Our first stops on our Turkey Vacation

Visiting Fethiye

We took a flight from Naxos to Fethiye Turkey. I am not exaggerating at all when I tell you that the airport out of Naxos, Greece was the smallest airport I have ever seen. The entire airport consisted of three two rooms, one to get checked in, and the other was a bamboo/straw structure made to wait for your flight. It really felt like an adventure.

When we arrived in Turkey it was dark already. We picked up our rental car and started the trip from the airport to Fethiye where we were planning on staying. It felt so ominous, driving in a foreign country with the call to prayer blaring across the empty streets. Needless to say we felt a little uneasy that first night. Coming from a western country, the only time we had heard the call to prayer was in scary movies about the middle east and we had 100% incorrectly associated the prayer with feelings of fear. After spending nearly a month in Turkey, we really grew to enjoy the daily prayer and now we laugh at how silly it was that we were afraid that first night.

The next morning we were greeted by a phenomenal breakfast (as is tradition at every Turkish hotel we stayed at), and a quaint little city. We spent about half the day in Fethiye and visited the Amyntas Rock Tombs before heading down to Ölüdeniz.

Once in Oldinize we set out to booking some really fun activities! We planned paragliding, scuba diving, a Turkish massage and a boat trip! Oldinize was definitely one of our favorite stops on our Turkey trip. There is just so much to do there and the dollar goes so far right now. Here are the prices we spent on each of our activates:

Paragliding: 150$ per person and includes a ride to the jump point

Scuba Diving: 16$ per person and included diving instruction, gear, 2 dives, a 10 hour boat ride, food and drinks

Turkish Massage: 12$ per person for a Traditional Turkish Massage and a 60 minute full body massage

Boat Trip: 20$ per person for a 8 hour boat trip visiting 6 islands and unlimited food and drink including alcohol

We highly recomend making time for all of these activates if you can swing it and are comfortable with them! Another thing that we did while in Oldinize was visit the lost city of Kayakoy. If you have time to add this to your trip, be sure to read up on the history of the ghost city as it will truly add to your experience. Click here to learn more about Kayakoy : Learn More about Kayakoy

How to: Bartering and Haggling

Bartering is something you will need to learn how to do while you are in Turkey. Some thing, like activates have a fixed rate and there is no room for negotiation, however, for most items it is recomended that you barter in order to avoid being ripped off.

If you plan on spending time in Oldinize, we recommend buying your souvenirs here as well! This is a relatively inexpensive place in Turkey and your money will go much farther. However, DON’T FORGET TO BARTER! My recommendation is to offer half or a forth of what the asking price is. Never pay full price for an item, because you most certainly are getting taken advantage of because you are not a local. Remember, when you are bartering with a shop owner, they will NEVER lose, because they will never agree to a price that isn’t beneficial to them. So don’t feel guilty for getting a lower price.

How to Barter In Turkey

Bartering in Turkey is an art that you will become better with in time. When Jake originally started bartering in Turkey, he quickly got labeled a “sucker” because he had a difficult time giving push back and saying no. It is common for Turkish vendors to be kind yet forceful when trying to get you to buy something. One example of this was when a Turkish delight dealer gave Jake WAY more Turkish Delight than what he asked for or wanted and upcharged him greatly. In that scenario, I recommend you walk away and buy nothing, because the vendor is attempting to force you to buy something you don’t want, all the while calling you “friend” (Turkish Vendors will do anything for a sale, including regularly referring to you as their friend or flirting with you). Instead, Jake felt so pressured to be nice to this “kind” (manipulative) person he just met and ended up buying 5lbs of Turkish Delight. So rule number one is DON’T PAY FOR THINGS YOU DON’T WANT. I have a few other rules and tips that I will list below when it comes to bartering.

1. Offer half or a forth of what you are willing to pay and then allow them to negotiate you up.

2. Do not pay more for something than what you are willing and comfortable paying for it. If you decide that a rug is worth 60 dollars for to you and the vendor wants you to spend 100 dollars on it, DO NOT BUY IT. There will be another rug that you that someone will sell you at a price that is fair to you.

3. Be okay to walk away. I have had vendors chase after me, lowering their price with every step that I took away from them.

4. Don’t act like you LOVE the item, act more indifferent to the item, even if you do LOVE it.

5. Always have cash on hand

6. If anyone makes you feel pressured or uncomfortable, DO NOT buy from them.