I have visited.

It is something that just makes a person "want to come back." I have talked to so many people that have visited both Newfoundland and Turkey, and they talk about "going back" all the time. I believe there is something that pulls at your heartstrings in both places.

I hope everyone has the opportunity to visit both places some day.

If you need help with your travel planning for either Istanbul Turkey, or St. John's, Newfoundland, please feel free to Contact Us or visit our website at World Travel Warehouse

48 Hours in Istanbul: An Istanbul Restaurant Tour

2010-09-29T13:23:00.000-07:00

The ultimate two-day itinerary in Turkey’s largest city.

From September 2009
By Anya von Bremzen

Day 1: Sultanahmet (The Old City)

Breakfast

On a street lined with carpet shops near the Arasta Bazaar, Tamara Restaurant (breakfast for two $20), whose owners hail from Turkey’s eastern Lake Van area, serves up the region’s puffy breads, herb-flecked otlu cheese, and addictive tahini spread. Eggs baked with spicy soujuk sausage might seem like overkill, but order them anyway.

Mid-Morning Fix

It would be a crime to miss the Süleymaniye Camii mosque, an Ottoman masterpiece; it would be sadder still not to visit the nearby Vefa Bozacisi (boza for two $4). Decked out in weathered marble, this vintage cubbyhole specializes in boza—a cross between pudding and a beverage, which is made from fermented bulgur. Traditionally it’s consumed with leblebi, nutty roasted chickpeas.

Lunch

Famished after haggling for kilims at the Covered Bazaar? It’s worth tracking down Seyhmus (lunch for two $30), a macho kebab dive colonized by gaggles of mustached vendors. Order lahmacun—wafer-thin lamb-slathered pizza—with seyhmus kebap (an epic charcoal-grilled lamb patty) and a vegetable salad dressed with pomegranate molasses. Washing your meal down with ayran, a tart yogurt drink, is a sure way to pass for a local.

Beer Break

Unwind with a frosty glass of Efes Pilsen on the rooftop terrace of Seven Hills Hotel (drinks for two $10), which feels like it is suspended between the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia against the backdrop of the Marmara Sea.

Dinner

Though certain Istanbullus swear that fish should be eaten at the water’s edge, the suave, smart-suited businessmen and bejeweled matrons who patronize Balikçi Sabahattin (dinner for two $65) know better. A waiter appears as soon as you settle in your seat, carrying a tray of meze, small plates meant to be sampled with raki, Turkey’s signature anise liquor. Order platters of smoky eggplant salad and buttery lakerda (cured bonito)—then choose grilled levrek (sea bass), moist and perfectly cooked.

Day 2: Other Neighborhoods

Breakfast

Even if contemporary Turkish art isn’t your cup of çay, visit Istanbul Modern (breakfast for two $45), a museum in a renovated warehouse, for its stylish café and waterfront terrace. With luck, giant cruise ships won’t obstruct the postcard-perfect view of the Old Town as you tuck into a breakfast of simit (sesame bread rings), creamy beyaz peynir (feta), crunchy cucumbers, and sour-cherry jam.

Ice Cream

Farther along the Bosporus road, stop in the village of Ortaköy for a stroll through craft shops and the neo-Baroque mosque. At Mado (ice cream for two $2), sample the goat’s-milk ice cream, which is thickened with the powdered root of wild orchids. Splurge on a triple scoop of pistachio, pomegranate, and black mulberry.

Lunch

Continue on to Sabanci University Sakip Sabanci Museum, a 19th-century mansion in Emirgan that houses an impressive collection of Ottoman paintings. Espousing a different aesthetic, the museum’s Muzedechanga restaurant (lunch for two $98) is noted for its neo-60’s interior of unpolished oak and black-leather banquettes. Try the olive oil–braised celery root enlivened with tangerine, and rosy lamb chops, from the smart modern-Mediterranean menu.

Drinks

Time your visit to Leb-i Derya (drinks for two $16) with the sunset—and the evening call to prayer. That’s when young locals file in for cocktails, like fresh-ginger–and–muddled-lime mojitos, and jockey for steel stools on the open-air terrace overlooking the city’s two coastlines and the Bosporus strait in between.

Dinner

Beyoglu is known for its raucous drinking houses, or meyhane, where meze are an excuse for rivers of raki. The insiders’ favorite is Kallavi (dinner for two $50), a brick-walled dining room illuminated by chandeliers that sets the scene for house specials like ficin, a spiced meat pie. The best part? Watching beau monders stomp their heels to the Turkish band’s beat. Wait, is that your wife tossing banknotes at the dashing oud player?

Link to the Article: http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/48-hours-in-istanbul/1

Next Stop: In Turkey, Sunlight and Enlightenment

2010-06-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

Candace Feit for The New York Times

Mountains above the Kabak Valley fall to the Mediterranean.

By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: June 24, 2010

TO find the Kabak Valley, drive east along Turkey’s Mediterranean coast. Park your car when the pavement runs out, and walk (or hitch a ride on a truck) to a portal to another dimension.

Just be sure you have a ticket. At least that is what Emine Altindal, one of the proprietors of the Shambala, a spiritually inclined eco-resort that clings to a cliff above an impossibly blue-rimmed half-moon of beach here, told me during a recent visit.

“People who have a ticket come here,” she said.

“A ticket? What kind of ticket?” I asked.

“There is a protecting energy like wings of an angel over this place,” she said. This lush, secluded valley is a star gate, she explained, a door through which one leaves one form of consciousness and joins another.

Perhaps. But it may be more likely that, as my partner, Candy, and I discovered last month when we spent several blissful days there hiking, swimming and staring out at evergreen-clad mountains flanking azure waters, it is merely one of the wildest, most remote and peaceful corners of one of the world’s bluest seas.

Kabak Valley sits along the Lycian Way, a 300-mile-long hiking trail that snakes along a part of Turkey’s coast that was once Lycia, an important outpost of the Roman Empire.

The rugged mountains that hug the coastline have long drawn tourists, many of them British, to what package vacation marketers call the Turquoise Coast. Charter flights deposit sun seekers at Dalaman Airport in droves, disgorging them to beaches in the resort towns of Marmaris and Oludeniz, where the reliable availability of a full English breakfast and a surfeit of beach loungers keep them coming.

For these reasons this seemed an unlikely spot to find the kind of solitude we usually seek on vacation. Yet the combination of mountains and sea, especially that azure Mediterranean variety, had its own allure. After a bit of dissatisfied searching, we stumbled upon the quiet terrain of the Kabak.

The valley has been a hidden favorite with hikers on the Lycian Way since the trail, parts of which date back thousands of years, gained popularity in the late 1990s. Arriving there, you can see why. From the main road a signpost points down a rough dirt trail through thick pine forest toward the glinting sea.

In the last couple of years, getting to Kabak has gotten easier, with a road that leads down into the valley and several new and increasingly posh establishments bringing a touch of luxury to what might otherwise be a backpacker-only zone. We arrived the easy way, in a small white Hyundai sedan we had rented at Dalaman Airport. But the car couldn’t possibly make it down the rough road, so we called the Shambala, and they were kind enough to pick us up in a four-wheel-drive and take us halfway down the valley, to their resort.
One look at the view from our room, a wood and glass bungalow that fairly floated on the cliff wall, and I understood all the spiritual talk. The Kabak Valley is a stunning and remote slice of wilderness.

Ms. Altindal and her husband, Hulki Altug, built Shambala three years ago as an escape from their hectic life in Istanbul. “When we started to build this place it was something just for us and our friends,” she said.

They named it for the mythical Himalayan city of Shambala. In the traditions of Tibetan Buddhism it was a magical city hidden high in the mountains where everyone had attained enlightenment.

“We wanted to create our own version here,” Ms. Altindal said.

The people at Shambala (theshambala.com) have all kinds of explanations for why the Kabak Valley is so special. It is one of only three places that did not freeze in the last ice age, they say. There is an energy vortex here, they insist.

The good news is that mumbo jumbo is strictly optional. The slightly kooky spirituality, along with the peace-and-love vibe, is served up as a side dish, and you can take it or leave it. Even so, I was surprised to find it deliciously devoid of irony, and deeply endearing.
And while the folks who run the place might be hippies, they run a tight ship: peace, love and dinner promptly at 8.

Indeed, everything at the resort speaks to an exacting attention to detail, from the homemade organic olive oil soaps to the carefully designed bungalows and treehouses.
Beyond the Shambala, the valley’s lodgings have gotten an upgrade. Simple backpacker camps have refined their accommodations as new seekers make their way there. One afternoon we had a delightful lunch of grilled fish at Shanti Garden (www.shantigardenkabak.com), one of several establishments on the valley floor, just behind the beach. Shanti Garden’s spotless but spartan bungalows are a less expensive alternative to the Shambala, and are much closer to the beach. Another nearby camp, Reflections, has a special focus on yoga.

All our meals in the valley were simple in the best Mediterranean way — fresh ingredients, many of them grown locally, requiring little embellishment. The breakfast spread at Shambala in particular made me swoon: plump tomatoes adorned in local olive oil and thyme plucked from a nearby bush; hunks of homemade cheese; a sesame seed version of Nutella; leek-stuffed pancakes cooked on a wide griddle by an Anatolian granny; yeasty bread right out of the oven.

But the main attraction here is nature. The valley spills out beneath Shambala. A short hike leads down to a beach of white sand and pebbles. During our visit, the water had a not unpleasant chilly edge, just enough to cut through the sweat of the hike down. A 15-minute swim led to a water-filled cave, where afternoon sunlight filtering through the blue sea illuminated a miniature cathedral of stone.

The Lycian Way leads deep into the valley as it follows its course toward the city of Antalya. One afternoon we followed it up from Kabak’s beach, along the valley wall, drinking in the panorama of the Mediterranean with each switchback. After a couple of hours of heavy slogging, punctuated by breaks to enjoy the sea breeze and view, we arrived at a small waterfall that spilled into an icy, limpid pool. Sweaty from the climb, we stripped down and jumped in. The first electric jolt of mountain water was refreshing, but we didn’t linger. It was a long walk back to the beach, then back up the valley, to get back to our portal to bliss.

A version of this article appeared in print on June 27, 2010, on page TR8 of the New York edition.

Western Turkey by Train (and ferry)

2010-06-20T13:11:00.000-07:00

By Peter Kupfer

Special to the Los Angeles Times

June 20, 2010

Reporting from Istanbul—

It seemed like a brilliant idea at the time: touring Turkey by train. Turkey was at the top of my list of countries I had yet to conquer, and trains have long been my favorite mode of transportation. Conjuring images of the old Orient Express, I envisioned lounging under a silk-shaded sconce in my plushly upholstered, wood-paneled compartment as the Mediterranean coast glided past my window.

There were, it turns out, a couple of problems with that picture. Turkish passenger trains didn't travel along the Mediterranean. Second, most Turkish trains are relatively modern, with interiors appointed with molded plastic, chrome and fluorescent lights — more evocative of Amtrak than the Orient Express.

But trains are still a good way to get around Turkey. During a two-week tour of the country this spring I found Turkish trains generally clean, comfortable and efficient. They are also remarkably cheap, especially compared with trains in Western Europe or the United States. A ticket on an overnight train from Istanbul to Ankara with a private sleeping compartment, for example, cost $54, and a 30-day pass good for unlimited travel on the entire Turkish rail network cost $95.

Turkey has a well-developed rail system dating to the mid-19th century, and its 5,400 miles of track connect most of the country's major cities and tourist attractions. The system was originally built and operated by private German, French and British concerns. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the founding of the Turkish Republic in the early 1920s, the rail network was taken over by a state company (State Railways of the Republic of Turkey, or TCDD), which still runs it today.

In recent years Turkey has undertaken an ambitious modernization program. The first section of a high-speed rail link between Istanbul and Ankara began operating in March 2009, slashing travel time between Turkey's economic and cultural center and its political capital from 11 to 5 1/2 hours. The second section of the line, scheduled to be completed by 2013, will cut travel time on the 330-mile route to about three hours. Work is underway on several other high-speed lines as well as a new rail tunnel under the Bosporus linking the European and Asian sections of Istanbul, a project that is scheduled to be completed in 2012.

Deciding to ride the rails was a no-brainer for me. I was traveling alone and on a limited budget, so planes and rental cars were out. And although I had heard favorable reports about Turkey's extensive intercity bus system, I have an aversion to long bus rides (probably stemming from a 14-hour bus trip I once took in southern Mexico). But the most compelling reason is that I have had a hopelessly romantic fascination with train travel ever since I was a kid (no doubt inspired by movies such as Hitchcock's "Strangers on a Train" and Lumet's "Murder on the Orient Express").

After studying the TCDD's route map and schedules I decided on an itinerary that would crisscross the western half of Turkey, beginning in Istanbul and heading southeast to Konya and Cappadocia, then west to Izmir and Selcuk, before returning to Istanbul. Because not all these destinations are accessible by train, I had to mix in a few buses, but they were all relatively short trips. I was also tempted to take the Dogu Express, the mother of all Turkish rail trips, which traverses the country between Istanbul and Kars, near the Armenian border, but the journey takes more than 36 hours each way and I decided my limited time was better spent in western Anatolia.

Tickets can be purchased in advance on the TCDD's website (http://www.tcdd.gov.tr), which has an English version, but the site is maddeningly dysfunctional. Seats can also be booked through authorized Turkish travel agencies, for a small additional charge. Either way, Turkish Railways does not allow passengers to buy tickets more than 15 days in advance. Because I was visiting Turkey well before the peak summer travel period I decided to wait until I arrived in Istanbul to buy my tickets.

My hotel in Istanbul was in Sultanahmet — the historic heart of the city where many of the most famous sites, including Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and the Sultanahmed Mosque are located — a short walk to Sirkeci, the main train station on the European side of Istanbul. Sirkeci, designed by a Prussian architect in an Orientalist style, opened in 1890 as a terminus for the Orient Express. As I walked through the dark, cavernous terminal to buy my tickets, it wasn't hard to imagine a bygone era when elegantly dressed passengers disembarked from the famous luxury train and were greeted by uniformed dragomans (guide-interpreters) from the great European embassies.

After spending three days dashing around Istanbul — far too little time to explore such a complex and exotic city, to be sure — I began my train tour. My first destination was Cappadocia, a region in central Anatolia famous for its distinctive "fairy chimney" rock formations and cave dwellings where early Christians once lived and worshipped in secret. Unfortunately, the area is not directly accessible by train, so I decided to take an overnight train to Konya, home of 13th century mystic poet Rumi and his whirling dervish disciples, and then a 3 1/2-hour bus ride to Goreme, one of the main towns in Cappadocia.

The train to Konya left from Haydarpasa Terminal, on the Asian side of Istanbul, the city's largest and grandest train station and the starting point for all eastbound trains. I took a tram to the Eminönü docks and hopped on one of the many ferries that ply the busy waters around Istanbul. As I sat on the deck, I watched the fishermen casting their lines off Galata Bridge, which spans the Golden Horn, a scene captured in countless Turkish novels, poems and plays. It was a cold, windy afternoon, but the short trip across the Bosporus was made more enjoyable by a young man who came around selling cups of sweet Turkish tea.

Haydarpasa, named for an Ottoman general, was built in the early 1900s as a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to Sultan Abdulhamid II. The station was constructed on wooden piles hammered into Kadikoy Bay, and from the ferry the neo-Renaissance façade, jutting imperiously into the water, is an imposing sight. The ferry dropped me off in front of the station. I climbed a broad set of marble steps leading up from the quay and entered a large hall with vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows and archways painted with intricate floral designs.

On the platform outside my car I was greeted by a porter smartly dressed in a maroon jacket, white shirt and tie who led me down the narrow corridor to my sleeping compartment.

My cabin was small, clean, and functional — but a far cry from the Orient Express. On one side of the room was a double seat with a pair of bunk beds folded into the wall above it. On the other side was a small wash basin with a mirror and a towel. A refrigerator under the counter contained complimentary bottled water, orange juice and a candy bar.

I had more than an hour before my train was scheduled to leave, so I decided to explore the station. Haydarpasa's restaurant occupied a large room with chandeliers dangling from the lofty ceiling and red linen covering the tables. A glass display case inside the entrance contained a bounty of meze and salads and a mouth-watering assortment of fresh seafood and grilled meats. I was tempted to sit down for a quick dinner but decided to save my appetite for the dining car on the train. After all, is there anything better than enjoying a good meal as an exotic foreign landscape streams by your window?

It didn't quite turn out as I had hoped. By the time I made it to the dining car it was already dark, so the picturesque landscape was more of a gray blur. Several passengers were already seated at tables covered with white tablecloths garnished with little vases holding plastic tulips. The waiter wasn't unfriendly, but he gave the impression he had just woken up and would just as soon be back in bed. I ordered grilled chicken cutlets, which were dry and rather tasteless, accompanied by a mound of bland white rice, tomatoes and green beans, and a salad. But the price was decent — about $13.

After dinner I returned to my compartment, folded down the lower bunk and climbed under the covers. The bed was comfortable if a bit stiff. I tried reading but quickly fell asleep. There's something about the rhythmic motion of a train that never fails to make me tired. That's a good thing when you're trying to sleep, but I have also been known to nod off during spectacularly scenic rail trips in Norway, Switzerland and numerous other countries.

Although Turkish trains are supposed to be smoke-free, the rules are apparently not strictly enforced. I smelled cigarette smoke seeping into my cabin, and some of the bathrooms also smelled of tobacco. Speaking of bathrooms, there was one on each end of my car. One had a conventional toilet, but the other was the hole-in-the-floor variety where one is obliged to stand on ceramic footpads and squat.

I woke up early the next morning and made my way back to the dining car. Apparently I was the first to arrive because the waiter and the cook were sprawled out on the seats sound asleep. Breakfast consisted of a greasy omelet accompanied by chopped cucumbers and tomatoes, a roll packaged in cellophane and the ubiquitous Nescafé (good coffee is not as common in Turkey as one might expect).
Copyright © 2011, Los Angeles Times

Link to Article and Pictures: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/asia/la-tr-turkey-20100620,0,1524697.story

Cappadocia, Turkey, Travel Guide, Cave Hotels

2010-05-02T10:35:00.000-07:00

Terrain for a niche movement
May 2, 2010.

Raja Shehadeh marvels at the life early Christians carved for themselves in the rocks of Cappadocia.

Staying in a cave hotel in Urgup in Cappadocia, I find I am having dreams that are deeper and more subterranean than usual. All night I seem to be excavating the past. These nocturnal experiences echo the activities of the day, when I visit the dwellings, churches and cathedrals dug into the walls of valleys and deep into the earth.

The inhabitants of this geographical centre of the Anatolian plain have carried out a good deal of excavation in the course of their long history. Unlike in Petra, Jordan, where the Nabateans dug facades in the soft sandstone with no obvious practical function, the inhabitants of Cappadocia dug their homes in the rocks as well as their churches, cathedrals and mosques.

The most elaborate manifestation of this is in the Goreme valley, at the centre of the region near a village of the same name. The houses of those who once lived here are half built of stone, half dug into the rock. Many have attractive double-arched windows with large sills. For the inhabitants who were relocated to turn this into an open-air museum, these must have provided superb sitting areas: cool and with good views. Now their only residents are the flies that buzz incessantly.

Outside, it is still possible to see the remains of their gardens, with iris, asparagus and apricot trees. But these are not what the tourists come to see. Rather it is the monasteries and churches, with an occasional mosque, that are located on an amphitheatre-like slope. The churches, which show strong Egyptian and Syrian influences, have descriptive local names such as Apple, Snake, Dark, Sandal and, in two cases, simply Nameless.

Leaving the valley, I drive about 30 kilometres south to the ancient underground city of Kaymakli. This city has been well preserved and adapted with good lighting and safety measures for the large numbers who flock to it. Entering the city is like going into a cistern. Only a small hole is visible in the ground. I am told this was how the Christians survived. When the invaders came through the natural routes that cross Anatolia, meeting in Cappadocia, the Christians took their families and slipped down through this hole in the ground.

Underneath were houses, churches, schools, shops: everything a community needs. They stayed until it was safe to emerge. Then they rolled back the stone and climbed out. I was told that pathways between a number of these underground villages go for many miles under the earth.

But for those, like me, who worry about being trapped in closed spaces, there is a superb alternative, a walk in the Ihlara valley, a U-shaped canyon formed by the torrential waters flowing from the Hasan Dag volcano and the Melendiz Mountains into the Salt Lake. The valley is 16 kilometres long. I start about midway, going down stairs at the end of which I am surprised to find an official sitting behind a desk who insists I buy a tezkara (ticket). I had no idea a ticket is needed to take a walk in the valley.

When I first started on this path, I was concerned that the high rock walls of this canyon would make for a dull walk. I immediately change my mind when I see the tall birch and lime trees and hear the loud croaks of frogs and the singing of birds along the banks of the Melendiz stream that runs through the canyon. Along the path are plenty of large boulders that have fallen from the walls in this earthquake-vulnerable country, the presumed start of the Great Rift Valley that connects Palestine with Turkey.

All the countries along this section of the Rift, east of the Mediterranean, were ruled from Istanbul for 400 years, until 1918. Not only does this valley have great natural beauty, there are about 100 churches and monasteries carved in the rocks along the way. They have Egyptian, Syrian and Turkish influences. The best preserved of these - such as Purenliseki, Karanlik and Kokar churches - have frescoes and crosses painted on the walls, some reflecting styles not encountered in Byzantine art.

Once back on the track, I begin thinking of the defaced faces of the monks in these frescoes. I am surprised at how disturbed it makes me feel. Perhaps it is because the damage that was done was so persistent. Not a single one of these figures still has eyes.

Near the end of my walk, I stop at a church dedicated to St George. The frescoes there date to the end of the 13th century. St George is seen between a man and a woman dressed typically in the style of their time. Soon after, I hear the voice of the muezzin from the mosque in the village of Belisirma. I know I have reached the end of this grand tour of the ancient churches and representations of a more tolerant way of life, which allowed more cultural and religious diversity than is now possible.

TRIP NOTES
GETTING THERE
Emirates flies from Sydney to Ankara's Esenboga airport via Dubai and Istanbul. Flights are priced from $3150. See www.emirates.com. Major companies have car hire available from the airport. See www.europcar.com.au or www.avis.co.uk.

WHERE TO STAY
The Serinn, a cave house in Urgup, has rooms from €120 ($173) a night. Phone +90 384 341 60 76, see www.serinnhouse.com.

FURTHER INFORMATION
See www.tourismturkey.org and www.cappadociaturkey.net

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/terrain-for-a-niche-movement-20100429-tu8o

Basilica Cistern ... Sultanahmet, Istanbul Turkey

2010-04-08T07:26:00.000-07:00

by World Travel Warehouse on April 8, 2010
This has quickly become one of my favorite places in Sultanahmet, Istanbul, Turkey.

I happened upon this fantastic place when I was strolling out of the Hagia Sofia one day on my way to the Grand Bazaar. It amazed & enchanted me, and I continue to visit this lovely, mysterious place every single time I visit Istanbul.

The first time I entered Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnic) it was very quiet before many people had arrived for the day. I was immediately entranced. The low, lilting sounds of the soft music, along with the dimly lit walkways simpy enhance the visitor experience

The Basilica Cistern, built in 532 A.D., is Istanbul's largest covered reservoir, and once supplied water to nearby palaces such as the Topkapi Palace and the Great Palace of Constantinople.

The Basilica Cistern is also known as the "Sunken Palace," and was supplied with water flowing from forests in Belgarde, Serbia, to an excess of 100, 000 tons. Inside the Cistern there are a total of 336 columns, in 12 rows of 28 columns.

Several columns exist inside the Cistern that are worth noting:

1) The Peacock Column is supposedly a surviving column from the Arch of Theodosius

2) Medusa Columns: There are also the two columns located at the very end of the Basilica Cistern, whose bases are formed in the shape of the Medusa Head (a female monster from Greek mythology with hair made of snakes. Tales imply to look at her would turn you into stone.)

The Medusa upside down head is found on the base of one column and next to it is another Medusa head laid on its side. Stories abound as to why her head was placed upside down, but many believe that it was done to ward off evil spirits.

I highly recommend a stop by the Basilica Cistern if you are looking for interesting things to do in Istanbul.

Contact Us at World Travel Warehouse, if you need assistance with your Istanbul & Turkey travel.

Turkey 2010: summer holiday booking guide

2010-02-11T13:20:00.000-08:00

Tourism in Turkey is booming, with more options than ever for 2010. Sophie Butler looks at the deals on offer for the country's good-value, smaller-size resorts.
Turkey had a boom holiday season last year. Perceived as a good-value shelter from the soaring euro, and with a big choice of package holidays that included flights and hotels, it did brisk business. It looks likely to do well this year, too – though unfortunately things may not seem quite so cheap when you get there.

The Turkish lira has strengthened only a little against the pound, but prices on the ground have jumped significantly. According to the Post Office Holiday Money Report published last month, a typical shopping basket for tourists has risen by 44 per cent in Turkey over the past year, with the cost of a meal out at about £58 for two.

These sort of surveys do not tell the whole story, of course. Steer away from tourist restaurants and you will find prices are far lower. I enjoyed an excellent meal in a small local restaurant in a resort near Izmer last year for £7 a head, including beer. Even if prices have since risen – and I very much doubt that they have – the meal would still cost only about £10 a head.

In fact, generally speaking, you might do well to steer clear of the bigger resorts and tourist honeypots. The sort of all-inclusive packages offered by the big tour operators, at large resort hotels with in-house sports, entertainments and children’s clubs, often appeal to families because they make budgeting easier. But they limit your choice to the bigger resorts such as Bodrum, Kusadasi, Gumbet, Side, Fetiyhe and Olu Deniz, where prices are higher. Before you rush to book one of these, have a look at what the specialist tour operators are offering in family-run hotels in smaller resorts. As an alternative to Bodrum, for example, you might want to look at the nearby sponge-fishing port of Yalikavak, where you will find good beaches, less development, a more relaxed atmosphere and lower-priced restaurants and bars.

Our selection
In some sections, we have picked out for special mention tour operators offering programmes that we consider particularly interesting or which offer good value.

These prices are for a week in August, unless stated otherwise
One-bedroom self-catering apartment: £790 (per person, with
flights & car hire).
Four-star hotel, all-inclusive package: £2,700 (family of four, sharing room, with flights).
Three-bedroom villa with private pool: £1,240 (total price, rental only).
12-night escorted coach tour: £650 (mid-range hotels, half board,
flight extra).
Club holiday, Neilson: £3,730 (family of four, most meals & flights).
Guided walking holiday (May): £1,100 (flights, hotels, half board).
Car hire (two-door, air conditioning): £240

Link to Article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/sunandsea/7213336/Turkey-2010-summer-holiday-booking-guide.html

A Food Lover's Tour of Istanbul

2008-09-23T10:08:00.000-07:00

Los Angeles Times - Travel Section

Istanbul, Turkey

Here come the mezes: minted, garlicky yogurt, dusky roasted eggplant salad. A waiter presents them on a huge tray: glistening artichoke crowns, a spread of ground walnuts and sweet red peppers. And wait, how about that beautiful mushroom salad spiked with scallions?

The glow of a late-summer sunset floods the rooftop terrace as couples and families and groups of friends feast on Turkey's version of tapas, sipping from glasses of the milky-looking anise-flavored aperitif called raki, unwinding and talking and enjoying the spectacular view of the Old City. Scores of mosques, with their graceful domes and minarets, light up one after another as the sky turns apricot and rose and purple.

This is Istanbul -- glorious and glittering -- and it's dinner time in a busy kebab house.

The cuisine of Turkey has a reputation among food lovers as being among the world's most compelling, and I've come -- with my favorite cohorts-in-dining, my husband, Thierry, and our 11-year-old son, Wylie -- to see what all the fuss is about. We've long dreamed of visiting Istanbul, and we have only 3 1/2 days, after exploring Turkey's Aegean and Mediterranean coasts, to take in the city. Where to begin? In my view, the best way to soak up culture quickly is at the table.

Link to Article: http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-istanbul21-2008sep21

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Istiklal Avenue - Istanbul Turkey

2007-04-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

It's 2007.

This is my 2nd visit to the amazing city of Istanbul. I figure this is the time I'll get to check out "that street" I wondered about since my first visit in 2005.

I've learned "that street" is called İstiklâl Caddesi, or Independence Avenue, and located in the district of Istanbul known as Beyoğlu. (To me, Beyoğlu translates from Turkish to English as..."fun place to be!!")

Istiklal by Day

Istiklal by Night

Compared to the Old City Istanbul and Sultanahmet area with its history, fascinating sights, the haunting sounds of Adhan (Call to Prayer) 5 times daily, Istiklal Avenue & Taksim area are very different in atmosphere. Istiklal Avenue is purely alive, vibrant and exciting! There are always people on the move and always something happening wherever you are on this street that boasts 1 million visitors daily (and even more on weekends)

Istiklal Caddesi is known as one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul, and is lined with some of the most lovely Ottoman styled buildings you can view in Istanbul. The people watching here is amazing and incredible.

My personal preference is to have a seat down near the Tunel end (South end) of Istiklal Street and watch the people from one of the small restaurants or bars located there.

Istiklal view from the bar :)

Another short walk from this Tunel area of Istiklal Street, is the Pera region of Beyoğlu district. Located in Pera is the famed Pera Palace luxury hotel, built in 1892 as a hotel for disembarking passengers from the Orient Express train which terminated in Sirkeci Station at Sultanahmet Istanbul. The Pera Palace hotel is also claimed to be where Agatha Christie wrote her novel, "Murder on the Orient Express."

Any visitor to Istanbul should spend at least a day walking just Istiklal Street and its many alleyways.

There is SO much to see and experience on Istiklal Avenue.

A few of my faves are:
- Cicek Pasaji (Flower Passage) which now is home to many bars & restaurants, with its entrance located on Istiklal Avenue and runs to Sahne Street

Cicek Pasaji (Istiklal Street)

- Historic Tram Ride on Istiklal (I've never actually been ON the tram, but it looks nice & romantic/nostalgic. I prefer to walk Istiklal Avenue, and absorb the atmosphere from ground level)

Istiklal Steet Trams

- A Friday afternoon on Istiklal Avenue amongst the crowds!

Istiklal Avenue Video

I specialize in Istanbul & Turkey Travel.
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How a Love Affair (with a Country) starts...

2005-10-20T09:25:00.001-07:00

Written by World Travel Warehouse on Oct 20, 2005

Cruises. Ports of Call.

Suliemaniye Mosque and Galata Bridge

You arrive...in town for a quicky...off a cruise ship.

Video arriving on the cruise ship (it was raining)

In Istanbul, you're given 24 hours to check out this new port, which is one of maybe 10 different ports of call on many Greece cruises, and then you're gone again! Poof, it's like you were never there --- almost!

So I stepped off the ship in 2005, not realizing my life would drastically change forever. Yes, I knew about the minarets on the skyline and yes, I'll admit I heard about the call to prayer (a little bit). I'd even heard about this "cool street up over the Hill (later discovered to be Istiklal Avenue)" - I love looking back now at my naivety in thinking this was the extent of Istanbul...

It was actually raining heavily when we arrived, never a nice way to walk around a new city to sightsee, but you do what you have to, when you're in a new place with 24 hours on your hands.
Upon arrival, we walked, from Karaköy (where the cruise ships dock), across the Galata Bridge with all its wonderful lights, and where everyone is your friend (which seems a little daunting at first - how can everyone be so friendly?!??!) and up to Hagia Sofia museum/church, and lastly, around Sultanahmet Square.

That's it - I thought, I had seen all I needed to see in Istanbul! Of course I also thought (incorrectly) that Suliemaniye's Mosque (as seen in the picture) was the Blue Mosque, so I figured I didn't need to go back and see that either!! Done.

I thought to myself ... Maybe, I'd come back one day to visit the "street up over the hill."

Maybe...but as a world traveller, there are so many places to visit in the World and well... I'd now visited Istanbul, Turkey. On to the next destination!

Maybe, if I found enough time some day, I'd come back to visit this city that intrigued me enough, to warrant a possible SECOND visit...

Sultans of Swing

A lot of maybe's led to deep love affair with Istanbul. Who could have imagined?? Some days I get

That day I stepped off the cruise ship was a mere 6 years ago, and (now) countless trips to Turkey and Istanbul later, I realize how a "quicky" stop in a port of call can change your life...

I really wish even now, that I'd used the WHOLE 24 hours I had back then. It will take a lifetime to see everything that I want to in Istanbul & Turkey.

Of course we were sucked into wearing the funny garb for a photo op (as above).

I'll be writing more about my love affair. It's been passionate and steamy at times...

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