Tips and tricks on travelling to turkey by yourself

So, sekarang dapat cuti H1n1 untuk 2 minggu. Some of you mahu membawa hati yang lara ke negara orang dek kerana cuti emergency ini akan mengganggu cuti-cuti yang lain. Antara tempat yang menjadi pilihan adalah Turki.

So, here I would like to share some trick and trips how to travel turkey alone/backpackers.

I went to turkey last winter break and I use Istanbul-Bursa-Denizli-Cappadocia-Istanbul route.

First we will start with the budget.

This is my own budget ( I’ll give the tricks and tips latter)
I spend about 550USD for everything exclude the flight ticket.
so these is the budget list that I spent.

Transport

Bus

Istanbul-Bursa : 22Tl 
Bursa-Denizli : 50TL
Denizli-Cappadocia:50TL
Cappadocia-Istanbul : 60TL

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Istanbul-kart : 25tl
Bursa(bus+metro)= +- 10tl( I think. Lebih kurang)
Dolmush(minibus) from tophane to uludag mountain = 24tl (return)
Minibus from denizli to pamukkale : 7TL

Total spend for transport : 248tl +- 250tl

Activities

Istanbul
hagia Sophia : 25tl

Bursa
Ski: rent snowboar/ski equip : 30TL
Lift to the peak : 30TL for 4 hours tak kisah banyak mana guna

Pamukkale
Entrance : 20TL

Cappadocia:
Open air museum : 20tl
scooter : 40tl for 6hours

Accomodation

Cappadocia : Suite 3 org 80Tl ( so, sorang dlm 28tl)

Total : 441Tl ( 205Usd)

So you see , I spent another 245usd on food, shopping and kecuaian salah beli barang. Haha.
And I don’t spend much on accommodation coz I use couchsurfing.

Okay. Now for the tips and tricks.

Basically before you travel, you have to decide what kind of travelling that you prefer.
Do you like to know the history of every bits you go?
Do you want to mix with local and know their culture and lifestyle?
Do you like adventure?
Would you mind to spend some money on something or you really want to tight on a budget?
Would you like to spend your time in nature or city or both?

Also you need to have rough plan on how many days you would like to spend and how much money you willing to spend.

It is important to know your own preferences as it is kind of affecting the way you travel.

For example:

You are planning for 11days in Turkey.

Route:
You have to decide the route.
Now ask yourself.
Do you want to spend leisurely at each place or do you want to cover all the places in Turkey as much as you can?

Last holiday, I spent the first 3 days in Istanbul, then 3 days in Bursa, after that 2 days in Denizli (Pamukkale), 2 days in Goreme(Nevsehir/Cappadocia) and last day in Istanbul.
I spend like 2-3 days in each places coz I want to mix with locals, get new friends, and shopping.

This is the recommendation route:

Istanbul-Bolu(safranbolu)-Karabuk- Ankara-Nevsehir(Cappadocia) -Denizli-Bursa-Istanbul

Maybe 1 day in Bolu,1 day in Karabuk, 1 day in Ankara, 2 days in Cappadocia ,1 day in Denizli,  2 days in Bursa and remaining in Istanbul.
I don’t know. Its up to you. But please bear in my mind, most busses to Cappadocia operating at night.
And maybe you will spend more in transport. Well the more you go the more you spend, right?

Mind you, I myself didn’t use this route and I’ve never been to Bolu, Karabuk or Ankara but these 2 places are highly recommended by my friends.

Istanbul-Bolu-Ankara-Cappadocia/Goreme-Denizli-Bursa-Istanbul

This route was used by my good friend, Ezzati Aiza. However she didn’t go exactly to Denizli as she spend more time in Istanbul. But this is the route that usually used.

Istanbul- Goreme/Cappadocia- Denizli-Bursa-Istanbul
This is my route. However I started the trip from the back means Istanbul-Bursa-Denizli-Cappadocia.
Its up to you how you are going to take it.

Transport

Istanbul
It is quite important and make things easier if you buy an Istanbul kart to go around Istanbul as most of the transport from busses, trams, and ferrys use this card. You can buy one at the airport, at the trams station, and shops.

For the interstate bus , you can buy the tickets at the bus office near to your hostel or place of departure. Usually there is service bus provided the company for you to take to the interstate bus. 

Bursa

There is 2 means to go to Bursa either by bus or ferry. I do recommend however to take bus as it will lead you straight to the bus terminal.
Some of the bus company will go to bursa by ferry and then straight lead to you terminal. I used Nilufer Turizm.
Other company you may use are Metro Turizm and Kamil Koc.

From the bus terminal you can ask operation center on how to go to Tophane or how to go to Uludag mountain.

From Tophane you will take a dolmush(microbus/tramco/van/minibus) straight to Uludag mountain.It cost about 12TL.

Pamukkale

Actually Pamukkale is a place in Denizli. So, basically you will buy the ticket bus from wherever you are to Denizli.
From Denizli bus terminal, there is a couple of option. Usually there is like a private taxi or something that would ask if you are going to Pamukkale and they will bring you there but im not sure about the price. Or you can take a free service bus to eski otogar( old otogar) . From there take a minibus direct to Pamukkale.
I myself go to Pamukkale from the city.

The bus company I used from Bursa to Pamukkale is a bus company named Pamukkale.

Cappadocia
From wherever you are take a bus to Goreme. Goreme is Cappadocia (I think).
And then when you arrive at Goreme, just go to information centre and ask about your hotel.Usually the hotel owner will pick you up. Mine did.

To go around Cappadocia, there is agent that provide Green Tour, Red Tour and another colour tour. Usually they go around by bus or van.
However I recommend you to use your own means of transportation as it is much easier and fun and cheaper. 

I go around Cappadocia by scooter. Cost about 40tl for 6hours. 

You can also rent a bike, or quad bike or cars. Whatever suites you.
The best thing about using your own transportation is you can go wherever you want and stop by anywhere and everywhere.

Activities

Bursa

Skii and snowboarding. Oh and play snow make Olaf and sing Let it Go!
The view is magnificent. The white snow. Bliss.

Okay. You can rent the equipments for about 25-30TL. Please ask for the waterproof pants. You have to change your pants if you don’t want your jeans to get wet. Or just bring the extra pants. Whatever suits you.

Oh. And before you wear those big and complicated boots make sure you have your wudhu. Nanti bila da pkai kasut tu dah tak leh buka-buka.
Kalau da ada wudhu and nanti masa main2 terbatal wudhu bole buat khuf gune salji.

I myself prefer snowboarding compare to ski cause I do have problem in orientation and control my 2 legs ( got a very good lesson when I ice skated at sunway years ago). Plus ski, once da pakai tak leh tanggal unless you nak berhenti main. Kalau nak jalan atas salji kt sana dia suruh jalan guna ski.
Tapi kalau snowboard, stiap kali nak jalan kene bukak board. Haha. Ada la pro n cons. Tapi still I prefer snowboard lagi. Walaupun berbelas mungkin berpuluh kali kena concussion.

Tapi kalau nak main snowboard sedap kalau pergi dekat peak die. Nak pergi kat peak ade 3 cara : mendaki , pegang kat tali and tali tu bwk naik atas( susah) or just naik lift( macam cable car) .

ni lift yang cable car

Price die sekali naik 10 TL. Aku hritu beli yang untuk 4 jam unlimited . Tapi aku naik bende tu 2 kali je. So macam rugi sikit lah.

Oh and bawa la makanan dalam beg. Nanti tengah hari time lapar boleh makan kat peak sambil tengok kecantikan alam.

and jangan pakai baju tebal-tebal sangat. Jangan pakai jumper lah. Nanti kalau panas susa nak bukak. Haha.

Oh and before main ski or snowboard, warm up betul2. Especially around your pectoralisn, kaki, and badan. Sebab tempat-tempat tu yang korang akan selalu jatuh, sprained, tercedera and lenguh. Haha. But its worth it.

By the way,tempat tu tutup dalam pukul 5. So dalam pukul 5 tu kiteorang naik dolmush untuk ke Tophane. Harga sama 12TL.

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And the next day you can spend to tour the city of Bursa.
Me myself I just spend my time around Tophane, Grand mosque, the bazaar, markets , and shops.
Bursa is famous with towel, satin and silk. So you can buy the scarf, pashmina, satin all in beautiful colour and very comfortable ( besttttt).
Ada juga barang-barang reject. Macam-macam la.
Towel pun murah-murah and berkualiti. Ada bathrobe and apron yang cantikk.
Selamat bershopping J

Pamukkale

Entrance fee : 20/25TL( tak sure).
Make sure bile pergi pamukkale bawak kasut yang senang buka sebab nanti nak jalan kat lime stone tu tak boleh pakai kasut.

And limestone tu sejukkk especially bila musim sejuk. Dan air die ade yang warm dan ada sejuk. Manja betul.
Tapi please be careful especially kat tempt yang ada lumut2 warna hijau or cokelat , dia sangat lah licin dan sudah ramai yang menjadi mangsa tergelincir masuk ke dalam air dan basah. One of my friend, camera dia terjatuh sebab masuk air sebab dia tergelincir. So, careful.

And bawak towel gak. In case terjatuh. Lol.

For guys, you can ready with your shorts inside your jeans. Sebab kat atas sekali ada macam kolam air panas. Though takdelah panas sangat. Warm je.
But nice lah kalau nk swim or berendam.

Then , korang boleh teruskan perjalanan ke heriopolis ( I don’t know the spelling!). Ada mini theatre and kesan-kesan runtuhan di balik rumpun menghijau.
cantik sangat. Sangat best untuk piknik. Wee.

Cappadocia

The bus usually arrive Goreme(Cappadocia) in the morning. So you can start your activity in the morning.
But maybe first you would like to check in and have a nice breakfast. Usually the hostel owner would explain to you about the tour around Cappadocia.
So you can ask for the maps and routes. If you want to do activities such as hot air ballon, paragliding and many more you can ask the hotel owner or just ask around. There is a lot of agent companies.
For the hot air ballon you can get the price from 70-100 usd.

I recommend you to just go rent a scooter and go explore from the first day.You can choose either the green tour or red tour its up to you.

By the way, kat route red tour ade open air museum. Aku rasa tak payah pergi pun tak pe. Dia lawa tempat dia. Tapi masuk kena bayar 20@25TL(tak sure).
Tapi dia macam blur bile masuk tempat tu. Sebab tu macam famous dengan monastery Christian and the history so kalau korang tak tau memang terpinga-pinga je.
Tapi kitaorang have fun je sebab main berlakon-lakon and buat cerita sendiri. Wee.

Antara aktiviti yang korang boleh buat adalah pergi hiking, picnic, shopping,pottery, hot air ballon,paragliding, ATV dan banyak lagi kalau korang pandai explore.

Haritu aku buat pottery. Baik je pak cik tu ajar dengan sabar dan percuma. Siap dihidangkan dengan apple tea yang sangat sedap

.

Food
Kebab and roti boleh dapat dlm 5Tl ke bawah.
Nak decent meal yang sedap boleh dapat 10-20TL.

Kat Bursa aku makan kat sini lepas pergi ski. Restoran yang macam mewah gak. Kitaorang main masuk je. Tapi makanan dia superb la. 

tapi service lambat sebab orang ramai. Tapi dessert die sedapp.

Kat Cappadocia , last day after jalan-jalan naik scooter pergi makan kat Capadocia Cuisine.  Restoran ni macam bersaudara dengan kedai rent scooter.

Casserole meatball and salad die sumpa sedap. Uu. Sedapp.

Miscellaneous

Belajar la sikit perkataan-perkataan turki yang penting macam
“ ne kadar’’ – how much

‘’ nerede ‘’ – where

‘’ teshkulla’’* – thank you

And nombor-nombor dalam turki. Senang sikit nak haggle price ke ape.

Good luck and have fun!!