The text is part of a series – a holiday campaign of the Interia lifestyle editorial team, in which every week we advise on how to organize an inexpensive holiday in popular places. We will take you to the Baltic Sea, to the mountains, to Croatia, Greece, Turkey and many other places. We will offer attractions for active people and those who like to laze around. And all this without tightening our belts. Stay with us all summer long!
Holiday mistakes cost more than you think
Some people believe that money spent on a foreign holiday is never wasted. How can you regret spending money when you are in wonderful surroundings, your thoughts are not occupied by the responsibilities of home and work, the weather is wonderful and the mood is carefree? Well, time often verifies decisions made on impulse.
Although I consider the holiday itself a very successful one, because Turkey delighted me not only with its high hotel and restaurant standards, weather, wonderful warm sea, but also with its lush nature, well-kept monuments, and the kindness of the locals.
Taxis are comfortable but extremely expensive
The first expense I could avoid was definitely taxi rides. Yellow, marked vehicles are almost everywhere – always available and at hand. If you don’t see any parked cars, you can easily find special vending machines with a button to call a taxi in the trees on almost every street. Although it is convenient, taxi drivers are usually very friendly, willing to talk, and like to boast about their knowledge of a few or a dozen words in Polish, unfortunately – the margin they impose, even for a short distance to cover, is terribly high. This 250 TRY is something like a “course initiation fee”, although the hotel employee jokingly called it a “welcome fee for tourists”. I used taxis a lot, mainly because of vague and somewhat unfounded fears about public transport in a foreign country. At the end of my vacation, I learned that bus drivers in Turkey are very well trained and sensitive to the presence of tourists. They will be happy to remind you where to get off, and they also care about their safety. I will definitely use this option next time.
Colorful teas are one of the biggest traps of bazaars
Powdered teas are an absolute hit in Turkish markets. Sellers harass, harass and encourage you to try them. The stands sparkle with a rainbow of colors: from yellow, through red, pink and even green. They praise the drinks for their original flavors: pomegranate, eucalyptus, apple, lemon, but also various types of mixtures. “Teas” are bought by weight, the seller usually pours in too much powder, and when you ask for some of the powder to be removed, he deliberately removes just a few grains or does not remove anything, making an alleged “promotion” and claiming that it will make a loss, but he will sell it for more at the standard price. These drinks are sweet, have a very intense color and taste.
After returning home, when I read on the Internet that colored powders are full of preservatives, artificial colors and sugar in every possible form, and I am not sure how long the “tea” has been standing in the heat without any protection, exposed to dust and other impurities, I am unlikely to drink it, neither when I have a cold nor ever. Don’t be fooled.
One thing missing from my suitcase cost me dearly
The third expense was due to ignorance. When purchasing the trip, I read that the beach near my hotel would be sandy. Therefore, I decided that flip-flops would be enough. Unfortunately, the entrance to the sea and its bottom turned out to be gravel and rocky. It was easy to hurt your feet, so water shoes were essential for comfort and safety. . Unfortunately, if we want something fast, good and cheap, we must take into account that we will never combine all three aspects. At least not in Turkey, during the high season and in the tourist district. I recommend taking water shoes bought in Poland with you, even if the photos and description of the trip mention sand on the beach. This sand may – as in my case – end where the waves touch the shore.
Not everything they recommend to tourists is worth the price
As for other expenses, I recommend that you read the recommendations of people who have already been there before, talk to guides about which products are worth buying and which ones to avoid. . Many of them cost a fortune, even 15 Euro per bottle, and they contain as much saffron or pomegranate extract as a cat cried. So we pay for a mixture of cheaper oils – “fillers” and artificial flavors.
The “traditional hamam” packages, i.e. Turkish massages and peelings, which are popular in hotels, may not necessarily be a relaxing experience. Employees focused on rushing the service will not provide comfortable conditions, the cosmetics will not be natural or of the best quality. . If you want a true, traditional hamam experience, head to the historic sites or the niche old hammams for the locals. Just be careful about sanitation.
Although I was not persuaded to see the traditional Turkish ice show, loved by tourists, i.e. a show where scoops of ice cream are placed on a long stick, which arouses joy and bursts of laughter, I warn against the prices, which are astronomically high.
Would you add anything to the list of wasteful expenses in Turkey?
