Where are you from ? (Kusadasi)

Member Name: Daisybelle

Product:	Kusadasi
Date:	24/05/01 (1689 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inexpensive, Friendly, Warm

Disadvantages: The Hard Sell

The small sea port of Kusadasi lies on the West coast of Turkey, a few miles North East of the Greek Island of Samos and a similar distance South of the ancient port of Ephesus, home to one of the wonders of the ancient world, The Temple of Artemis. The week we spent in Kusadasi was my first visit to Turkey. As it was a freebie (Lucky ole me) I didn’t bother doing any research, so everything was a bit of a surprise. Thankfully it was a thoroughly good surprise.

The centre of Kusadasi really is a gem of a place. Up to three cruise ships visit a day, so the many hawkers, shop owners and stall-holders are going full tilt at anyone who walks slower than jogging pace. If this really doesn’t appeal, Kusadasi may not be the place for you to go and I wouldn’t bother reading too much further – although there are ways around the problem.

The people we were with had been to Kusadasi several years ago and said it was worse now. In comparison to North Africa the hassle from these friendly, it has to be said, hustlers was minimal. It’s more the persistence that could be annoying. There are hundreds of shops and stalls in the alleys and streets that stem away from the focal point of the itinerant liners, the Karavanserail Hotel, which is an imposing building near the sea front that was, presumably from its appearance, a fortress in days gone by.

Opposite the Karavanserail, which is surrounded by palms, is a town square of sorts. This borders the sea on one side and is surrounded by carpet and jewellery shops, and bars and restaurants. Although this is the dearest part of town in shopping terms, the bars are competitively priced and there always seemed to be a delicious aroma in the air along with a cacophony of Turkish music, making it a nice area to have a beer or coffee. There are charming little girls trying to sell roses to the punters, that is until the waiters shoo them and they hiss like cats. On the subject of cat
s, numerous skinny specimens patrol the pavements with an air of total aloofness – unless you have any food on the table. Unfortunately the flies have the same attitude.

Leading up the left side of the Karavanserail from the promenade, is the pedestrianised Barbaros St. Don’t worry, I’m not going to describe every street, but this one gets a mention as it’s home to the towns internet café. Its first main intersection is with Saglik Cadesi, worthy of note because if you hang a right you’ll find the aptly named Bar Street, centre of the towns nightlife. Go left and there are a decent selection of cafes and shops.

The shops around here open at 8:00 am and close at midnight. A gruelling day for the staff, but they only work about 5 months of the year, so I guess it’s a good lifestyle if you’re earning enough. The carpet shops were my favourites, and we came home with bulging suitcases. If you’re going to make a major purchase like this, ensure the sellers know you’re not off a cruise ship, and don’t buy on your first visit to the shop as they’ll drop the price without you having to haggle if you don’t seem too keen.

Bar Street is a narrow alley about 300 metres long. An arch with the words Bar Street illuminated in green across the top marks the entrance to it. Half the bars along here are Irish pubs, all decked out in wood panelling with tricolours for wallpaper. This, along with the very humdrum dance music was a bit samey, no marks for originality here Turkish people. Apparently the bars liven up at about one, and stay open anywhere up until six.

As we were there just before the season really started it was all a bit lame though. By reputation it’s a great place in the summer. There are also four tattoo shops along Bar Street. I had a look at some of the work (On customers, not pictures) and it looked very impressive. Just try and make sure you̵
7;re sober though. For those who don’t get to grips with Turkish food there are a couple of shops at the East End selling “Real” Doner Kebabs. The best bar I found was the Pegasus, a bit full of itself but at least the DJ was a DJ.

There are several things I found striking about the town. Cleanliness of the highest order everywhere was one of them, as was the absence of beggars. Turkish businesses seem to employ people in large quantities. Presumably this means they are all poorly paid, but it also means they have plenty of time to keep things immaculate. This excess of time on their hands may also be a contributory factor to the friendliness of everyone.

Don’t be afraid of going into shops for a look, whilst they may want to show you half the shop, feed you with beer and tea and chat about where you live, your lifestyle and their own, on the whole I didn’t feel pressed. As long as you’re polite, ask for a business card, and say you’ll consider returning once you’ve checked out the other shops, then you’ll usually have made a friend.

The transport system is also very impressive. The Dolmus is a system of extremely frequent minibuses that cost about 20p to go anywhere in town. They run from 7:30 in the morning until 12:30 at night, are very clean, nice and steadily paced and as the Turks are gentlefolk they are a pleasure to travel on. The taxis are as dear as in the UK so I would avoid them if the Dolmus are still running. Tony Blair take note, if you truly want to encourage the use of Public Transport, pay a visit to Turkey.

If you don’t enjoy banter and haggling with the locals, pay a visit to your local sunbed before leaving the UK. Pale skinned Brits and Irish stick out like a sore thumb, so they have your language immediately. By the end of the week we were getting propositioned in French and German as the tans kicked in. Alternatively, when asked the stock qu
estion by the salesmen, “Where are you from”, casually reply “Helsinki”.

Although only there for a week we managed to try out about a dozen eateries. Most main courses cost between two and three pounds, so this isn’t an expensive way to feed yourself. I love trying new dishes so ate my way through the Turkish menus first. The Kebabs come in a variety of species, none were too exciting as they were strangely, well I thought so, underspiced, but the Casseroles, Potes and Guvecs, all forms of Tomato and Veg, plus your favourite meat, casserole were very tasty and definitely worth a try.

Worthy of note, and I would venture to say not to be missed, was the Kiwi Restaurant at Ladies Beach. This stood head and shoulders above the rest and was genuinely a restaurant with a skilled Chef (We ate here twice), although the prices were similar to other places. Another I would recommend was the China Garden, near to Ladies Beach. Good Chinese food at reasonable prices, and they’ll send a free taxi to pick you up. The toilets here were luxurious, with a bidet, vases of flowers, hair lotion, combs and all sorts of accessories. Noteworthies in the town centre were, both on Saglik Cadesi, the Yucca Restaurant, which serves Chinese, Indian, Tex-Mex and Turkish to appeal to all, and the Kylon, which has a large burger menu as well as a good range of tasty Turkish food.

The hotel we stayed in was located at Ladies Beach, to the South of the town. I would tentatively recommend this as a good area to base yourself, as it’s away from the shops and the port, but has a good selection of bars and restaurants to keep you amused, and with a pint of the local Pils costing 70p you can’t go far wrong. The reason I say tentatively is that the North side of the town seemed similar and possibly just as good, but we didn’t go there so it’s unfair to comment. The centre of the town I would avoid, as being perm
anently in the middle of this bustling place would, I suspect, appeal only to the minority.

The Hotel Grand Blue Sky is a large, very modern, complex that is currently surrounded by ongoing building works. Don’t be too put off by that statement, the Turks build at an astonishing rate and remarkably quietly to boot. I expect the whole area will look lovely by the end of summer, but we didn’t really notice the mess after the first day anyway. The hotel has huge, beautiful gardens sloping down to a private beach. The accommodation is in three blocks, each the shape and size of a cruiseliner, bow and all. Our room was well furnished with satellite TV (BBC World News gets a bit boring after a couple of days though), a minibar, air conditioning etc.

The hotel food was buffet style and not really worth bothering with when there are so many inexpensive restaurants to choose from, we were booked in for B&B so this wasn’t a problem. The hotel offered a number of activities and Watersports, including Scuba diving from it’s own dive centre, Aquaventure Diving. At 20 quid for a boat dive, including all equipment, they were good value for money. The instructors seemed especially gentle with beginners, taking them into the shallow, sheltered bay in very small groups, so they’d be really worth considering if you want to try out diving for the first time.

We travelled with First Choice, who offer a decidedly average service. The main criticism I would have of them is their excursions. The trips are very overpriced compared to local tour operators, so I’d book privately. Also, on the one trip we did book via the rep, to Ephesus, there were detours not mentioned in the itinerary. They included a visit to a Turkish Delight shop, where they charged 5 times the price found in town, and a stop at a leather factory to watch a fashion show and be harassed by the owners. This is obviously a means of getting backhanders for
someone, be it the driver, guide or rep, and I was pretty offended as it was wasting my valuable time. Needless to say they got nothing in tips from me.

It would be remiss not to say a little about Ephesus, as this really is an outstanding archaeological site. The city has stood, in a number of guises, to the north of Kusadasi for thousands of years, it’s demise eventually caused by the sea receding. Our guide (Who kept telling us he was a liar, but seemed to be a good one) informed us that latest estimates have the site being populated for up to 8,000 years.

The temple of Artemis isn’t much to look at, only one pillar stands, but at least I’ve seen a Wonder of the World now. The more recent part of the town, built in 300 BC is very impressive. The library is a well known building, and the theatre huge. Don’t miss the opportunity to visit Ephesus, as it’s quite remarkable. The excursion cost us 18 pounds each through First Choice. Local operators offered it for 13 pounds, and if you were canny enough to make your own way there on the Dolmus, and buy your own ticket to enter, it would cost a mere 5 pound in total.

Overall I was really impressed with Kusadasi. I don’t usually thrive on alien environments, but this intoxicating blend of East meeting West was just exotic enough to have me hooked. I would definitely recommend it if you’re bored of the usual resorts around the Med, and would quite like to go back myself one day.

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