I visited Altinkum in July of this year with my friend and her family. I went expecting the worst, thanks to my friends advice on how to manually flush a toilet!
I’d heard loads of horror stories about Turkey and the people and was kinda beginning to dread it. The flight out there was quite short and when we arrived, I didn’t feel a great deal better about the whole situation. The airport workers didn’t look pleased to see us, but then again, it was almost 3 am!
We drove out from Bodrum airport to Altinkum, which is about a 90 minute coach ride, and all you could see was miles of mountains, it’s a really beautiful country. You could also see lots of small cafes along the roads, still open at indecent hours!
When we arrived, we went straight up to bed because it was early morning. We got up the next day and met everyone from the hotel etc and I settled in a little. The locals were genuinelly kind people, when they aren’t trying to lure you into their bars/shops/tour operators, they’ll sit down with you, offer you apple tea and have a chat. We got to know some of the locals quite well by the end of the holiday.
Apple tea is a delicacy and it’s considered quite rude if you don’t take it, it’s free, so just swallow it quickly even if you hate it!
I spent a few days learning my way round and soon I began to have a great time. There are plenty of bars with really amazing dancers, suitable for the young and the old. There are also lots of clubs and restaurants.
You can use Altinkum as a base for your holiday and go off on plenty of boat rides, trips to water parks and trips to places like Ephesus.
Another business they have is the henna tattoos. I got 2 done for about £3, both of an average size. They look quite nice and wash off within 3 weeks, if they rub off while you’re still there, go back and they’ll re-do them for you for free. I wouldn’t advise these though, my friend got one and had an allergic reaction, so now she has a permanent reminder of Turkey in the form of 2 huge scars!
There’s lots of local boys there that are willing to buy you drinks, but they do expect something in return, and some can be quite rude, so just be firm and they’ll leave you alone! We got to know some and they turned out to be decent lads who we try to keep in touch with. But remember to take a phrase book, they come in handy in situations like this!
There’s lots of stuff going on round there, there’s 3 beaches, one main and two more secluded, all within walking distance. You can hire out peddalos and sun loungers as well as umberellas. These are all quite cheap.
Accomodation is quite cheap, try and stay in the Altinkum Villas, they’re really cheap and good quality. Some of the accomodation can be quite expensive, especially if you stay really close to the beach, go for something a little further away and it’ll be much cheaper - remember teh beach is still within walking distance.
I found that some of the best places to eat were the Chinese Restaurant on the beach front - it was slightly more expensive than most places but was really nice. Another nice place was a potato stall/cafe on the corner of the beach front, it was really really cheap and quite nice! Two people can eat dinner without wine but with drinks (Cherry juice is one of the nicest drinks, try it :)) for around £6, really reasonable in my opinion.
If you want real Turkish food then head over to Fatima’s - it’s a nice quiet restaurant near the Seal bar. Summer Garden is great too, although a little expensive.
Some good clubs - Seal Dance Bar and the open air one near Summer Garden called Medusa. It’s the biggest open air club in Europe.
Good Bars - Kiss Bar- really friendly staff, Swan Bar, again, really friendly staff, they’re always willing to chat to you even if you dont go in!
Another thing, try not to change much money before you go because you’ll find that the exchange rate is better over there and that it changes daily.
Some key turkish : Terakusherderum (its said that way, not sure how to spell it!!) - this means thank you very much
Meraba - Hello
Nerede - where
They all tend to speak some english so these words can be helpful in piecing together sentences!