[Voycey]

Holiday Review

The weather held out nicely for our holiday (well most of it), In the first week we did the following:
Boat Trip – absolutely fantastic, you go to 3 secluded bays and get to swim and snorkel (if you want) etc Lunch is amazing (BBQ / fresh salad / pasta). Definetly worth it!

Jeep Safari – now I can see that this might be quite good – unfortunately we had a really crappy day, our guide was rubbish – constantly going on about “Jigi Jigi” pulling really un-funny pranks and was a bit too unpredictable to feel comfortable with him behind the wheel and smoking around 80 cigarettes through the tour. The lunch is served on a bench in the middle of the most wasp infested area of the millipark. Its such a shame – such a beautiful area of turkey has been ruined by the tourists / tour guide throwing all of their rubbish around this area and the amount of cigarette butts and packets is such a shame. We changed Jeeps after our meal to go with an English couple in theirs and this was the only saving grace of the whole trip, the guide was really good – stopping to pick wild fruit and flowers and describing the history and tracks of the surrounding area.
We then visited the Zeus cave – it was freezing and starting to rain but when I got in there I couldn’t help but dive in – it was pretty cold – but when its that cold it feels warm as your skin burns – definetly worth doing – and yes I did feel 10 years younger.
Unfortunately we had to go back in TomBish (Fat Toms) jeep – and after spending 2 hours on an empty rainy beach sitting in a café listening to him talk about “Jigi Jigi” for 2 hours – we tried to catch a Dolmus back – unfortunately not knowing the area we waited for the jeep to leave and just left – we complained to the tour company and got some money off our visit to….

Aquafantasy

What a joke!! We paid 15 Euro each for a ticket – 50% of the park was closed and what was open operated on a time table, we moaned 3 times to get the space bowl turned on – after throwing myself down it in increasingly dangerous positions we eventually got bored and went home!
If you are considering going to Aquafantasy over Adaland – DON’T! I even think Adaland is better for kids!

Markets

Excellent – never paid more than 35 YTL for anything – Jeans, Shoes and t-shirts (25YTL for 8) – and the best Gozleme ever served at the shop in the Market!!!

Lozan Piknik

Opposite Pigale Beach resort – a little Lokanta – no menu – served really good Gozleme and a really nice friendly atmosphere (never saw more than 2 people in there!)

Turkish Bath

Really good – Turkish guy in there was a little more touchy feely than most as his hand travelled up my leg a bit too far on purpose!
Turkish bath was cool tho – nice and exfoliated 
Connexions Bar (Ladies Beach)

All round brilliant – cant go wrong – service, atmosphere, food, cocktails, setting, staff (Ozzie, Mike and Tyson) – unfortunately they are closing it down and moving it all to Halikarnas next door – make sure you visit them – say hi to Ozzie for me – this place definitely made my holiday!

Pigeon Island

Massive steps – after walking around kusadasi for about 5 miles, having a starbucks (cheers!) and haribo store, we headed up there, met Daniel who used to work at connexions / green island from last year which was cool – had some more Gozleme and got the worst leg cramps ive ever had from walking and climbing those steps. Amazing Views and nice to see a bit of history.

Bar Street

Well I tried, we lasted about 2 hours this time, we popped up to Garage bar to see if Ally was around, then went to Paddys for most of the night – the music was pretty decent – obviously end of season and your right the drinks are extortionate.

Turkish Shave

Cheers to Ahmet on bar street – had it done twice and my hair cut – did a really good job 

Secret Garden Restaurant

Expensive but worth it – we paid 115YTL for a 1kg Red Snapper and a couple of starters – it was easily the best fish I have tasted in a long long time! It’s a bit dressy tho – we turned up in sandals and shorts – everyone else was in suits.

Ayhan Usta restaurant

Had Beef Ottoman Style – it was fantastic – Han had Sea Bream and loved every bite – was another good meal.

Kalyan Restaurant (Centrum)

Definetly the best meal of the holiday! I had the Meat Saute, Hannah had the Sultan Special (Turkish food) and they were amazing – good service and a really nice setting, the restaurant is mostly out doors – the tree next to it has loads of lanterns on it and is situated on the main shopping steet in the centrum – HIGHLY recommend this and especially the foods we had!!


Tailors

3YTL per item – we took all of our jeans we bought at the Market down – she did such a good job and kept the original cut of the jeans – absolute bargain! This can be found on the main street opposite Café Seyhan just before the Kalyan restaurant. Take all of your jeans that are too long!


And that’s it really – Don’t stay at the pigale beach resort – there are plenty of other decent hotels that wont water down already cheap spirits and provide decent food!

Any questions – fire them over 

[Hephaestion]

Originally Posted by Voycey

Holiday Review

Turkish Bath

Really good – Turkish guy in there was a little more touchy feely than most as his hand travelled up my leg a bit too far on purpose!
Turkish bath was cool tho – nice and exfoliated 
Connexions Bar (Ladies Beach)

OOhh I must see this guy!!


Joke aside my mum and her girlfriend had an experience back in the day where the hand indeed go all the way up! Don't think they complained though as he was dishy!

Nice read Dan - good tips too!

[Umit]

WOW WOW WOW! it is a great post

[anet]

Originally Posted by Voycey

Holiday Review

– definetly worth doing – and yes I did feel 10 years younger

what an interesting informative review. I want to know if it makes you look ten years younger as well as feel 10 years younger, then it will definately be worth it

[Mella]

Whoa Dan, what an awesome post! It was a pleasure to read!

A whole 2 hours in Bar Street? give yourself a pat on the back! heehee!

I take it you didn't manage to convince Han to go back to Pamukkale though?

[Voycey]

no she wasnt having any of it - didnt even manage to fit in Sirince

2 Hours was plenty in Bar Street - going from the watered down Vodka and coke in the hotel to Turkish portion Vodka and Coke was too much - plus having a massive meal before hand just made me sleepy hehe

Cheers guys - hope this helps people when deciding to do

[**claire**]

excellent post Dan!
really enjoyed reading that & made me want to go back to Kus right this min!!

How pricey was secret garden then!!! Dont think ive ever paid that amount for a meal in Turkey ..it sounds delicious tho!

[Voycey]

it was amazing claire, we had a 1kg red snapper 80YTL / Kg, and some stuffed calamari / prawns for a starter - food was impeccable, as was the service.

In hindsight I wouldnt pay it again as I think you can get equally good fish at Ali Baba for a better price - however it was served, expertly de-boned and they couldnt do enough for you

[Maria G]

Hey Guys, where is the Secret Garden Restaurant. Never came across it in all my visits to Kusadasi

[Voycey]

its on the main road that goes past the marina - there are massive signs up towards the korumar - get on the Sehirici dolmus to Selcuk and you will see the sign - you have to go down a big hill to get to the actual restaurant.