Antalya

Flying South

After missing the 6am bus to the airport in Ankara I was forced to take a nailing in the wallet via a taxi ride to the tune of 50TL ( standard prices are 75TL – negotiated.)

Got this flight for 74TL. Flight was packed with passengers. Flying time again was 65 minutes, what a scenic flight it was!

Antalya was the worlds 3rd most visited city in 2012 and had a couple 4th place finishes in the year’s before.

Snow capped mountain peaks eventually drop off into Antalya with a visible waterfall running into the ocean from view of the descending plane.

Antalya Havalimani – Airport.

Take the HAVAS bus / shuttle directly outside arrivals, cost is 10TL. My route took me to the shopping mall Migros M5 where I was directed to a taxi who in turn took me directly to hotel at a 12TL cost. Had I known then I would of taken the bus to 100m behind hotel at the standard rate of 2TL.

Some scenery snapped from the bus route.

THE HOTEL

The Crown Plaza Antalya is so much alike as Intercontinental Muscat, exterior, interior of lobby and rooms too. Read more here

The cost of a standard room is Euro 220. I got it online for Euro 39! and with my IHG Platinum Status they upgraded me to the corner suite valued at Euro 320. No extra taxes were charged.

Yet again the Guest Relations Manager came over at the check-in to introduce herself and welcome me. She provided me with a personal business card, complimentary amenity by the way of a snack and drink voucher and a 600 points IHG rewards club voucher.

When hotel rates are this good its best to score big time with bonuses, read all about this here

The Suite

Modern bathrooms but the rooms are very much on the older décor side.

The suites come standard with two bathrooms, a lounge and a separate bedroom with balcony.

Have you ever had a bubble bath with a sliding door balcony over-looking snow capped mountains with a aqua blue ocean running below?

Could go snow boarding later…

Mediterranean is beautifully cold

Exploring Antalya

All the buses charge 2TL per route. The KC06 / KL08 took me to the shopping mall Migros M5 to start the exploration of the city.

Migros healthy eats and treats.

Aquarium

Antalya is home to the worlds largest aquarium tunnel (if you recall the movie Jaws 3’s adrenalizing famous scenes.)

The aquarium is within walking distance from Migros. Steep $35 entry for aquarium only, the other themed parks have combos built in to some ticket prices.

The animal themed parks here is a major tourist attraction.

The best part of this aquarium is the quality of the glass housing does not hurt ones eyes or give that strong spectacle magnification headache feeling. Its upclose and crystal clear.

Beautiful shiver of sharks.

Minicity

Minicity lies 500m next door to the aquarium. Cost to enter is 7TL. Each monument has Multilanguage tutorial machine. You will need a lot of time to go through all of them.

Amazing attention to detail. Amazing history.

Düden Waterfall

I was so confused on this bus ride, I pointed out to the concierge at the hotel I would like to tour the waterfall I saw cascade into the ocean from the plane and even pointed it out on the map of Antalya they provided me. Some instructions were given on a piece of paper and off I was.

I took the AF04 bus to Kepez Belediyisi and then another bus something number 66 to Düden. Both rides totalled 4TL. On the second bus I couldn’t help but notice we were driving way north of the ocean, totally opposite to the area I hoped to go to. Minimum speaking english people did not help so I decided to back track another 30 minutes of commuting immediately after having a quick scope but I was in for a very pleasant surprise and would be awe – struck of the beauty for the remainder of the afternoon.

The cost of entering is 3TL.

Common bus stop

Damn! why man why !!!

Below: The staircase that leads to the entrance under the cascade of the waterfall.

Do you remember the classic hit movie: THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS ? The scene where they walk in the cave under the waterfall. Here you can experience that. Its amazing.