Turkey

Ignore the carnivorous rogue's We love Turkyie in fact drove over for the first time this year and took the pooches but in our car next year may well take the motorhome and make more of a leisurely parambulation of it.all hinges on me taking early retirement again.we intent to use our holiday home as a base and use the motorhome for some in depth exploring you will not be disappointed none of this eu dross just get Turkish residency and sorted.

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coroner said:
Ignore the carnivorous rogue's We love Turkyie in fact drove over for the first time this year and took the pooches but in our car next year may well take the motorhome and make more of a leisurely parambulation of it.all hinges on me taking early retirement again.we intent to use our holiday home as a base and use the motorhome for some in depth exploring you will not be disappointed none of this eu dross just get Turkish residency and sorted.
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Congratulations for being up-to-date on their newly 'identifying' name.

They apparently got fed up with being confused with the avian.

Next Erdogan will probably want to reverse Ataturk's decision to write in Roman Script and revert to Arabic Script. I think Ataturk's decision is just about celebrating its centenary.
 
We've just spent around 8 weeks in Turkey. It has undoubtedly been an amazing experience. We've learnt so much about the country and their culture. Most notably, the people are so warm and welcoming to strangers.

Life in a van in Turkey is different. So go with eyes and minds wide open, and bear in mind the following:-

1. YouTube vanlifers rarely show you the downsides to their travels, unless there's a good 'watch me' title to be generated for their film. Watch them all you like for inspiration - you may well think vanlife there looks idyllic, but there are some negatives.

2. If you find a beautiful spot on Park4Night and it doesn't mention litter - expect litter - lots of it. If the reviews mention litter, expect it to be like a landfill site.

3. Remember the country is enormous. We had 8 weeks and still missed out loads. Journeys can be long and road surfaces poor. Make sure your brakes and tyres are in top condition.

4. There are stray dogs everywhere, but they don't really cause you a problem, unless you feed them and then you can't get rid of them, or if you have your own dog, then they are territorial.

5. It seems ridiculously cheap to us, even though their inflation is out of control (over70% I think).

6. In rural Turkish towns and villages, much of the time women were invisible. Town squares and bars full of men drinking cay and playing okey, but not a woman in sight.

7. In the areas that cater for western tourists, they want your money and can be persistent, but we didn't find them pushy. Largely we avoided these places as much as possible.

8. If you find a lovely quiet park-up for the night, by 10pm you may well find it heaving and very noisy, as they come out late and picnic and play music until very very late.

9. Many of the historical sights are amazing, and for the most part reasonably priced to visit.

10. The food is amazing.

11. If you have a problem, ask for help. They all know how to use Google translate, and the lengths some of them went to help us was beyond belief.

12. Get used to being fed and watered by your van neighbours if they are Turkish. And they expect nothing in return!

13. There are some wonderfully remote places depending on your appetite for that type of wild camping. Some places were so remote that there were a couple of occasions when we thought that travelling with another van might actually have enhanced our experience. Never thought I would say that!!

14. Park4Night is great, but some descriptions of stopovers are downright lies, and some photos can paint a rosy picture of an otherwise pretty awful spot. Some car parks that were described as lovely stopovers were, to be frank, bloody awful spots. The 'places in nature' which looked idyllic just saddened us a lot of the time when you are surrounded by rubbish, and such an amount of it that going out with your litter picker was a pointless exercise.

15. We've never been anywhere where fresh water was so easy to obtain. It's everywhere. Emptying chemical toilets a bit more challenging, but we managed. Campsites - don't expect European standards.

We loved it mostly, hated it once or twice, found it a challenge in many respects, found it rewarding in every respect. It'll be a long time before we go back as we've so many other places to see, but not for a second do we regret going there.

Loads of info in our blog www.wheretwo.co.uk/blog
 
Skez said:
We've just spent around 8 weeks in Turkey. It has undoubtedly been an amazing experience. We've learnt so much about the country and their culture. Most notably, the people are so warm and welcoming to strangers.

Life in a van in Turkey is different. So go with eyes and minds wide open, and bear in mind the following:-

1. YouTube vanlifers rarely show you the downsides to their travels, unless there's a good 'watch me' title to be generated for their film. Watch them all you like for inspiration - you may well think vanlife there looks idyllic, but there are some negatives.

2. If you find a beautiful spot on Park4Night and it doesn't mention litter - expect litter - lots of it. If the reviews mention litter, expect it to be like a landfill site.

3. Remember the country is enormous. We had 8 weeks and still missed out loads. Journeys can be long and road surfaces poor. Make sure your brakes and tyres are in top condition.

4. There are stray dogs everywhere, but they don't really cause you a problem, unless you feed them and then you can't get rid of them, or if you have your own dog, then they are territorial.

5. It seems ridiculously cheap to us, even though their inflation is out of control (over70% I think).

6. In rural Turkish towns and villages, much of the time women were invisible. Town squares and bars full of men drinking cay and playing okey, but not a woman in sight.

7. In the areas that cater for western tourists, they want your money and can be persistent, but we didn't find them pushy. Largely we avoided these places as much as possible.

8. If you find a lovely quiet park-up for the night, by 10pm you may well find it heaving and very noisy, as they come out late and picnic and play music until very very late.

9. Many of the historical sights are amazing, and for the most part reasonably priced to visit.

10. The food is amazing.

11. If you have a problem, ask for help. They all know how to use Google translate, and the lengths some of them went to help us was beyond belief.

12. Get used to being fed and watered by your van neighbours if they are Turkish. And they expect nothing in return!

13. There are some wonderfully remote places depending on your appetite for that type of wild camping. Some places were so remote that there were a couple of occasions when we thought that travelling with another van might actually have enhanced our experience. Never thought I would say that!!

14. Park4Night is great, but some descriptions of stopovers are downright lies, and some photos can paint a rosy picture of an otherwise pretty awful spot. Some car parks that were described as lovely stopovers were, to be frank, bloody awful spots. The 'places in nature' which looked idyllic just saddened us a lot of the time when you are surrounded by rubbish, and such an amount of it that going out with your litter picker was a pointless exercise.

15. We've never been anywhere where fresh water was so easy to obtain. It's everywhere. Emptying chemical toilets a bit more challenging, but we managed. Campsites - don't expect European standards.

We loved it mostly, hated it once or twice, found it a challenge in many respects, found it rewarding in every respect. It'll be a long time before we go back as we've so many other places to see, but not for a second do we regret going there.

Loads of info in our blog www.wheretwo.co.uk/blog
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I find the following points above to be on the negative side 1,2,4,6,7,8, and 14.

My experience of Turkey has been several visits with my sailing boat, until I got fed up with their bureaucracy, misinformation and inefficiency, and even trying to overcharge. I did get an apology from one Port Commandant.

I later worked there as a pilot for a month. Again lies about the operation, standards not up to Western Europe, co-pilots who seemed intimidated by a Captain's 4 stripes to the extent that they were not part of the crew. Taxi drivers trying to cheat.

Two lady friends were refused service in a village cafe because they were not male-accompanied.

It is a male-dominated society based on interpretations of Islam.

One last anecdote. I was on a short ferry crossing Turkey to Greece. Having paid what is a high fare, the crew then came round asking for another €10. I was wise to their tricks and asked in a loud voice 'What is this for?' answer 'Greek port tax'. OK I said in an equally loud voice 'Then I will pay it to the Greek Port Authorities' They quickly moved on to the next mug.

Do not start me on their human rights abuses.

I have had kindnesses from individual engineers etc. and had a very good job done on my boat's osmosis in Marmaris by Turkish workers, but run by a German.

I do not intend to visit the country again even though Basia's Sister lives there, and has been basically stuffed by what the mis-management of the financial system(corruption?) has done to the economy.
 
on a yacht or plane i doubt you was far of the beaten track so the experience may be different
 
nicholsong said:
I find the following points above to be on the negative side 1,2,4,6,7,8, and 14.

My experience of Turkey has been several visits with my sailing boat, until I got fed up with their bureaucracy, misinformation and inefficiency, and even trying to overcharge. I did get an apology from one Port Commandant.

I later worked there as a pilot for a month. Again lies about the operation, standards not up to Western Europe, co-pilots who seemed intimidated by a Captain's 4 stripes to the extent that they were not part of the crew. Taxi drivers trying to cheat.

Two lady friends were refused service in a village cafe because they were not male-accompanied.

It is a male-dominated society based on interpretations of Islam.

One last anecdote. I was on a short ferry crossing Turkey to Greece. Having paid what is a high fare, the crew then came round asking for another €10. I was wise to their tricks and asked in a loud voice 'What is this for?' answer 'Greek port tax'. OK I said in an equally loud voice 'Then I will pay it to the Greek Port Authorities' They quickly moved on to the next mug.

Do not start me on their human rights abuses.

I have had kindnesses from individual engineers etc. and had a very good job done on my boat's osmosis in Marmaris by Turkish workers, but run by a German.

I do not intend to visit the country again even though Basia's Sister lives there, and has been basically stuffed by what the mis-management of the financial system(corruption?) has done to the economy.
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Hard to disagree with some of your points.

Male dominated - absolutely. As I said, in some places we visited, women were totally invisible. My wife (and I) found that hard to deal with.
I had an very interesting conversation with a man who went well above and beyond in helping us with something. He was a lovely man, but he said to me 'My religion commands that I help you'. Is that Free Will??

It was an interesting place but we wont rush the 2500km to go back.

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Propshaft said:
Anyone thinking of Turkey next year ?
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Yes, but looking at jan/feb. Fancy a change from spain and portugal, and the wife ssys no to morocco this year. Need some adventure::bigsmile: and sun😎
 
We did a trip back in 2012 via Greece, plenty of coords listed for free night stoppovers but some will obviously be out of date now. Would love to return one day. Wonderful country with very friendly natives, especially away from the tourist trail and one of the easiest countries to overnight off grid we have visited.

MagBaz Travels - PJ in Turkey 2012

www.magbaztravels.com

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