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FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS
VISA:
US citizens need a visa to travel in Turkey.
You may obtain this visa upon your
arrival at the Istanbul airport.
The fee is $20 for the Americans . The visa is valid for three months.
AIR PORT
After you leave the plane, you should first look for the VISA counter. It
generally takes no longer than
few minutes to get the visa
But you need cash to pay for your vis. Please be prepared.
After the Police/immigration counter you get to baggage claim area. The
baggage cars are US$1 and
you have to pay this amount cash
to the person in charge of the carts. It will be nice if you have
the change ready.
TRANSFER:
The transfer to the hotel is included in our price .
Please let
us know your arrival information.
At the airport after you leave the
customs area , look for a MELITOUR sign .
!! In case of unexpected delay or change of
flight, should there be a problem in meeting the person who should be
waiting for you at the airport please call Hotel Ayasofya at 0212-51694-46
or take a taxi to Hotel Ayasofya.
Your taxi fare will be refunded.
Hotel
Ayasofya
Kucuk Ayasofya Mahallesi
Demirci Resit Sokak
Sultan Ahmet Meydani Alti
EARLY
ARRIVAL
If you plan to arrive a few days before
the tour to get over jet lag we can reserve a room at
Hotel Ayasofya Single US$50, Double
US$70) We can suggest itineraries for those who
want to explore on their own or with a
guide before or after the tour.
Simply send us an e-mail with your
request.
WHAT TO WEAR
Don’t forget your swimming suits. A scarf
for mosque visits will be handy, also since we take our shoes when we
enter the mosques and people's homes and easy slip on and off type of a
shoe will be more comfortable. The women will need to wear a long
skirt or long pants in the mosque .Through out the tour
shorts are O.K.
LAUNDRY
You can have laundry done in all the
hotels where we have more than one night stay.
MEALS
Turkish food has enough variety to meet
every one’s need. Vegetarian menus are available.
If special diet food is
required we can arrange for that easily.
EXTRA EXPENSES
Virtually everything on the tour is
included except for your drinks. Your daily average expenditure while
on
the tour will be about US $20 a day per person (mostly for drinks and
souvenirs), though your actual
expenditure could be far lower. People on
shoe string budgets have spent as a little as $100 during the
entire tour,
while others have spent thousands of dollars ( usually on carpets.)
PERSONAL CHECKS
Personal checks are honored in the big shops. If you are pplanning to buy
kilims or carpets
DO NOT leave your personal checks at home.In fact personal checks are
honored like cash
TRAVELLERS CHECKS
If you want to make a
purchase over $100 you can pay with your traveler's checks .
But cashing
traveler's checks in a bank is expensive and not always easy.
Do not rely
on traveler's checks for cash.
ATMS
ATMs are available. US$
currency can be used through out the country.
If you need to change US$ to
Turkish Lira, .you can do it at the airport very easily.
The rates almost
all the same.
ELECTRICITY
240 V. Please do not for get to
bring an adopter
FILM/SMART CARD
Some tour members have taken as
much as 25 rolls of pictures some took may be 15 at an avarage.
So please be prepared bring more film/smart card than you think you will
use. Film is more expensive in Turkey
CONTACTING HOME
There are internet cafes in all of the major cities that we will visit.
In case of emergency please give my cellular phone to your loved ones.
I will keep my telephone on all the time 90 532 345 9987
If any mssg is e mailed to MELITOUR
melitour@unimedya.net.tr,
you will be notified immediately
SHOPPING
INFORMATION
This tour is
quite hectic. So you will have very little time for shopping. But
amazingly people find enough time to shop .One of my groups had shopped so
much in the seconds that we had time for shopping we had a garage sale at
the end of the tour. If you are interested in buying kilims and
or carpets make sure you have your dimentions and colors with you. Very
few leave Turkey with out a Kilim or a Carpet on these tours
KILIM, CARPET,
TOWELS, FELT
However, the Turkish Carpets
are so inviting it is very difficult to resist the temptation. If you
already have the bug for the Turkish,Kurdish and Central Asian KILIMS you
will find your self in heaven. If you have not yet developed a taste ,this
might be the place to get aquatinted with that incurable bug.
PESTEMAL
In the
Turkish Bath, the pestamal is used like a wrap around the body. We will be
able to buy the pestemals off from a loom
WOODWORK IMBEDDED WITH
MOTHER OF PEARL
Gaziantep is known for this craft
which used to be favorite art/craft of the Ottoman Sultans.
Mirrors,jewelery boxes, shelfs,chairs and many more tempting and carriable
pieces hand made in Gaziantep are available in the souvenier shops.
BRASS WORKS
Very delicately carved trays, pots
and shish kebab scewers and statuetts will be nice Christmas gifts.
MINIATURE PAINTINGS
Replicas of Ottoman paintings are
favorite shopping theme for most of Melitour tour members. They are
available only out side the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul
SILVER JEWELERY
Authentic or replicas of old
jewelery are available at few places along the tour. Especially the
jeweler at Ephesus has excellent examples of old jewelry.
TEXTILES
Material with wood
block prints, scarves with OYA, lace, suzanis
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