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Saya terpesona sekali dengan banyaknya ruang terbuka hijau di kota Konya Turki, pusatnya para sufi. Bahkan di depan Masjid Alaaddin ini, ada taman besar dengan teater terbuka dan mainan anak-anak yang bisa dikendarai serta kereta api kereta api. Tidak jauh dari taman itu adalah Kebab Haji Sukru yang saya pernah bahas di postingan sebelumnya.
Di depan pertokoan ada pelataran pelataran besar tempat bangku bangku untuk orang duduk. Di Mesjid depan makam Rumi juga ada taman untuk orang beristirahat sejenak. Konya kotanya tidak besar, tapi tamannya banyak.
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Ruang Terbuka Hijau di Konya, Turki
Konak Hotel dan Konak Taksi
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Firin Kebab Haji Sukru (Konya, Turkey)
One of Konya's traditional food is said to be the Firin Kebab. This type of Kebab is not like the one you usually taste in Europe.
Firin Kebabi is made of a young sheep. The meat is therefore very tender and succulent. You can eat Firin Kebab in almost every restaurant in Konya but according to the local, Haji Sukru's Kebab has been speacialzing in making Firin Kebab since quite a long time. I did saw some newspaper articles featuring the restaurant on display in the shops' 'Salonu'.
The location is not too far from Alaaddin mosque. You will have to walk through past the nice looking park and fountains, straight to the direction of the mosque. The cost is 14 lira. They gave a free cay, ask them to do the same to you, perhaps by showing them this article :p
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Travel: Review of OTEL TUR, Konya, Turkey
The hotel (otel in Turkish) is situated on a small road exactly accross mevlana museum (the mosque), after OTEL CINAR. The hotel is clean, the breakfast is good, the room is equipped with real hotel facilities (bathroom inside, toilet with seat, hair dryer, tv, air cond, heater, towels, etc). These facilities are rather old and not shiny/new like in real hotels. But they are clean.
The hotel staff are really nice. Not all of them speak English, but you can always borrow their computer to type on google translator what you want to say. (I wish I had given the room cleaner a tip since he was very helpful, but I was running out of lira back then).
The hotel rate is perfect if two or three people are traveling together. The shared cost will be like 20-35 Turkish Lira per person per night. If you travel alone, you may have to pay for 40-50 Turkish Lira per night.
I really enjoyed staying there. And would definetely recomend couples or triples who need a clean well equipped place to stay without paying more than 12-15 euro per person per night.
However, we heard places outside Mevlana museum may offer cheaper price. And since there are not many more places to visit in Konya, staying outside Mevlana area can be a good idea to save money. You can easily move around using mini busses for 1-3 Turkish Lira (depending on the distance).
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Nevsehir, Goreme and Kaymakli (Cappadocia, Turkey)
However, upon our return we had a chat with someone working at a tour agent in the Nevsehir terminal, who said that his company offers a one day tour (from 10 am to 5 pm) for 60 lira, with 7 point attraction, museum tickets, guides and lunch included. We can't confirm if this is true, but if it is, it is indeed a very good price, because if you have to go on your own, you will spend at least 15 lira for a museum (so that's 30 lira if you visit two), 20 liras for the guide, at least 10 lira for lunch, including otobus fares (around 2 to 3 liras). Check www.rocktowntravel.com
If you decide to go on your own (which we did) from the Nevsehir Otobus Gar, you can take a free ride to the town centre of Nevsehir. Nevsehir appears to be the hub of Cappadocia ('Kappadokya') which connects it to the neighboring village. There is a minibus that will take you to the town centre for free. Just tell the driver you are going to Goreme and he will drop you off at the right bus stop.
The minibus to Goreme costs 2 liras per person. It will take you to the Goreme bus station. If you are going to the open air museum, get out from the station and follow the path upward, until you see a bridge and then turn right. You will see plenty of cafes, motorcycle rent and air balloon hires along the way. Turn right and go uphil until you find sign of entrance to the open air museum. The ticket cost is 15 liras per person.
From there, we went to the underground city at Kaymakli. You have to go to Nevsehir to catch a van to go there. On the way to Nevsehir you will pass Uchisar, which according to some reviews worth a visit, but unfortunately we do not stop there. Just ask the bus driver to drop you off at the van bus stop that goes to Kaymakli. The trip there takes around 30 minutes, don't forget to ask the driver to drop you off at the underground city. There are 3 underground city but the one in Kaymakli is the one adviced. It is worth hiring a tourguide there (we paid 20 liras) because the labyrinth is quite complicated and there is no audiotour.
Back to Nevsehir, I found a good restaurant that only charge 10 lira for a complete Adana Kebab (large portion, with the salad). The place is Kebabci Mustafa at Aksaray Cd, they seemed to have 2 branches at Nevsehir. This is quite a good deal and one of the value for money food I have found so far. You can go to donner shop for 8 liras which is cheaper, but the portion is small.
One last tip: if you go to a restaurant without price menu on display, ask for the price first and ask what the menu looklike. Once we ordered for a shish kebab, but were given a small cut pieces of fried meat which they called 'Shish Kebab'.
Below is the pic for Kebabci Mustafa's address, the typical van used for transport from Nevsehir to Kaymakli and the tariff for such transport.
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Restaurant menu at the TCDD train (Istanbul to Konya)
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How to get to Hydarpasa from Istanbul/Sultanahmet
There is a train station is Sirkeci, near the harbor, but there is no train connection between the European Istanbul with the Asian Istanbul.
However, most hotel and tourism objects in Istanbul rests on the European side. Hence, if you want to take the train from Istanbul to other Turkish cities (Konya, Cappadocia, etc) you have no option but to cross the Bosphorus strait with a ferry to Hydarpasa station. The crossing takes 15 minutes.
If you are travelling with tram, stop at Elmeneu which is one stop after Sirkeci. The tram door is on the right (Tram price: 2 TYL).
From Elmeneu, you have to pass several docks until you find the dock with the ship that will take you to Hyderpasa. Make sure you ask if the ferry goes to Hyderpasa. At the left hand side of the entrance there is a ticket machine, the coin costs 2 Turkish Liras. Wait for the ferry to arrive. From my experience Hyderpasa is the first stop after Elmenou but be sure to ask someone in case the itineraries change.
Below is the picture of the commuters on the ferry. They work in Europe but lives in Asia and has to cross the strait before cacthing a tram at Hyderpasa. But the trip is convinient, so, no worries :)
One more tip: The station restaurant at Hydarpasa is quite expensive. If you are budget-travelling I'd advice you to eat somewhere else. But, the back side of the restaurant is very beautiful. You can watch the busy port from the back.
Do leave me a message at the comment section if you have any question.
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Lonely Planet Middle East vs Turkey
When I backpacked trough middle east few years ago, I was helped a lot by the Lonely Planet Middle East. The book gave me valuable tips on where to stay, how to get to places and where to eat. The book also gave me clues on what to expect in each places, how to behave, even historical insights. In short, I love Lonely Planet Middle East.
Since then, I started to use Lonely Planet to travel in Indonesia and Cambodia. So I had great expectation on Lonely Planet Turkey, as this time I am traveling in the country. I do get assisted in searching for places, understanding the history and to some degree on what to expect from each venues and performance I visit. However, I must say the book is not so much for backpackers. It does not list adequate numbers of budget hostels, restaurants or options to enjoy the country for budget travelers. The book sent me to expensive restaurants, tours and bad rated hostels. I am lucky as I sometimes triple check the recommendation with tripadvisors and other traveler forums.
But then again, if you are a middle upper range traveler, you would probably like the book. The places and sugestion they give are practical. It will help you make the best of your holiday.
As Mova and I are middle range traveler, so we don't find the book very helpful to pinch our wallet during the trip. Unlike Lonely Planet Turkey, Lonely Planet Middle East can provide me with best deals of hotels, transport and meals. The history and information about places worth visits are also written uniquely. I felt like the authors are the same type of traveler like me, who enjoy people, culture, unique experiences, adventures and cheap deals :) :)
Just a thought to share, hope you'll find it useful.
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Since then, I started to use Lonely Planet to travel in Indonesia and Cambodia. So I had great expectation on Lonely Planet Turkey, as this time I am traveling in the country. I do get assisted in searching for places, understanding the history and to some degree on what to expect from each venues and performance I visit. However, I must say the book is not so much for backpackers. It does not list adequate numbers of budget hostels, restaurants or options to enjoy the country for budget travelers. The book sent me to expensive restaurants, tours and bad rated hostels. I am lucky as I sometimes triple check the recommendation with tripadvisors and other traveler forums.
But then again, if you are a middle upper range traveler, you would probably like the book. The places and sugestion they give are practical. It will help you make the best of your holiday.
As Mova and I are middle range traveler, so we don't find the book very helpful to pinch our wallet during the trip. Unlike Lonely Planet Turkey, Lonely Planet Middle East can provide me with best deals of hotels, transport and meals. The history and information about places worth visits are also written uniquely. I felt like the authors are the same type of traveler like me, who enjoy people, culture, unique experiences, adventures and cheap deals :) :)
Just a thought to share, hope you'll find it useful.
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Kalau sudah kaya, jangan tersesat
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