Turkish Vibes for a Black Girl

Hey everyone,

I know I've spoken quite a lot about Turkey but I feel I need to say this too, because its playing on my mind.

General Vibes:
March is not peak season so the hotel and 'excursion type' things were relatively quiet, which was cool as I really needed the head space. Everyone who I came across was so polite and helpful, there wasn't any problem with language at all. From what I noticed the majority of the tourist were English and or German, which would be perfect expect I know any Dutch whatsoever. Not that it mattered, everyone was very inclusive so you feel really looked after.

There are a few things you should look out for; the hard sale. As a tourist in any county I guess this is to be expected. But occasionally I felt it was a bit full on, so best to have your wits about you. Being black, every now and then especially in the Town centre locals would just stare or ask to take a picture with you. They seem to be genuinely surprise that you (a black person) are there and address you as 'Chocolate'. Even walking along the street people who beep their horn to get your attention. I love flattery as much as the next girl, but this much more then that.

London is quite 'multicultural' so I have never really had this before, or knew what to feel about it. The comments and looks were not done in a malicious way (most of the time it was polite), so I'm not offended as such... just... puzzled, I guess. There was not any other black people that I noticed so perhaps there isn't much exposure to black people and their culture in those parts, as to why the people reacted like that? I am by no means labelling Turkey as racist, as I did have good time and I would absolutely go back.

 I'd be interested to know, has anyone else had a similar experience or opinion on the matter?

Until next time x

Places to visit in Turkey

Hey everyone,

Hope all is well. This will be part two of my Turkey trip, here I will be talking and showing you cool places to go and see.

Things to see:
I wanted to explore the city and discover cool places. One of which was the Duden waterfall. Standing on a cliff looking at the waterfall that goes directly into the Mediterranean Sea, was really beautiful and a great place to take pictures. I imagine pictures at sunset would have been amazing... 

That being said I say a standard seflie works well too :)

Shopping:
As you may or may not know I am a scrimper, whenever and where ever I can save money I'm there. So I absolutely had to visit the markets of Turkey, as there are renowned for being a haggler's paradise. So I headed to the Lara Market which is also referred to as the Saturday Bazaar (Sirinyali Bazaar), which is really popular with locals. The Market was packed with stalls selling things like shoes and sunglasses to fresh food and spices and yes, you can buy your souvenirs there as well. You can get things at a reasonable price but watch out for fakes; the 'omg its giving me a rash' type fakes.

Look at the those colourful spices, the foodie in me was frothing at the mouth

Like with all markets the best bargains are always to be had towards the end of the day, so definitely worth sticking around if you can.

Gozleme

Side note - Where possible its always good to sample the street food ~Yum! 

Then we went to the old town of Kaleici which winds up from the harbour. There are a lot of historic buildings of note around the town and plenty of treasures to find, so lets go exploring.

Hadrian's Gate

It was so enjoyable walking through the allies with beautiful restaurants and cafés with colourful accents of flowers and textures everywhere. 

There is just so much to see and everything is so beautiful but you have to keep it moving or you'll miss stuff. I do not think this is necessary the best place to find bargains, but you will find beautify designed fabrics, nick-nacks and food.

As you reach the end there is a wonderful view Mediterranean sea. Everyone is super friendly and helpful so if you get lost they will point you in the right direction.

Up the top of hill, toward the town centre you'll find the Clock Tower and Tekeli Mehmet Pasa Mosque, if you spin around to your left is the statue of the King Attalus II Philadelphus of Pergamon and the founder of modern-day Antalya.

Last picture of the town and scenery (and me) then we will move on. 

Touristy things to do: 
I know ruins are not everyone's cup of tea but I love it and enjoy hearing stories of what once was. Perge was once a bustling Roman port and the first stop for St. Paul on his missionary journeys. These ruin where once home to a marketplace, fountains and an impressive bathhouse.

Aspendos is home to one of the world best preserved Roman theatres, so well preserved it is still used for concerts and operas today! How amazing is that? This place was so beautiful I wish I could of hear the acoustics of amazing song for myself. Although our tour guide give us a song as a teaser.

The highlight of the trip: Pammukale

This as know as the cotton castle, I really love this place it was truly beautiful. On top of the mountain sits this beautiful wonder of the world with a beautiful view of mountains and town below. A collection of white pockets of mineral enriched spring waters, looks like a fairy tale. This is quite big so its difficult to get a picture that capture all the beauty of these pockets from ground level, so do google it if your curious.

Warm water hot springs please work a miracle on my feet hehe

It's a series of mountains terraces where natural springs have solidified into snowy-white stalactites and cliffs. Its not cold to walk on, but if you do go into the pools be careful as it can be slippery!

I didn't know what to expect when I went, I thought it was just the water pockets but there was a whole city that sit around it. 

The city is Hierapolis which is now an assortment of Roman ruins, one of which is the the great Roman Theatre. I wish I knew about the city and how it come to be but unfortunately due to a mix up my tor guide could only speak German. But from what I can tell it was a spectacular city. The attention to detail was mind blowing!

Amazing!

I hope you all enjoyed this post, if you have any questions or suggestions please let me know I'd love to hear from you.

Be sure to come back in a few days for more about my trip, hair updates, tips and reviews!

Hope your having a great day, take care x