Our day 2 started normally. We got up, we ate breakfast, we watched out to not drink anything illegal (or something we had to pay a lot) and we had to prepare our self for the first trip from the "full package".It was a boat trip on one of the Turkish rivers. We were still not decided if we want to go. We went to the lobby, where our guide suppose to wait for us (and our payments) We met there a danish ladies, which were trying to explain our guide that they want ONLY the normal package. He pretended he didn't understand so we got involved and translated everything. Then we heard from our guide "So you don't want to see this lovely views from the boat, nice dances, you don't want to eat lunches and so on"... Ladies replied "NO". They were already annoyed about the guide.
We still couldn't decide. After some time we made a decision - we are taking the full package. "We are in Turkey only once and this is our holiday. Screw the money".
So we went to the bus and got driven to the nearest mosque. We got a chance to explore it from inside, since it wasn't prayer's time. The mosque (in place called Manavgat) was really beautiful. We had to take our shoes off to get in. The first thing which attracted our attention was it's splendor. Expensive carpets, amazing inside. They must spent a lot of money there.
Our first observation that day was that Turkey doesn't have money for cleaning up their place (everywhere were rubbishes and dirt) but the mosques are so insanely pretty and full of splendor.
Next, we got in the bus again and drove to the destination of our trip. Kargicairi Deresi river. Our first surprise was the boat.
Our guide sounded like it was the very nice boat with nice inside. It wasn't. It was an old wooden boat, which had two floors. At first we sat upstairs, since the weather was really generous (it wasn't raining!). Then we saw the second surprise - the river. Brown, dirty and disgusting. We seriously couldn't believe that this was our goal.
But we swam, And swam. And swam. Probably it would be much more enjoyable if it would be summer. Unfortunately it was the end of January, which didn't make it specially warm.
At the boat, almost every 5-10 minutes, we got asked if we want something to drink. Of course you had to pay for it extra. Of course they were also looking really weird at you, when you didn't want to buy anything. Suddenly we heard our guide telling that we got to our destination. The real ocean. Unfortunately it started raining, but we still enjoyed it as much as we could.
After an hour of walking on the beach, we got back to the boat. Suddenly we saw some people taking pictures of our group guests. We both knew how this will end. They will come with printed pictures and ask them to pay for it. And of course it happened. Some older people thought that the pictures are nice souvenir from the trip, but they got really disappointed when they had to pay for them. Of course you "didn't have to", but they already did it, they look so nice and of course you will get some lovely discount. Bleh.
We were very disappointed about the whole trip. The only good thing was the food, which was included in the price.
You could chose between grilled chicken and a fish. First I ordered the fish, but after seeing it, I decided that chicken might be a better solution for me ;)
The whole trip cost 39 Euro (if you wanted to buy it without the full package) After discussing the whole boat trip, we decided with Jeppe to tell the guide that we really don't want the whole big package. We decided that we will only pay for this trip, to avoid disappointment with the next trips.
We knew that our guide won't be so happy about the decision, so we made up a lie. We said that we calculated everything and that the whole BIG PACKAGE is out of our pocket. This was the only solution for him to give up and don't make it sound like he will have a big problem, because he already send the list and the money for his office (no, we didn't pay yet, we were waiting for the cash machine first)
No matter how our guide was trying to convince us to take the whole package, we stayed with out decision. This was mainly pure contrariness - the more he was pushing, the more we were rejecting. I hate being forced to do something.
After coming back to the hotel, we got to BUY some souvenir from the hotel shop. I wrote that we GOT to buy - yes, we almost got forced. We went to play pool and suddenly, after leaving, one of the Turkish sellers invited us to his shop. We don't want to be rude, so we went in. Then he started offering me different stuff. From bracelets, til some hanging talismans, which suppose to "save you" from unfortunate situations. We didn't want to buy anything but he was keep pushing. When we completely didn't want to even negotiate, he started being aggressive and persistent. So I said I have only 10 euro (his price was 28) and nothing more with me, so after another 5 minutes, he agreed. And in this lovely way I got a bracelet and this house "protection".
Finally the day was over. We were very disappointed and negative about the Turkish behavior. We noticed that everyone is not sincere here and only want to get our money. You might think that we are naive and we should know that. Yes - we might be naive believing in people, but we still don't like being cheated. And unfortunately it happened all the time in Turkey.
Advice of the day: Don't walk in to the Turkish shop, when they are asking "just at least look please", don't buy anything in the hotel shops, watch out when people are taking pictures of you (you might have to pay for them) and take some more warm clothes, when they tell you "we are going for a boat trip" Aa, and pack rain boots from home - they might be very useful at that time of the year ;)
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