Istanbul, Pamukkale & Cappadocia

You could say that Turkey was the highlight of our entire career break trip. Yes, we loved it that much, especially Istanbul and Cappadocia! From the scenery to the food to the people, the trip was almost perfect.

Turkey was our next stop after Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the eighth country out of 10 that we visited on our 3-month long career break trip.

Days spent in Turkey

A total of 15 days, with 7 nights in Istanbul, 3 nights in Pamukkale, 4 nights in Cappadocia

Highlights

The food was fantastic – After being in Europe for so many weeks, we were craving for familiar tastes (especially WJ who caved and ate cup noodles just 2 days into our trip). And by familiar tastes, I mainly mean rice.

But other than the fact that Turkey has cheap and delicious chicken rice, we also found so many other dishes that we loved. One of my favourites has to be menemen. I ate the tasty Turkish-style scrambled eggs for 3 days in a row! I had to stop myself to keep from ordering that so that I could try other dishes!

The friendly locals – We heard that Turkish people were friendly before we went over, but we took it with a pinch of salt. Turns out, it’s true.

One example was when a guy bumped into WJ in a busy street. Instead of ignoring him or staring at him in annoyance, he asked if WJ was ok. Only when we assured him that he wasn’t hurt did he move on. Another instance was when a local lady came up to me to take photos of me with her kid. Odd, but made me feel like a mini-celebrity ;D

Our first hot air balloon ride – We woke up before the crack of dawn for the ride and it was more than worth it! Getting to see the beautiful Cappadocia from above was a whole different experience.

Hiking in Cappadocia – We had so much fun roaming around and pretending to be olden-day explorers. There were so many trails where we found ourselves to be the only ones walking there. It could be due to the fact that the sun was blazing in the height of summer (in August), but it was great being in nature away from crowds!

The beautiful mosques – Not just on the exterior, but the art and details in the interior too!

Lowlight

Finding out the Cotton Castle isn’t as beautiful as in the photos online – It turns out that the images with Pamukkale filled with turquoise water were mostly taken decades ago, and the ones people take a dip in are manmade pools. The few remaining pools are cordoned off in order to preserve them. But… Some tourists just didn’t get the memo and there were more than a few who climbed over to try and get the money shot.

We’re supposed to take off our footwear before going in too, but again, there were plenty of inconsiderate tourists who didn’t do so.

Fun mention

WJ had terrible athlete’s feet while we were in Turkey, and at first, we thought the smell came from the hotels we were staying at. Only when I followed the trail of his stench that I realised they were coming from his socks! His shoes were also destroyed.

Reading that putting bags of tea in them would kill the smell, WJ decided to do one better and soak his shoes in a bucket of tea. Obviously, that didn’t work and his shoes stank even worse than before!

Where we stayed

We stayed in 3 different hotels in Istanbul – Art City Hotel, Hotel Naz Wooden House Inn and Deniz Houses Hotel.
All of them were in pretty good locations, but if we just had to choose one to stay at again, it’d be Deniz Houses Hotel. The room was airy, which was lucky as that was where WJ washed his rancid shoes!

The views from Alida Hotel in Pamukkale were amazing. It’s just right opposite and facing the Cotton Castle! There’s also a swimming pool to chill at.

In Cappadocia, we stayed at Heybe Hotel & Spa and loved it. They also had a small pool which proved useful for cooling down in the summer heat.

How much we spent in Turkey

Item	Expenditure
Accommodation	$671.87
Food	$624.67
Transport	$590.82
Attractions	$630.39
Miscellaneous	$113.55
Total	$2,631.30

We spent a total of S$2,631.30 for the both of us over 15 days.

Transport costs include the flight from Sarajevo to Istanbul.

Where we went next

We took a 4-hour flight from Istanbul to Samarkand, part of the Silk Road.