Having thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras last year (Ian; the Mayan etc history and me; the people, wildlife and scenery) we thought we'd give VJV another go. Now that we are used to reading between the lines of their sometimes flowery brochure descriptions and are prepared for long days of travelling, they usually give good value for money even if they are whistle stop. So Ian chose a trip to Turkey (yes I know it's spelt differently now) covering a large section of the country and visiting just a fraction of the many, many historical sites. I'm just pleased that I could do a deal on the flights and instead of Turkish Airways Economy I was able to get us BA Club Europe tickets for only a small supplement over the rebate from VJV and, equally important, get valuable tier points to maintain Silver for next year. Another bonus is that our return flight isn't until 1900 hours so we have virtually a whole day by ourselves if we want to revisit anywhere in Istanbul (the itinerary says we visit the mosques on the last Friday and as they are closed for communal prayers until 1400 hours we might not have enough time in them).
It's a pretty extensive itinerary covering over 3,000 kms.
Overnight stops as follows
Istanbul (New Town) 2 nights
Çanakkale 1 night
Izmir 1 night
Kuşadasi 2 nights
Pamukkale 1 night
Konya 1 night
Cappadocia 2 nights
Ankara 1 night
Bursa 1 night
Istanbul (Old Town) 2 nights
Our flight is a very civilised 12:55 from Heathrow T5 and being a Saturday we didn't encounter any traffic problems (although poor Cress looked set for a tough journey home as the M25 was closed in the opposite direction). Once checked in we spent a pleasant couple of hours in the BA lounge and for once were there for a meal other than breakfast - although having pigged out on the delicious sausages (breakfast was still on offer when we arrived) neither of us managed much lunch, probably just as well seeing as how we'd be fed again on the plane.
As we were "independent arrivals" VJV wanted £35pp per journey for airport transfers which I thought was expensive, especially given their local agents spectacular failure last year in Mexico. Although thanks to having to fend for ourselves there, I realised arriving at a foreign airport doesn't always mean everyone is trying to rip you off. There were loads of taxi firms to choose from online for half the price but I settled on using Booking.com as their systems/support have always been first class and this was no exception. I had a detailed message from the taxi firm explaining that no one is allowed into the airport building and giving us precise instructions/photos for where we had to go for our transfer. It all worked perfectly and within about 10 mins we were heading for our hotel in a very smart people carrier. I'd reminded VJV we'd be arriving a couple of hours later than the group and to ensure dinner was kept for us but actually when we arrived we were told the rest were still out. I immediately presumed that they'd started their sightseeing already so was prepared for a bit of a moan, but in actual fact when we all eventually met up for dinner at about 2100 it transpired that they'd been waiting at the airport. At first we thought they'd been waiting for us but apparently we were known about, but another couple had requested special assistance as she'd recently had a knee replacement and they'd had all sorts of problems.
We're down to just 10; 3 couples and 4 singles. One lovely lady is over from Canada but her English travelling companion had had an accident so she'd come alone. Everyone seems very nice, but we'll make sure we keep ourselves to ourselves for a few days to make sure we have no FCs amongst them.
Our guide, Göksel, explained that as tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of Turkey becoming a republic he was going to have to switch up the itinerary a bit. Istanbul would be heaving as a) it was a public holiday and b) access to all national monuments and museums was free for nationals and then our return to the city at the end of the trip coincided with the anniversary of Atatürk's death - another day of national activity. Mmmm maybe VJV should not have run the tour on these dates.