doddo
steve evans
Posts: 26 
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Post by doddo on Jul 16, 2024 11:21:47 GMT
According to Wonky, the match is being played in Kayseri which is South East of Turkey.
Anyone know anything about it?
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Post by felinessex on Jul 16, 2024 11:29:00 GMT
According to Wonky, the match is being played in Kayseri which is South East of Turkey. Anyone know anything about it? I saw the Wonky post. Not so sure about it being in the south east. It looks to be slap bang in the middle of Turkey. A pain to get to from everywhere I imagine. |
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Post by fireboy0610 on Jul 16, 2024 11:42:27 GMT
Connecting flights from antalya and Istanbul but still a pain in the arse though.
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doddo
steve evans
Posts: 26
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Post by doddo on Jul 16, 2024 11:52:22 GMT
According to Wonky, the match is being played in Kayseri which is South East of Turkey. Anyone know anything about it? I saw the Wonky post. Not so sure about it being in the south east. It looks to be slap bang in the middle of Turkey. A pain to get to from everywhere I imagine. I thought the same about middle rather than South East. It seems cost of living there is 73% less than Istanbul so apart from flights could be cheap trip |
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Post by CrackityJones on Jul 16, 2024 12:10:16 GMT
Really hope we don’t draw Turkey again anytime soon
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Post by felinessex on Jul 16, 2024 13:21:08 GMT
It makes Samsun sound like Las Vegas !
Kayseri is a conservative city so you must buy alcohol in special shops (tekel bayi), some people go to Nevşehir to buy local wine because it's good (I never tried it)
-no disco opportunites,
-few bar opportunities
no party area like in other western Turkish cities.
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Post by felinessex on Jul 16, 2024 18:02:08 GMT
Connecting flights from antalya and Istanbul but still a pain in the arse though. Looked at all the options, just booked from Antalya with Pegasus on morning of 16th and back evening 17th with Sun Express ? £70 return. Didn’t look to be many flights with convenient timings. Just need to find a decent package trip to Antalya now. |
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Post by manulike on Jul 16, 2024 21:37:42 GMT
SOME TURKEY TIPS
For those booking internal flights. If you have the option of booking via Turkish Airlines, it certainly a better option than Pegasus or AJet. Pegasus is natorious in delaying flights by 6-7 hours and consolidating their flights - as the local law allows a delay of UP TO EIGHT HOURS without any compensation!
TRIP.COM App will give you up to 3 X £10 OFF per flight booking.
For thouse looking for local buses / dolmus - the best app to use is OBILET ... and not flixbus ...
FOREX - LIVE EXCHANGE RATES:
Like many other Eastern European / 3rd World countries, each Bank sets their own exchange rate. This alone can differ by up to 14%-15%... Today, for ££ it varies between 37.22 to 42.57 ... Their ATMS may or may not charge a fee on top of only giving a poor rate ... Use this website to find the banks with the best current exchange rate and then remember to REFUSE CONVERSION to your own currency (£) and finally, check on this app if it takes commission fees (ATM FEE SAVER)
kur.doviz.com/serbest-piyasa/sterlin - UP TO THE MINUTE EXCHAGE RATES Last year, I was there for 3 weeks, and the best all-around banks were HSBC, HalkBank, ING and PTT (the yellow post office).
It looks like, as of 1 June, SekerBank and ZiraatBank NOW CHARGE 280-350 tl (probably the most common, including the two airports)
TRAIN TICKETS are super cheap. Its about 4h on the high speed train to Ankara from Istanbul ( Söğütlüçeşme - only £12 - every 50-60 minutes) and 7h from Ankara to Kayseri (£5). If you don't mind VERY EARLY STARTS ... There is a mid-night, a 2am and 4am trains to Ankara on the Sunday early morning! Personally, I'd trust the Turkish train service a lot more than their airlines! Remeber that Söğütlüçeşme train Station is on the Asia side - under an hour to SAW Sabina airport, but a minimum of 2 hours to IST Intl. ebilet.tcddtasimacilik.gov.tr/view/eybis/tnmGenel/tcddWebContent.jsf Managed to find a website that has a decent public transport journey planner - tr.easyway.info/en/cities/kayseri
Although the regular MOOVIT seems to also cover Keyseri - moovitapp.com/index/en/public_transit-Kayseri-1722 It looks like Tram 3 goes South, via the Bus Otogari and "Stadyum" football stadium towards Cumhuriyet Meydanı / where one can connect onto T1/T2 and T4. This is the centre of the old walled town. Also, if anyone is staying near the railway station in Kayseri, the frequant BUS 100 from the airport (06:40-23:40) goes about 150m South of the Train Station ( Tren Gari) , just at the top of Ataturk Bulavari - then South down Ataturk Blvd, where it turn the corner at Wyndham Grand (tramvay HASTANE CAD 4). Bus 983 from the airport actually stops at the Tren gari! and operated 24h - including every 90 minutes after mindnight ... I imagine that the daytime taxi fare for 6km trip should not be more than 150TL tho! The much better map option for Turkey is MAPS.ME - Google has some outrageous calculations, especially for walking in cities.
The local hotel web-site (for the cheaper (€10-€30 range of hotels) is OTELZ.COM - they allow you to pay in lira, which could make things 20%-30% cheaper by the time you get there...
I will try to re-visit this post later and add bits to it
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Post by garynysmon on Jul 17, 2024 8:41:32 GMT
I’m out..
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Post by superunknown on Jul 17, 2024 9:27:55 GMT
Yeah sadly a step too far for me. Istanbul or somewhere close-ish like Bursa and I’d have fancied it but miles away and a dry town doesn’t appeal. Reykjavik and Podgorica will have to do this time, have fun to anyone going out
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Post by CrackityJones on Jul 17, 2024 10:08:43 GMT
I'm going but know quite a few that have been put off. If we hadn't been to Turkey so recently this may seem 'exotic', unfortunately it will probably just be an expensive trip with little reward
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Post by felinessex on Jul 17, 2024 11:35:42 GMT
As we’re only going to be in Kayseri for one night, I decided to blow out on a half-decent hotel and picked the Wyndham Grand @ £85. Been reading more on the city since booking and it appears that the Wyndham is home to one of the few (only ?) city centre bars, the Jolly Joker. Mixed reviews I think is the appropriate term, but at least somewhere to grab a pint. maps.app.goo.gl/u49jpbBYk2qwPw2BA?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy |
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Post by selsigdeganwy on Jul 17, 2024 18:10:54 GMT
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Post by manulike on Jul 17, 2024 19:28:19 GMT
Oh. That sounds familiar. Is it equally impossible to pay for it using cards or cash etc... |
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Post by eppingblue1 on Jul 17, 2024 19:39:47 GMT
As we’re only going to be in Kayseri for one night, I decided to blow out on a half-decent hotel and picked the Wyndham Grand @ £85. Been reading more on the city since booking and it appears that the Wyndham is home to one of the few (only ?) city centre bars, the Jolly Joker. Mixed reviews I think is the appropriate term, but at least somewhere to grab a pint. maps.app.goo.gl/u49jpbBYk2qwPw2BA?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copyWe've booked in there. As you say very little options available. |
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Post by oldman on Jul 17, 2024 21:39:39 GMT
As we’re only going to be in Kayseri for one night, I decided to blow out on a half-decent hotel and picked the Wyndham Grand @ £85. Been reading more on the city since booking and it appears that the Wyndham is home to one of the few (only ?) city centre bars, the Jolly Joker. Mixed reviews I think is the appropriate term, but at least somewhere to grab a pint. maps.app.goo.gl/u49jpbBYk2qwPw2BA?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copyWe've booked in there. As you say very little options available. Snap. Booked the same hotel as well. There seems to be quite a few fans staying here. We will probably get some duty free on the way over as well |
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Post by manulike on Jul 17, 2024 22:26:40 GMT
Booked the Bupa Hotel €45/night. Could have sworn that there was a swimming pool on the photos ... But it turns out its their reception area ;-(( Dry hotel. Pun intended. I just hope that the mineral water is good ;-)
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Post by felinessex on Jul 17, 2024 22:42:08 GMT
I’m well on the way to being ready to write a dissertation on the dryness of Keysari. The conclusions to my research would be, that we deffo won’t be going on any pub crawls. This expat blog echoes previous comments. Here are some facts about and impression of Kayseri so far: 1. Kayseri is one of the most conservative cities in Turkey. This means no beer with your kebab as alcohol is not served in restaurants, there are no pubs or bars except for the one in Hilton Hotel in the centre of the city. But fear not, we still can have a Friday night beer or a glass of wine with dinner – there’s a liquor store within walking distance. (I believe that the Hilton mentioned above is now the Wyndham) mikeandyulia.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/kayseri-after-3-weeks/And a similar tale from this Guardian article. (Apparently going dry is a relatively recent thing) Once in a while my father comes from Istanbul to visit us. He says that 10 years ago he would go for a walk and find a meyhane [tavern] somewhere. Now those places are no longer there. You have to drive 12km out to Duvenonu or Kecikapi, or go to a four- or five-star hotel, if you want to drink. amp.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/22/turkey-islam |
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Post by welshrover on Jul 17, 2024 23:38:10 GMT
I’m well on the way to being ready to write a dissertation on the dryness of Keysari. The conclusions to my research would be, that we deffo won’t be going on any pub crawls. This expat blog echoes previous comments. Here are some facts about and impression of Kayseri so far: 1. Kayseri is one of the most conservative cities in Turkey. This means no beer with your kebab as alcohol is not served in restaurants, there are no pubs or bars except for the one in Hilton Hotel in the centre of the city. But fear not, we still can have a Friday night beer or a glass of wine with dinner – there’s a liquor store within walking distance. (I believe that the Hilton mentioned above is now the Wyndham) mikeandyulia.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/kayseri-after-3-weeks/And a similar tale from this Guardian article. (Apparently going dry is a relatively recent thing) Once in a while my father comes from Istanbul to visit us. He says that 10 years ago he would go for a walk and find a meyhane [tavern] somewhere. Now those places are no longer there. You have to drive 12km out to Duvenonu or Kecikapi, or go to a four- or five-star hotel, if you want to drink. amp.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/22/turkey-islamPardon my ignorance on this, is the no alcohol a religious thing? |
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Post by jimbo82 on Jul 18, 2024 9:28:14 GMT
Pardon my ignorance on this, is the no alcohol a religious thing? In short, yes, it's a Muslim country |
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Post by felinessex on Jul 18, 2024 9:36:53 GMT
I’m well on the way to being ready to write a dissertation on the dryness of Keysari. The conclusions to my research would be, that we deffo won’t be going on any pub crawls. This expat blog echoes previous comments. Here are some facts about and impression of Kayseri so far: 1. Kayseri is one of the most conservative cities in Turkey. This means no beer with your kebab as alcohol is not served in restaurants, there are no pubs or bars except for the one in Hilton Hotel in the centre of the city. But fear not, we still can have a Friday night beer or a glass of wine with dinner – there’s a liquor store within walking distance. (I believe that the Hilton mentioned above is now the Wyndham) mikeandyulia.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/kayseri-after-3-weeks/And a similar tale from this Guardian article. (Apparently going dry is a relatively recent thing) Once in a while my father comes from Istanbul to visit us. He says that 10 years ago he would go for a walk and find a meyhane [tavern] somewhere. Now those places are no longer there. You have to drive 12km out to Duvenonu or Kecikapi, or go to a four- or five-star hotel, if you want to drink. amp.theguardian.com/world/2008/jul/22/turkey-islamPardon my ignorance on this, is the no alcohol a religious thing? Simple answer 100% yes, as its founding principle. In reality it is a little more nuanced, with significant political influence, combined with the region’s tendency for conservatism. A bit of background to the political aspect. Cities with ban on alcoholic drinks The following conditions were observed in the beginning months of 2009. All of these cities have elected conservative party mayors. Sometimes the pressure also comes from the government assigned governors. It is possible that the list may grow in 2010. ("Dirac Angestum Gesept, the list is long") Kayseri : only 5 star hotels and on Erciyes mountain. Urfa :not even at hotels Konya : only one restaurant outside the city which may be forced to close anytime. Rize : totally dry Denizli : only some hotels and at the slaughterhouse district. Maras : only one restaurant Adiyaman : only hotels www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g293969-i367-k3217098-Cities_with_ban_on_alcoholic_drinks-Turkiye.htmlKayseri is one of a handful of cities industrialising at an astonishing rate in Anatolia, Turkey's central province and the country's Islamic heartland. Unlike the big urban centres of Ankara and Istanbul, the population is made up of devout, conservative Muslims. Kayseri is a rising centre of entrepreneurial spirit Restaurants rarely serve alcohol, unmarried men and women don't mix on the streets, and there is little in the way of nightlife. Yet the new entrepreneurialism sweeping across the province is providing an unlikely catalyst for a remarkable religious transformation. A new form of Turkish Islam is emerging here, one which is pro-business and pro-free market, and it's being called Islamic Calvinism. news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4788712.stm |
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Post by felinessex on Jul 18, 2024 10:34:26 GMT
Pardon my ignorance on this, is the no alcohol a religious thing? In short, yes, it's a Muslim country Not that straightforward. Turkey’s constitution is founded on the basis of secularism. The complete separation of state and religion, along with the freedom of religion Turkey’s president Erdogan heads the ruling AKP party. Conservative (and authoritarian) in nature, it has been accused of implementing laws and policies which breach the concept of secular government, favouring an Islamist doctrine. This has regional consequences, such as in Kayseri, where there is a majority muslim population and the AKP party have local control = no beer for Welshies :-) |
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Post by fireboy0610 on Jul 18, 2024 11:00:02 GMT
This trip is simple, go to Istanbul for 2 nights, fly to kayseri on the day of the game, stay out all night and get an early morning flight back, more time in Istanbul, less time in kayseri 😁👌
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Post by superunknown on Jul 18, 2024 12:12:48 GMT
This trip is simple, go to Istanbul for 2 nights, fly to kayseri on the day of the game, stay out all night and get an early morning flight back, more time in Istanbul, less time in kayseri 😁👌 Not a bad plan. The staying out all night might be a bit more challenging if you’re on the herbal teas all night however |
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Post by CrackityJones on Jul 18, 2024 13:37:14 GMT
Dread to think how much drinks are in that hotel bar of its the only place serving
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Post by felinessex on Jul 18, 2024 14:02:35 GMT
Dread to think how much drinks are in that hotel bar of its the only place serving This Google review is from last year, so hopefully not too far out. Unless they impose a special Taffy-Tax ! It’s referring to the Jolly Joker at the Wyndham. FINALLY. After two hours of wandering through the city, I finally found a place where you can drink a beer 🍺! Kayseri is a very religious city where alcohol is “not done”. As well as tourists. They rarely come here and are therefore looked at from head to toe by everyone. Nice ! 😠 But eventually found a pub where you can get a beer. And packed!! And what kind of beer 🍺!! One full liter for only 90 lira! WOW! The link below to Tripadvisor (no reviews, for obvious reasons I guess, given they don’t drink) has a photo on their page offering a litre for 70TL = £1.65. Even if that’s from a few years ago, happy daze. Some of the Google reviews mention that they have been charged TL200 entry for certain nights. As hotel residents, I can’t see them making that one stick though..Our biggest problem may be opening time, normally not until 4pm ,until 2am www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g297984-d25196052-Reviews-Jolly_Joker_Pub_Kayseri-Kayseri_Kayseri_Province.html |
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Post by CrackityJones on Jul 18, 2024 14:36:25 GMT
How long til we drink them dry then? :-)
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Post by oldman on Jul 18, 2024 14:37:46 GMT
Dread to think how much drinks are in that hotel bar of its the only place serving I'm staying in the hotel so I'll be toping up my drinks in the hotel room. |
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Post by manulike on Jul 18, 2024 14:46:54 GMT
A couple of cheap hotels, that might be worth considering (especially if all you want is a shower and 2-3 hours sleep before an early morning flight) on otelz.com are:
Klas Atalay Hotel 800TL €22/night
Talaslioglu Otel €16/night
The first one is a 3 minute walk to the only pub in town ... and comes with buffet breakfast ...
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Post by jimbo82 on Jul 18, 2024 15:46:21 GMT
In short, yes, it's a Muslim country Not that straightforward. Turkey’s constitution is founded on the basis of secularism. The complete separation of state and religion, along with the freedom of religion Turkey’s president Erdogan heads the ruling AKP party. Conservative (and authoritarian) in nature, it has been accused of implementing laws and policies which breach the concept of secular government, favouring an Islamist doctrine. This has regional consequences, such as in Kayseri, where there is a majority muslim population and the AKP party have local control = no beer for Welshies :-) Yes, that's why I prefixed my answer with "In short" - the reason for the alcohol ban is religious. I could/should have said it's a country which has a lot of Muslims, but somebody had already posted an article explaining it so I thought I'd keep to the point. Thanks for expanding though 👍🏻 Edit: just realised it was yourself who made the original post with the link to the article explaining it 👍🏻 |
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