Terry

Confused about posts regarding the Whirling Dervishes. Where and when can one see them?<BR><BR>We want to take an independent Gulet cruise, 3 or 4 days. Which is the best area to hire them Bodrum or Marmaris?<BR><BR>Topkapi Blue Harem Tour. How long does the tour take and is it worth all the hassle re getting there before the ticket window opens, fighting the crowds, etc.? Have heard conflicting reports.<BR><BR>We will be driving and wonder if anyone knows where to pick up a good road map? Will the car rental agency in Kayseri have them?

Patrick

We saw a lot more gulet boats available for hire in Marmaris than we did in Bodrum -- it really seems to be the center for that activity. Although there are some staged versions of whirling dervishes -- even in Istanbul, probably the best place to see them is in Konya. We stayed in Konya at Hotel Dunday where they have a major whirling dervish show and dinner. (We didn't do it, didn't mean much to me). Perhaps someone else will have an idea of where else to see them.<BR>We got our blue harem tour tickets when we arrived at Topkapi in the morning, spent an hour or so looking at other things there before returning for our tour time -- no big hassle at all. The only disappointing part was we literally could not understand a word of what our tour guide was saying. It was the thickest accent I've ever heard, and she mumbled under her voice to top that.<BR><BR>We got a super road map (brand newly published) at a major book and travel store in London just before going on to Turkey. However, when we drove from Lake Egridir to Antalya, things just didn't seem to make much sense. When we arrived at Antalya we were even on the western side of the city instead of the eastern. Finally we found out that the road we were on had replaced the one on the map nearly five years before. The moral of this -- don't expect great maps. Actually I've seen just as good of road maps for Turkey at Barnes and Noble. Our car rental agency's map was pretty worthless.

Terry

Thanks again Patrick for the advice. A couple other questions:<BR>Driving time Cappadocia to Konya and Konya to Antalya? <BR>Would you recommend stopping in Antalya or bypassing it in favor of Kas and points further up the coast? <BR><BR>

Patrick

We left Ugrup in Cappodocia about 11:00 in the morning, stopped for lunch and a hike in the Ihlara Valley. We also stopped for a while at Sultunhami. We still arrived in Konya before 5 PM.<BR>We spend a night at Lake Egridir between Konya and Antalya, but we found that was sort of a mistake. We easily could have driven from Konya to Antalya in a short and easy day, and there was nothing very exciting or impressive about Lake Egridir. <BR>We really enjoyed Antalya -- although it was very heavy with traffic. We originally thought we'd stay in the old city, but then we found a real deal at the Rennaisance resort outside of town so we stayed there a couple of nights. We were glad we did, as there was a bus that took us into the center of Antalya, which seemed preferable to having the car there. And we couldn't imagine how we would have navigated the tiny streets inside the old city to find our hotel if we had stayed there.<BR>I found Kas a total waste. Nothing compared to Antalya, Bodrum, Marmaris, or Dalyan.

Terry

Patrick, really appreciate your willingness to answer our questions. We do want to get the most out of our trip. Questions:<BR><BR>1. Did you take the 0730 flight from Istanbul to Kayseri? That seems very early but the next flight is around 1730 did you take the late flight and drive in the dark to your hotel?<BR><BR>2. Would you recommend we book our Turkish Air flights from here or wait until we arrive in the Istanbul Airport? Any problem getting on the aircraft if we wait and book in country?<BR><BR>3. Would you recommend we book our car rental from here or wait until we arrive in Istanbul? I think you said you used autoeurope? They must have had the best rental prices? Did you need aircon in May?<BR><BR>