The next day we decided to go to Alanya and we caught a bus from the hotel. The city is very pretty, the ocean is so blue and clean, but it was not warm enough to take a swim. We walked downtown, but going shopping is not that easy in Turkey, because the salesmen are really pushy and you have to bargain for everything you purchase and after a while you just get tired of “fighting” for a fair price. In a lot of places, the prices are listed in Euros it makes it easier for tourists, so you actually can stay in Turkey without exchanging your money to Turkish lira. Of course they accept lira as well, but the salesmen’s exchange rate (when you ask in lira or in euros) fluctuates from one store to the other and they do not match because some of them do not actually calculate, they just come up with a number that sounds good or reasonable. So the trick is to ask in both currencies and the one that is closest to the real exchange rate is the currency I ended up paying with.
It is interesting how many people, in the places that I have been, spoke German. For them German is more important than English because most tourists come from Austria and Germany. The dominant religion is Muslim and everyday we could hear the prayers.
We also went to Pamukkale, which means “cotton city’. The city is white and I was able to find the reason for this phenomenon online. “The tectonic movements that took place in the fault depression of the Menderes river basin did not only cause frequent earthquakes, but also gave rise to the emergence of a number of very hot springs, and it is the water from one of these springs, with its large mineral content — chalk in particular — that created Pamukkale. Apart from some radioactive material, the water contains large amounts of hydrogen carbonate and calcium, which leads to the precipitation of calcium carbonate. The effect of this natural phenomenon leaves thick white layers of limestone and travertine cascading down the mountain slope, making the area look like a fortress of cotton or a frozen waterfall.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pamukkale)
After Pamukkale, which was great, we went to a carpet factory. There they showed us how a carpet is manually made and how people dye the wool, silk and other materials with natural dyes. A carpet can cost a lot of money, not because of the materials, but because of labor. A regular carpet can generally take almost a year to be made and if it is made of silk it probably will take more time. You can see the quality of the carpet and if it took a long time to make or not by looking at the back of the carpet.
The food is very different than what I am used it. Seasoning is very popular in Turkey and you can find any kind of spice for a reasonable price. Unfortunately, we were not able to eat a kebab while in Turkey but I was able to try many things. I can say that Turkish people really love coconut. Two out of three desserts were made of coconut in various shapes or forms. I also liked the typical Turkey bread. I will definitely be going back to Turkey, but the next time will be Istanbul.
