Epic Travel Fail in Turkey – A Girls Trip on the Edge!
The last part of our Epic Travel Fail series takes us to one of my favourite countries - Turkey! Stunning landscapes, rich culture, glorious food and some of the most friendly and hospitable people around - what's not to love?! This all is best enjoyed with good friends, of course! I was lucky enough to go on a spectacular trip to Turkey with two of my besties from Cape Town! We had a fabulous 10-day girls trip planned to explore Turkey and spend some quality time with long-missed friends! Our trip was jam-packed with some of the best fun adventures but not entirely free from some epic travel fails! Let's revisit some of the avoidable and unavoidable travel fails we encountered during our time in Turkey! What happened there? Well, let me fill you in...
The Grand Plan!
Since I left South Africa two years earlier, it was about time in 2016 to meet up with my friends from Cape Town! Therefore, the idea was born to meet somewhere in the middle for some adventure and quality girl time! I headed the planning commission in our little group of three to organise the rough itinerary, flights and accommodation! The idea was to spend a few nights in Istanbul and then head down south to Fethiye for some sun and relaxation.
The domestic flights between Istanbul and Fethiye were easily booked with Pegasus out of Sabiha Gökcen Airport. For our accommodation in Istanbul, we chose a 3-bed room in a small hotel in Sultanahmet, in the tourist district close to Hagia Sofia and the Blue Mosque. For our five days down south in Fethiye, I suggested getting an Airbnb instead of a hotel! We wanted to be close to the beach and – at least in my head – stay in a more local area of Fethiye. We decided to not book any airport transfers before arrival, but to see how we go. The plan was good, the research was sound, so what could go wrong?
#1 - Location, Location, Location!
Choosing the right neighbourhood in Istanbul wasn’t easy since it’s a huge city with so much choice! We wanted to be central, with easy access to the sights and restaurants. Since we didn’t have much time in Istanbul, we didn’t want to waste it on transport and getting around. I consulted Tripadvisor and other travel forums to get an idea of which area would suit us best. It boiled down to Sultanahmet, the old part of town or Galata, the hip and happening shopping district. After some consideration, we opted to stay at a small hotel in Sultanahmet, located about a 5-minute walk to the famous Must-Visit Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. The hotel was small and lovely with an amazing Turkish breakfast buffet and views over the Bosphorus! The Grand Bazaar, the Galata Bridge and Bosphorus were all within walking distance, the ideal base for our 2 days in Istanbul.
We all loved Istanbul and even with only a few days, we made the most of our time here. Visiting Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque were definitely a highlight! We perused the Grand Bazaar for souvenirs and had Balik Ekmek – a traditional Turkish fish sandwich – at the Galata Bridge! We went for a boat cruise on the Bosphorus and took the Hop-on-Hop-off tourist bus around town! It wasn’t necessary to pre-book any of the tickets and it was all easy to navigate! We definitely made the most out of the short time we had in Istanbul. Being based in Sultanahmet turned out to be a great choice for our needs!
Disappointment in Fethiye!
While we struck gold with our accommodation and location in Istanbul, Fethiye, unfortunately, turned out to be a letdown! Not the destination itself, but my choice of location was poor, to say the least! It definitely wasn’t for a lack of research! I consulted travel forums, studied the map of Fethiye up and down and looked at different Airbnb options. Yet, I still managed to book us into the least desirable location in town. Sometimes you can research all you want, but you only understand the lay of the land once you arrive.
Downtown Fethiye is very charming with a nice marina and promenade as well as narrow alleys full of small shops and market stalls. Lovely! The perfect location for a couple of days in the sun. Somehow though, my research brought us to the Çalis Beach, about 8 km out of town! The reasoning behind it was that we wanted to be close to the beach, so choosing an Airbnb close in Çalis seemed to be the right choice. I also did not realise how far 8 km really were, thinking it would be a 5-minute taxi ride from Fethiye town. It turned out to be a tad bit further than that!
The Reality of Çalis Beach!
Our flat was nice enough and our landlady made us feel very welcome. However, we already realised on arrival that we had landed quite far off from fun and entertainment. Yet, after a good nights sleep, we were full of beans to explore the area and spend a day by the beach!
The first harsh realisation was that the beach was still a good 30-minute walk from our place. Not very convenient. As we finally entered the beach area, we suddenly found ourselves in a British pensioners enclave! As far as the eye could see were sunburned, ageing Brits (no offence), cheap hotels and restaurants advertising authentic English breakfasts! The beach itself was a pebble beach, which made sunbathing extremely uncomfortable and the weather in May was still a bit too chilly for long beach stints! Many stores and shops were still closed since the summer high season would only start a few weeks later. While it was great not having too many tourists around, the closed shops only enhanced the sad and lonely feel to Çalis! We tried to be positive about the sad beach with the leather-skinned Brits, but we never returned to Çalis beach.
NOTE TO SELF: Even with the best research, you can get it wrong sometimes! Finding the right location, in my opinion, is key to a good experience! Often the location is more important than the accommodation itself. While you don’t want to be stuck in a terrible hotel room, the reality is that you will be out for most of the day. Being stuck in the wrong location is much more annoying as you have to spend more time and money on getting from A to B. Always be aware when reading other travellers’ opinions because they are, of course, very subjective. What they think is enjoyable might not be enjoyable to you! Their idea of a good time might not match yours. And sometimes, you just get it wrong! It happens
Did Çalis Beach Ruin Our Holiday?
Hell no!!! Even though the location was not ideal, we still had the amazing time we had hoped for! We found a little local restaurant just across the road where we ended up most nights. The staff was warm and welcoming, the food was delicious and we felt like being part of the community. On our first night, we had a few too many cocktails and ended up faking a birthday to get free cake. Not our finest moment, but loads much fun and the staff didn’t seem to mind.
We spent a day at stunning Ölündeniz beach by taking the local Domus (a local minivan) through the mountainous roads. The landscape around Fethiye is just stunning and Ölündeniz is a Must-Visit when in town. We perused the narrow alleys and local market stalls in Fethiye where bought Turkish Delight and souvenirs. My personal highlight was a boat cruise taking us around Fethiye’s stunning coastline, stopping at small bays and islands to go for a swim. The marina is full of day trip boats so it’s easy enough to go the day before to pick and choose a boat to your liking! I absolutely loved our time in Fethiye, even though our accommodation location was not ideal!
#2 - Airport Transfers - Nothing But Trouble!
These days most domestic and international flights go to Istanbul Airport, newly constructed in 2019! Back in 2016, Istanbul still had Ataturk International Airport in the city’s west as the hub for most international flights and Sabiha Gökçen Airport in the east, catering for most of the domestic low-cost carriers. Those two airports couldn’t have been further apart from each other with kilometres of terrible traffic in between.
My personal transport fail had already started on arrival at Istanbul Ataturk Airport. Having been burned by many rogue taxi drivers in Bangkok, I was already suspicious of the taxi situation in Istanbul. Doing some research, I found many tales about taxi scams! Therefore, I was easy prey for the transport company at Ataturk Airport when I arrived. Being jetlagged and generally challenged with numbers, I thought it was a fair deal. I paid the asked price and got into the fancy van that would drive me to the hotel. Once I arrived and checked with the girls, who had arrived earlier in a taxi, it turned out that I had paid double the price of the taxi! Great success! Fail #1!
Drama Part 1 - Sultanahmet to Sabiha Gökçen Airport
A few days later, we were due to take our afternoon flight from Istanbul to Fethiye. We had to make the 45 km from Sultanahmet to Sabiha Gökçen Airport on the opposite side of Istanbul! Traffic in Istanbul is fierce, so we allowed for some extra time for the transfer! Our receptionist called a taxi and advised us, leaving 2.5 hours before departure would be enough time to get us to the airport.
Confident with the advice from the local expert, we hopped in the van and got onto the journey to Sabiha Gökçen Airport. The first part of the journey to the famous Bosphorus Bridge was slow, but the traffic kept moving. Once we had passed the bridge, traffic went from bad to worse until we barely moved at all. The journey had started with jokes and laughter, but soon enough the atmosphere started to tense up when we realised we were running out of time quickly. Our driver felt the nervous shifting on the backseat and reconfirmed our actual departure time at least three times. Once we told him that the check-in would close in 30 minutes, he got a slightly panicked look in his eyes. We arrived at the airport with 10 minutes to spare, ran to the check-in counter, throwing our passports at the check-in staff only to learn that our flight was delayed by an hour! What a debacle!
The Transport Drama Continues!
When we planned our trip, we booked our return flight from Fethiye to Istanbul on the same day as the girls would fly back to Cape Town. With about four hours between landing at Sabiha Gökçen Airport and departure from Ataturk Airport, we felt we left enough time to travel between the two airports. I was only scheduled to leave the next day, having booked an extra night at our previous hotel in Istanbul. After the traffic debacle, the nearly missed flight and the hour-long flight delay, we started to have doubts the plan for our return would work out.
We ended up spending a good portion of our time in Fethiye debating and researching earlier options for our return to Istanbul. Nothing really made sense and after calculating the worst-case scenario for the 100th time, we decided to stick to the booked flights. To take at least one unknown out of the equation, I looked up airport transfers between the two airports and contacted them via e-mail. I made it very clear we would need a transfer between the two airports plus a drop off – ideally en-route – for myself at the hotel in Sultanahmet. The transfer company agreed to the arrangement for an acceptable price to be paid cash in EUR! So, very inconveniently, we had to exchange money in Fethiye from Turkish Lira into EUR to be able to pay the driver.
Drama Part 2 - The Final Blow-Up at Ataturk Airport
Finally, the day of our departure had come. It was go-time! Our flight from Fethiye was on time, our luggage arrived at the carousel quickly and we found our driver as soon as we walked out! The thick traffic had disappeared and we were practically flying on the roads of Istanbul! Perfect! Things were looking up for us! As we got closer to Sultanahmet, I enquired with the driver if he knew where to drop me off before continuing to the airport. The answer was that there would only be one stop at Ataturk Airport, no drop off at the hotel. I explained the confirmed arrangement, but the driver really couldn’t care less and drove on with breakneck speed. I am not proud of it, but this was the point where I lost it and just started to scream that he had to drop me off. My poor friends looked in bewilderment at my breakdown, but I couldn’t help it! Maybe it was the looming farewell, maybe it was the nervous built-up or maybe it was just one transport issue to many. Either way, I snapped! Unfazed by my mental meltdown, the driver continued to the airport.
The Final Humiliation
The girls made it to their flight with two hours to spare! After a shaky goodbye, I continued my discussion with the driver to drop me off at my hotel as agreed via e-mail. After a couple of phone calls in Turkish, he eventually agreed to drive me back to my hotel and off we went back on the highway. I had just started to relax when the driver suddenly took the next off-ramp circling back to the airport. As he explained, he would drop me off at the airport for another driver to pick me up to bring me into town. I thought it was an odd arrangement since we had already started our journey, but I had no fight left in me. He basically kicked me out of the van with my luggage and told me to watch out for a black Mercedes. After about 10 minutes of craning my neck for the promised car to come, it started to dawn on me that the driver had lied to me! There wouldn’t be a car coming, there wouldn’t be a transfer! He had won!
The last straw of my surreal evening was the shuffle at the taxi stand. After I had to admit defeat, I made my way to the taxi stand waving tiredly to one of the drivers. Two drivers jumped up to be of service. I didn’t care which one would take me as long as I got into town. As the first driver started to put my luggage in the car, the second one started screaming bloody murder, clearly upset that he didn’t get the business. I didn’t care anymore, I had enough and teary eyed climbed in the car, waiting for them to finish the fight.
NOTE TO SELF: Don’t overthink it. Sometimes, things are just not meant to be. Our mission to make it in time for the girl’s flight was successful, which is the most important part. In hindsight, we should have just rolled the dice and taken a normal taxi instead of a random transfer company I found on the internet. But such is life and travel has those moments too. Looking back, it’s a funny story without any serious repercussions apart from a bruised ego, lost time and wasted money. And sometimes it’s ok to lose your s****!
Turkey is still one of my favourite countries and I cannot wait to go back. All of the fails and mishaps are just part of the travel adventure and are the things you look back on laughing later. Our trip back in 2016 was an awesome experience with that little bit of chaos that makes it exciting.
Looking back, I feel like I should have done less research. In the end, it seemed to have pushed some decisions in the wrong direction. I wouldn’t recommend not doing any research, just don’t overdo it! Leave some room to be pleasantly surprised and go with the flow. Both Istanbul and Fethiye are amazing places, I have returned to after our trip back then.
Thank you, Ruthie and Taryn, for the memories and for being excellent friends! I can’t wait for our next adventures!
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Have a fantastic week and until next time!
