Anatolia Tours and Travel

I like to read several books before each trip to have a better understanding of the culture and the local life of my next destination.  Of course there are the travel guides I read before leaving or even before choosing my next destination, but my favourites are fiction novels. I like to read stories that take place in that country or whose authors are from that country.

Below is a great list of non-travel books about Turkey, some from Turkish authors. If you are considering travelling to Turkey soon, create time to read at least few of them, perhaps they will make you realize your dream trip sooner than expected.

1)      Yasar Kemal, The Birds Have Also Gone

A short novel from one of Turkey’s internationally recognised and widely read authors who has also been a candidate for the Nobel Prize for Literature. In this book, author tells the story of three boys who are struggling to survive in the constantly changing environment of the big city: Istanbul.

2)      John David Tumpane , Scotch and Holy Water

Entertaining book on Turkish people and life in Turkey written by American author who lived in Turkey for 10 years.  From the view of a Turkish person you may find the author arrogant and the observations exaggerated but it will surely be helpful to Americans in understanding Turkish thinking.

“We arrived in Istanbul via Pan Am after midnight. On the way into the city, all the neon signs looked so strange to me: Tuzcuoglu, Haci Bekir Lokumlari, Koc. I thought, I’ll never be able to learn this language. Then I saw a sign reading Is Bankasi and I was sure the word “bank” was lurking somewhere in there. Since I knew one word of Turkish already, I decided to stay”

3)      Orhan Pamuk, Istanbul Memories and the City

The Nobel Prize winner recalls the Istanbul of his youth. Istanbul’s melancholy enriched his childhood and continues to inspire him.

“ … the melancholy of this dying culture was all around us. Great as the desire to westernise and modernise may have been, the more desperate wish, it seemed, was to be rid of all the bitter memories of the fallen empire: rather as a spurned lover throws away his lost beloved’s clothes, possessions and photographs”

4)      Mustafa Ziyalan and Amy Spangler (editors), Istanbul Noir

Comprised of by 16 stories, all original, some of Turkey’s most exciting authors; the result is an underground portrait of the city and of Turkey, told in evocative, often poetic, and powerful language.

5)      Louis de Bernières, Birds Without Wings

Birds Without Wings is a novel by Louis de Bernières, telling the tragic love story of Philothei,  a Christian girl and Ibrahim her childhood friend and Muslim. The story is set in Eskibahçe, a small fictional village; although fiction, the setting of Eskibahçe is based upon Kayaköy village near Fethiye, the ruins of which still exist today; a beautiful historic romantic novel.

6)      Elif Safak, The Flea Palace

Safak is a young Turkish novelist , writer of best-sellers in Turkey, France and Bulgaria.  The Flea Palace is a novel about daily routines of the inhabitants of an apartment building in Istanbul named BonBon Palace, miniature representation of the city itself, the city of contrasts and contradictions, the city where East meets West.  Here is an extract from The Flea Palace:

“Istanbul was under a heavy fog that morning, and as all Istanbulites knew too well, during foggy days even the city herself could not tell what her colour was. However, Agripina Fyodorovna Antipova had always been pampered with great care since birth and had been subsequently led to presume that others were to blame whenever she could not obtain anything she desired…”

7)      Tales from the Expat Harem: Foreign Women in Modern Turkey

A nonfiction anthology created and edited by Anastasia M. Ashman & Jennifer Eaton Gokmen. The collection includes the life experiences of 32 expatriate women from seven nations and five continents, whose collective experience spans over the past four decades. These diverse women describe religion, culture, conflicts, traditions and customs with the perspective of foreign women living and working in Turkey. They will take you to Istanbul’s narrow streets, to warm homes, and to steamy Hamams. If you are planning to visit Turkey soon this book is a great read to warm your heart to Turkish people.

Nil Aykut is partner and manager of Anatolia Tours & Travel Co. offering private and escorted tours to Turkey, Greece, Morocco, Dubai, Italy, Egypt & Jordan. More information at  http://www.anatoliatravels.com/

Anatolia Travels launched 4 new small group tours to Turkey. Group sizes are max 16 people and all tours are starting from Istanbul. For more info visit www.anatoliatravels.com

April 28, 2011

Slowly but surely after the 25^th of January revolution life is getting back to normal.

Two days ago, the first transparent referendum took place in Egypt since almost 60 years. Egyptians had to vote “Yes” or “No” for amending certain articles in the constitution which will allow the election of a new Parliament & a new Senate within 6 months and a President for the Republic before the end of 2011.

This amendment will also limit the terms of presidency to 2 each for 4 years.

The new elected Parliament & Senate will nominate a Committee to draft a new constitution since the present 1971 constitution and its amendment will be considered void and null. There was an unprecedented number of Egyptians voting and the votes where 70% in favor & 30% against.

The very much feared Investigation Police was abolished and replaced by a New Department which will deal only with criminals & State security.

The Stock Exchange is reopening tomorrow; the Egyptian Pound did not lose much in value vis-à-vis to the foreign currencies.

All historical Monuments are now accessible to the public and some Nile Cruises started operation between Luxor & Aswan. The ban on travel to Egypt was removed from many countries to its many entries in Egypt and is on its way for total removal from the entire country.

It was announced that yesterday 57 charter flights have landed in Hurghada & 43 in Sharm El Sheikh. This is not yet the normal rate, yet it is a very good sign for the Travel Industry. Tour operators specialised in Middle East & Mediterranean including Anatolia Tours & Travels started accepting tour bookings to Egypt.

All museums and historical sites which had been closed since the civil uprising started in January are now reopened , European countries lifted the travel warning against non-essential travel to Egypt and the respective leading tour operators are resuming their holiday offerings including rebooking of packages that were cancelled during the unrest. 

Al-Masry Al-Youm news agency reported on Monday. U.S. media host Oprah Winfrey is among the stars who have been invited over, in a bid to restore Egypt’s reputation as a tourist destination. The Minister made the announcement during a press conference on Saturday, which was also attended by Mr. Hussein Massoud, CEO of EgyptAir Holding Company, and Mr. Amr al-Ezabi, Chairman of the Egyptian Tourist Authority. 

• The Foreign Ministry of Holland announced the lifting of its advisory against travelling to Egypt.
• The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry had dropped its recommendation for Ukrainians not to visit the Egyptian resort cities of Hurghada and Sharm el-Sheikh.
• On February 28th the Spanish Foreign Ministry lifted its travel advice against travelling to Sharm el Sheikh, Luxor & Aswan.
• The Austrian Foreign Ministry has lifted its travel advisory against travelling to Luxor, Aswan and the Nile.
• The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the lifting of its advisory against travelling to Egypt.
• The Belgian Foreign Ministry announced the lifting of its advisory against travelling to Egypt.
• The Japanese Government has downgraded its travel advisory to Egypt from level 3 (do not travel) to level 2 (consider travelling) except for Sinai Peninsula, Red Sea and the Suez.
• The Danish Foreign Ministry no longer advises against travelling to Egypt.

All holiday travellers desire to travel light but it is more important nowadays when airlines impose high surcharges and even some flights restrict carry-on baggage for security reasons.

Some other advantages of traveling light will be that you won’t need to pay porters if you can carry yourself, you’ll spend less time at the airports (waiting for one bag instead of two at luggage collection), less risk to lose any belongings to damage or misrouting. For more tips you can also watch the recent movie “Up in the Air”.

The Society of American Travel Writers recently came up with 10 tips to reduce the weight of your luggage when traveling. The first test is asking yourself “Do I really need to carry this?”; if item passes this test you can apply the 10 recommendations listed below:

1-Stick to single color scheme when you pack, this will reduce the need to pack multiple pairs of shoes, bags etc. Choose dark color that does not show dirt, and brighten with light accessories.

2- Carry heavy items on yourself, like your coat or heaviest pair of shoes. Make sure you have lighter layers inside so you can shed when it gets warm on the plane.

3-Pack synthetic microfiber clothing; they are light, you can easily wash in a sink and they will dry overnight. Furthermore they will not wrinkle so you don’t need to iron them or carry extra clothes if you don’t like wearing wrinkled clothes.

4-Allocate a budget to buy new lightweight luggage; older bags were made of heavy materials, however new bags are stronger and weigh half of their older counterparts.

5-Whenever there is no restriction to have a carry-on bag or limit for its weight, pack all heavy items in your carry-on bag. Cameras, books, shoes, medications are ideal to carry with you and to lighten up your luggage.

6-Pack only small bottles of shampoo and toiletries and buy them at the destination. In your carry-on bags, you can carry only one plastic zip-lock bag that includes 3.4 ounce (or less) bottles. Packing bigger bottles in your checked in luggage is something you should avoid, they can spill and spoil your clothes, and surely will increase the weight of your bag.

7-Rather than packing your best clothes, it is smarter to pack your older clothes, shoes, underwear etc. You can wear them during your trip and toss them away before you return home. You’ ll have extra room for your souvenirs and less dirty laundry when you come back.

8-Don’t pack for all possible weather conditions, you can easily find a shirt in Egypt, or an umbrella in Istanbul if it unexpectedly rains while you are travelling in Turkey. You can always buy inexpensive local clothes and wear them during your trip.

9-If you purchase some heavy items - such as carpets in Middle East – ship them to home. You’ll pay less and won’t bother with carrying them around.

10-Use lightweight clothing such as fleece instead of wool; they will provide the same warmth without extra weight.

Nil Aykut is the Marketing Manager of Anatolia Travels. Anatolia Travels offer private and escorted tours to Turkey , Greece Egypt, Jordan & Morocco. More information at http://www.anatoliatravels.com

Statement of Endorsement

On Monday, August 17, 2009, ACTA endorsed the following organization:

Cats and Dogs International (CANDi) More info available at: www.candiinternational.org

All statements of endorsement from ACTA automatically expire 5 years after publication unless reaffirmed, revised, or retired at or before that time.

The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies endorses Cats and Dogs International to bring humane solutions to managing the stray cat and dog populations in tourist destinations.

 The Association of Canadian Travel Agents (ACTA) supports the efforts of Cats and Dogs International (CANDi), a charitable organization whose mission it is to help homeless animals around the world. ACTA realizes that now more than ever before, travel and tourism businesses are looking to integrate sustainability into all areas of their business practices and to give back to host communities. CANDi’s programs are accessible to almost every sector of the industry - from airlines to resorts, from travel agencies to tour operators. With CANDi, each can all play a role in improving the lives of strays and creating humane solutions to managing the stray animal population.

 “An important part of what ACTA can do is to help raise awareness within the industry about the plight of stray cats and dogs in tourist destinations and encourage our membership to get involved. ACTA can also help to educate and empower tourists about ways they can help CANDi achieve its mission.” David McCaig, President and COO of ACTA. “ACTA is pleased to endorse CANDi’s efforts and will help educate our members as to what CANDi is doing worldwide”.

 “We have already made so much progress in the short time that CANDi has been in operation. We have rescued and adopted over 100 stray dogs, organized a free spay/neuter clinic for the public in 2008 with our next one planned for October 2009, and we have begun working with Royal Resorts in Cancun to implement a CANDi Cat Café, a program that is based on a partnership with hotels and resorts to spay/neuter and vaccinate stray cats that frequent their grounds and provide for their care on an on-going basis. With the endorsement of ACTA and businesses in the travel and tourism industry we can really change the lives of stray cats and dogs around the world.”  Darci Galati, President and Founder of CANDi.

CANDi partners with businesses in the travel and tourism industry as well as local animal organizations to implement its programs of humane, viable and long-term solutions to managing the stray cat and dog populations in tourist destinations around the world; while at the same time demonstrating for the tourism industry how businesses can increase profits and win customer loyalty through CANDi’s programs. Partnerships with CANDi will create opportunities for the tourism industry to market to millions of animal lovers in a new way. It is a win-win for all - the tourism industry, destination communities, tourists themselves and of course, the animals we help save.

If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Darci Galati, please e-mail Darci at darci@candiinternational.org. You can also visit CANDi’s website at www.candiinternational.org.

Every year hundreds of movies are shot, and luckily not all of them are filmed in front of the green cardboards in Hollywood studios. Some of them are shot in their actual environments giving us the opportunity to sense the real surrounding.

Just as a well played role would bring more business to the actors, so will a good movie to the small town or to the country it was filmed. Movies are one of the most effective ways in the presentation of a country or city. The film “Casablanca” had attracted many tourists to Morocco for years. Similarly thousands of tourists, in the footsteps of “Indiana Jones”, still travel to Jordan to see the treasury in the rock carved temple.

Sometimes you even might not enjoy the movie but the historic street you see at the background may snatch your attention and motivate you to learn more about the location the movie was shot. Or if you have already picked your next destination, why not watch a few movies filmed in that country to get into the groove?

If Turkey is one of your next destinations, here is the list of some well known movies that were shot in Turkey, mainly in Istanbul. These movies captured many touristy highlights as well as less known places which might spice up your itinerary:

• The World Is Not Enough (1999) is the nineteenth movie in the James Bond series. The film was directed by Michael Apted and it is Pierce Brosnan’s third James Bond movie. Bosphorus and Maiden tower are the major places seen in the movie. “I’ve always wanted to have Christmas in Turkey.” is the famous quote said by James Bond.

• Hitman is a 2007 film based on the same-titled video game series. An agent hired by a group known as ‘The Organization’ is trapped and finds him pursued by both Interpol and the Russian military as he treks across Russia, Eastern Europe and Turkey. In this movie you can see the backstreets of old Istanbul and crowded bazaar area.

• Gallipoli is a 1981 Australian film, directed by Peter Weir and starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee. It is about two Australian sprinters facing the brutal realities of World War I when they are sent to fight in the Gallipoli campaign in Turkey. Although the whole movie was shot in Australia it is about the place Gallipoli which is in North West Turkey and a district of Canakkale province.

• The Accidental Spy is a 2001 Hong Kong martial arts-action film, starring Jackie Chan and directed by Teddy Chan. It all starts on one normal dull day, Bei a salesman at a workout equipment store follows his instincts to trail two suspicious looking men into an alley and this leads him to an adventurous journey from Korea to Turkey. The scene that Jackie Chan is running naked in the Grand Bazaar is the most haunting moment of the movie.

• Topkapi (1964) is a film directed by Jules Dassin and the film is based on Eric Ambler’s novel The Light of Day. The film stars Melina Mercouri, Maximilian Schell and Peter Ustinov. The movie is about a man with passport problems gets mixed up with a gang of thieves plotting to rob the Topkapi museum in Istanbul.

• From Russia with Love (1963) is the second spy film in the James Bond series with Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. In the film, James Bond is sent to assist in the defection of Corporal Tatiana Romanova in Turkey. Most of the movie was shot in Turkey and the major places are; Egyptian spice bazaar, Sultanahmet, Bosphorus and the Blue Mosque.

• The Net 2 (2006) is a film directed by Charles Winkler and starring Nikki Deloach, Demet Akbag and Sebnem Donmez. The life of a computer systems analyst is thrown into turmoil when, after arriving in Istanbul to start a new job. This movie was also shot in Istanbul mainly Sultanahmet district and most of the actors are famous Turkish movie stars.

• Head On (2004) is an award winning film directed by Fatih Akin. The movie is about a Turkish man called Cahit in his 40s who has given up everything in life and seeks solace in drugs and Sibel, another German Turk who has tried to commit suicide due to her conservative family. In this movie you can see the real local life in Istanbul.

Above list includes the major movies; however there are several other European, Hindi, Asian movies filmed in various parts of Turkey. If you are planning your next tour to Turkey why don’t you grab a few of above movies from your local video store and get ready for a Christmas in Turkey just like our old pal Bond.

Nil Aykut is the Marketing Manager of Anatolia Travels. Anatolia Travels offer private and escorted tours to Turkey , Greece Egypt, Jordan & Morocco. More information at http://www.anatoliatravels.com

Here are some important dates and celebrations in Egypt:

- Egyptian Orthodox Christians (or Coptic Christians) celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on January 7th. Although Egypt is mostly Islamic country, celebrations begin in December and you can enjoy the festive atmosphere this time of the year.  All Coptic feasts come after a period of fasting  during which animal related products are forbidden   This fast lasts from November 25th until January 6th (Advent).

- Abu Simbel Festival, takes place twice a year Feb 22 and Oct 22; natural sunlight and architectural brilliance combine to make the inner sanctum of the temple light up. It’s a breathtaking sight and makes the music, dance and food that accompanies the festival pale in comparison.

- April:  First Monday after Coptic Easter is celebrated as first day of Spring; it is called Shem Al Nessim meaning smelling the breeze.  Traditionally, Egyptians celebrate the ancient Shem al-Nessim spring holiday by eating an eclectic menu of salted fish, boiled eggs, green onions and lettuce - items that their ancient forefathers are thought to have offered to their gods as symbols of fertility and rebirth.  The night before and morning of the holiday Egyptians go out shopping for “fiseekh”, the pungent, salted grey mullet, and other ingredients that many will later take for picnics to the crowded parks along the Nile.

- May: South Sinai Camel Festival takes place in Sharm El Sheikh. This is an annual event that takes place at 3:00pm on the 1st of May of every year and lasts for the duration of the month, thus finishing on the 31st. and over 250 camels take part in this race from 17 different Egyptian tribes. So, maybe its time you know a bit more about these amazing ‘ships of the desert’ and how they are able to stand the heat let alone run and race in it.

August 24th-31^st Art Festival:  A weeklong party is held in Ismailia as a celebration of colorful folkloric art from Africa, Europe and Asia. This festival is said to be the greatest art festival in the Arab world.

Eid al Fitr:  This religious event marks the end of the month long fasting or Ramadan period for Muslims.

Eid al Adhha: This religious event begins about 70 days after the end of Ramadan and is dedicated to Abraham’s sacrifice of a sheep in place of his son. This event lasts for four days.

Dear Travelers, below article has appeared in the Vancouver Sun, the Edmonton Journal, The Ottawa Citizen and the Montreal Gazette: Canadian travelers are warned against travel/vacation scams. Verify your agency to avoid such scams.

‘Free’ trip can be a money grab in disguise Knowing the signs can save headaches..

“We get about 300,000 hits on our website every month,” says Mississauga-based Donavon Gaudette, ACTA’s communications manager.

“We are also constantly updating what travel watches are being issued by the federal government, so people use us as the source of information.”

Checking if the agency is registered with a provincial consumer protection authority can also be useful. For instance, in British Columbia, companies register for a licence number with the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority of British Columbia.

“If a consumer purchases travel services through an agency that is not licensed with the BPCPA, then the transaction is not eligible for protection under the Travel Assurance Fund,” says Sarah Head, BPCPA’s public relations manager…. © Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Click here Full article.