Ads by aegean...

Turkish Carpets
Beat the tour operators, buy your Turkish Carpet from our online showroom here and cut out the middle man. We even deliver FREE, worldwide.

Istanbul-Bodrum Ferry
Not so munch of a ferry more of a mini-cruise, the twice weekly ferry service between Istanbul and Bodrum lets you re-locate in style. Information

HOME		Meet the Team

BODRUM BLOGa>

Regular checks using the tracert domain-address method of checking Internet route information and the time it takes to get from here to there, regularly indicates that at least 2 servers are down in Turkey. A check from here to google.com normally takes around 21 hops, out of seven hops in Turkey 2 regularly 'time-out' which means they're not working, the other 14 go straight through. No time-outs in the rest of the world.

So please be patient if our emails are delayed or as happens occasionally, disappear altogether. We reply to all emails within 24 hours, so if you don't hear from us, please re-send or get in touch again. It's not us, just the vagaries of the Turkish Internet system.

It's 2007 and despite a consumers charter (of sorts) for the supply of electricity from the beginning of this year, frequent power cuts without warning are still the norm in Bodrum and especially in the outlying villages where power outs occur daily. No-one complains, they just shrug their shoulders and say 'it's normal'.

As for running a business based on the Internet, despite back-up systems, UPS units, generators and the like, we are constantly let down by the Turkish Internet system which is also prone to drop-outs, occasional low bandwidth levels and disappearing emails. So to any of our existing or prospective clients, please bear with us in our struggle to communicate with you.

Despite the vagaries of the public (and some now privatized) utilities, Turkey is still the place to be for a relaxing holiday, the people (unlike some public utilities) are warm, welcoming and helpful to visitors from anywhere in the world.

Of course Turkey may not remain free of the disease since many birds use Turkey as a stopping off point during their annual migration.

Flu is of course a mainly winter problem so with spring just around the corner we hope Turkey will remain Bird Flu free in 2007.

Not content with providing flights, transfers and accommodation, the European tour companies now want it all, unfortunately to the detriment of tourists, Turkey, local retailers and restaurants. What incentive is there for the less discriminating tourists to venture outside the confines of their hotel with the lure of 'all you can eat and drink' provided for free by the 'All Inclusive' hotels.

So who loses in the end? Well for a start, many tourists miss out on the huge variety of restaurants, bars and entertainment available in all the Turkish resorts. Turkey misses out because the largest part of the total holiday cost is paid for outside Turkey, and of course the local retailers and restaurants also suffer.

2005-06-24
Travelers unfortunate enough to have to use Bodrum airport should note the following:

• Baggage trolleys are only available from dispensers on payment of one Euro, (yes they charge for baggage trolleys here). If you are arriving from a country that doesn't use Euros, (most of the world of course), then be sure to join the queue at the airport currency exchange office. Hardly a warm welcome to a country desperate for foreign visitors.
• In a final desperate attempt to get all vehicles delivering or collecting passengers from Bodrum airport domestic terminal to use the 'pay car park', the airport authorities have created a single file traffic system by placing brightly colored curb stones along the center of all the roads around the terminal making it impossible for any vehicle to park temporarily while picking up or dropping off passengers. Of course the efficient movement of arriving and departing passengers is unimportant compared to the need to extract every possible Kurus (Penny) from the travelling public. And don't forget your Euro for the baggage trolleys.
• Make sure you apply plenty of bug repellent to any exposed areas of skin, Bodrum airport is built on a bog and the mosquitoes have taken full advantage of the surrounding wetlands to set up flight squadrons. The airport authorities answer to this problem? None that we know of yet, though I guess it won't be long before they hit on the idea of extracting a few more Euros from the unsuspecting tourist by selling overpriced mosquito repellant.

So what is the outcome of all this for the tourist who goes on the excursions organized by the tour operators? Well for a start it means that the commission payments to the tour companies and other free services are added to the prices charged, so the tourist ends up footing the bill in the end, and items that were once cheap become expensive. The goods and services supplied by the retailers are often forced to lower standards and more seriously in the case of scuba diving services it can mean a reduction in safety standards.

So be wary of the tour company organized excursions, instead rent a car, visit the local tourism office to arm yourself with information about all the local places of interest and go your own way. Without exorbitant commission fees to pay to a tour operator most retailers will genuinely be able to offer you their best price and you will have much more opportunity to haggle for that real bargain.