1 - VISITING TÜRKIYE [Travel]

1.1) Where can I get cheap tickets to Türkiye?

Travel Agencies, where you can find tickets to TR, are:

FREEDOM			1-212-697-4656
			1-800-929-8283
			1-212-697-4038 Fax

PICASSO TRAVEL		1-212-751-9051
			1-800-525-3632 (Travel Agents Sevin, sule, and Ani)
			1-212-751-9053 Fax

ISTANBUL TRAVEL & TOURS, INC.	1-800-887-5493 (1-800-TÜRKIYE)
				1-212-754-4888
				1-212-838-7568
				1-212-308-2350 Fax

THY			1-212-986-5050
			1-800-874-TURK (1-800-874-8875)
			1-212-818-1754 Fax

CLUB AMERICA		1-212-972-2865
			1-800-221-4969
			1-212-953-7937 Fax

ANADOLU TRAVEL		1-800-ANADOLU
			1-212-486-4012
			1-212-486-4014 Fax

TURSAN			1-800-451-6050
			1-800-875-0075
			1-212-888-1180

UNITED WORLD		1-201-523-5950 (Yasar Bey)

SUNSET			1-800-243-1500
			1-818-368-2324
			1-818-366-3595 Fax

TCI TRAVEL		1-800-333-7033 (Dallas - Ercüment Kiliç)
			1-214-630-3344
			1-214-630-3477 Fax

S&S TRAVEL		1-516-756-0275
			1-516-756-2543 Fax

FAME TRAVEL		1-718-263-5636 (Hepsen Arsel, Susan Tuncer)
			1-718-575-4067 Fax

MOON TRAVEL		1-212-564-5839/5840 (Kazim)
			1-800-938-2FLY
			1-212-564-5853 Fax

SULTAN TRAVEL		1-817-263-5804 Angle/Zübeyde (Texas)
			1-817-263-7004 Fax

[maintainer's note: I did call up the numbers above and verified them. I will continue with the rest on another day.]

The company above and below are not affiliated.

SULTAN TRAVEL		1-416-923-7936 (Toronto)


CONNECTION TOURS	1-212-486-9633

1.2) Can I take one or more camera/camcorder/laptop to Türkiye?

Yes, but according to law, those should be recorded to your passport at the time of your entrance and they should be checked upon leaving. Usually, the customs officer do not create problems for a single camera/camcorder etc. However, it is a good practice to register them, especially when you have more than one. (..be advised that like most customs officers, they do not care whether you miss your plane or not..)

1.3) Does my < insert any electrical device here > work in Türkiye?

220 volts, 50 Hz. is used in TR instead of the 120 volts, 60 Hz. used in North America. If your device does not mind frequency, it is easy to make it work in TR by the help of an inexpensive transformer. In particular, you may use the small transformers sold at Radio Shack for low-energy consumption (less than 50 watts) devices. If you would like to take a stereo (amplifier, tape deck, tuner etc.), you should buy a powerful 220v.-120v. transformer (preferably from TR, not to carry this heavy thing with you). The amplifier, CD player, tape deck mostly do not create problems. Tuners, on the other hand, has the problem of different frequency spacings of radio stations in the US: AM spacing is 9 kHz instead of 10 kHz and FM spacing is 100 kHz instead of 200 kHz in TR. This means you may not tune AM stations accurately in TR. Finally, some turntables, which controls the pitch with the power supply frequency may create problems: you can adjust the speed manually in many of them, but if this fails, the RPM drops to 5/6 of the origin.

1.4) How can I have a long distance call from Türkiye?

(Information about AT&T and MCI provided by Ibrahim Semiz)

There are public phones available for this purpose. You need to purchase some tokens from PTT (Turkish Post/Telegraph/Telephone Company). One token is on the order of $1 and you probably need a few for a single call. The long distance code for TR is 90.

But the most practical way make international calls from TR (or almost any country for that matter) is to use your calling card. For example, AT&T has services called `USA Direct' and `World Connect', where you dial 99 80 01 22 77 (99 80 01 44 77 for US Sprint) from any phone in TR, and get connected to AT&T. If you are calling a number in the US, you can place your call yourself, assisted by English voice prompts. If you want to call one of the 46 (at last count) countries on AT&T's list, you wait for an operator who assists you (Presumably, such calls would be more expensive). If you are calling from a residence, your host does not get charged anything, or you can make the call from any pay phone with a local (`small') token. Of course, you get the bill from AT&T. This is cheaper than calling from a residence (in TR). I don't know how it compares to calling from public phones with tokens, but it probably is cheaper, and you don't have to struggle to feed tokens to the thing at the rate ! of one every thirty seconds.

MCI has a similiar service, on which somebody else may supply details.

1.5) How can I call TR collect from the US? (800 numbers)

(by Metin mgokcen@us.oracle.com and Zafer Latif latifz@sunrise.cse.fau.edu)

1-800-VATANIM (1-800-828-2646) via PTT

1.6) New area codes for dialing to Türkiye.

[Maintainer's Note: I would like to express my sincere and special thanks to Mr Orhan Gökçöl (UCGOKCOL@TRITU.Bitnet) for going thru the effort of sending me the list of the new codes and changes from TR with fax and postal mail. He made it possible to have detailed information about the area code changes, affected cities, and the changes relating to each city. Thank you!]

The area codes for the cities in TR have changed. Calls to another area code in TR start with a '0', and international calls start with '00'. All phone numbers are 7 digits now. The following is a known list of new area codes and a summary of changes for each city. In changing the phone numbers to 7 digits, a number of digits have been inserted in front of the original phone number explained in the comments part of the table below.

City		Code		Comment
Adana		322		KarSIyaka, K.Esat, K.Köprü, TepebaG:			insert 3
				GazipaSa, Atatürk, ZiyapaSa, Bul, CemalpaSa:		insert 4
                                Yurt, Yeni Baraj, MahfesIGmaz:                          insert 2
AdIyaman        416             Numbers starting with 2:                                insert 23
                                Numbers starting with 3 and 6:                          insert 21
Afyon           272                                                                     insert 21
AGrI            472                                                                     insert 21
Aksaray         382                                                                     insert 21
Amasya          358                                                                     insert 21
Ankara          312                                                                     No Change
Antalya		242		Numbers starting with 27,20,41-43,47,58:		insert 2
                                Numbers starting with 21-23,25,26,30,32,34,39,40,44:    insert 3
Ardahan         478                                                                     Insert 211
Artvin          466                                                                     undetermined
AydIn		256		Numbers starting with 2,3,4:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 5:				insert 22
BalIkesir       266                                                                     Insert 2
BartIn		378		Numbers starting with 2:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 7:				insert 22
Batman          488                                                                     Insert 21
Bayburt         458                                                                     Insert 211
Bilecik         228                                                                     Insert 21
Bingöl		426		Numbers starting with 27:				insert 23
				Numbers starting with 3:				insert 21
Bitlis		434		Numbers starting with 61-64:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 65-67:				insert 22
Bolu            374                                                                     Insert 21
Burdur		348		Numbers starting with 22-24:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 3,4,21,26:			insert 23
Bursa           224             Numbers starting with 20-24,33-36,43,46,47,50-55,57:    insert 2
				Numbers starting with 27-29,60-62,66-68:		insert 3
				Numbers starting with 41,42:				insert 4
Çanakkale       286                                                                     Insert 21
ÇankIrI         376                                                                     Insert 21
Çorum		364		Numbers starting with 2,3:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 4,6:				insert 22
				Numbers starting with 48:				insert 23
Denizli         258             Numbers starting with 61-66,68:                         insert 2
                                Numbers starting with 71,73,77:                         insert 3
DiyarbakIr      412                                                                     insert 2
Edirne		284		Numbers starting with 2-3:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 57,58:				insert 23
				Numbers starting with 5:				insert 22
ElazIg		424		Numbers starting with 2,8,51:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 4:				insert 22
				Numbers starting with 3,6,7:				insert 23
				Numbers starting with 71:				insert 24
Erzincan        446             Numbers starting with 2,4:                              insert 21
				Numbers starting with 3:				insert 22
Erzurum		442		Numbers starting with 2,8:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 3-4:				insert 23
				Numbers starting with 5-6:				insert 31
				Numbers starting with 7:				insert 32
EskiSehir       222             Numbers starting with 21,27,28,30-34,36,37,39:          insert 2
				Numbers starting with 20,22-24,35:			insert 3
Gaziantep       342             Numbers starting with 20,25,26,30-35,50:                insert 2
				Numbers starting with 21,23,24,36,38,39:		insert 3
Giresun         454                                                                     Insert 21
GümüShane       456                                                                     Insert 21
Hatay           326             Iskenderun:                                             insert 61
                                Others:                                                 insert 21
Hakkari         438                                                                     Insert 211
IGdIr		476		Numbers starting with 71-74:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 75-77:				insert 22
Isparta         246             Numbers starting with 8,20,21:                          insert 21
				Numbers starting with 3,7:				insert 22
				Numbers starting with 2:				insert 23
Içel		324		Numbers starting with 23,31-35,37,38:			insert 2
				Numbers starting with 20,21,24-26,28,36:		insert 3
Istanbul        212             European Side.                                          No Change
                216             Asian Side.                                             No Change
Izmir           232             Alsancak  area:                                         insert 2
                                KarSIyaka area:                                         insert 3
                                Hatay area:                                             insert 4
K.MaraS         344             Numbers starting with 2,4,55-57:                        insert 21
                                Numbers starting with 3,50,51:                          insert 22
				Numbers starting with 6,7:				insert 23
Karaman         338                                                                     Insert 21.
Kars		474		Numbers starting with 2:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 3:				insert 22
Kastamonu       366                                                                     Insert 21
Kayseri		352		Numbers starting with 22-25,31-35,40:			insert 2
                                Other numbers:                                          insert 3
KIrIkkale       318             Numbers starting with 2,8:                              insert 21
				Numbers starting with 4:				insert 22
				Numbers starting with 3:				insert 23
				Numbers starting with 5:				insert 24
				Numbers starting with 62-65:				insert 25
				Numbers starting with 69:				insert 26
KIrklareli	288		Numbers starting with 2,4:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 7:				insert 22
KIrSehir        386             Numbers starting with 26:                               insert 25
                                Other numbers:                                          insert 21
Kocaeli		262		Numbers starting with 21,22,24,25,31,64:		insert 3
				Numbers starting with 23,26,29,39:			insert 2
Konya		332		Numbers starting with 33-36,39,41,44,45,47-49:		insert 2
                                Other numbers:                                          insert 3
Kütahya		274		Numbers starting with 2,6:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 3-5:				insert 22
Malatya		422		Numbers starting with 38:				insert 2
                                Other numbers:                                          insert 3
Manisa          236                                                                     Insert 2
Mardin          482                                                                     Insert 21
MuGla           252                                                                     Insert 21
MuS             436                                                                     Insert 21
NevSehir        384                                                                     Insert 21
NiGde           388             Numbers starting with 3,20,21:                          insert 21
				Numbers starting with 22-24:				insert 23
Ordu		452		Numbers starting with 2,4:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 30-33:				insert 22
				Numbers starting with 34-36:				insert 23
Rize            464             Numbers starting with 2,30-32:                          insert 21
				Numbers starting with 33-36:				insert 22
Sakarya         264                                                                     Insert 2
Samsun		362		Numbers starting with 28,30-34,38,39:			insert 2
				Numbers starting with 20,31,32,35,37:			insert 4
Siirt		484		Numbers starting with 2:				insert 21
				Numbers starting with 3:				insert 22
Sinop           368                                                                     Insert 2
Sivas           346                                                                     Insert 2
sanlIurfa       414             Numbers starting with 5,6:                              insert 21
				Numbers starting with 2-4:				insert 31
sIrnak          486                                                                     Insert 21
Tekirda         282                                                                     Insert 2
Tokat           356                                                                     Insert 21
Trabzon		462		Numbers Starting with 21,22,25,26:			insert 3
                                Numbers Starting with 23,24,29:                         insert 2
Tunceli         428                                                                     Insert 21
USak		276		Numbers Starting with 2,5:				insert 21
				Numbers Starting with 3,7:				insert 22
Van             432             Numbers Starting with 2,4,6,7:                          insert 21
                                Numbers Starting with 3:                                insert 22
Yozgat          354                                                                     Insert 21
Zonguldak       372                                                                     Insert 2

1.7) What beverages are available?

(from Ian Davis, summary of responses he received to his survey)

Beer:

Efes Pilsen, most people say that this is the best.
Tuborg (originally Danish)
Tekel, pure Turkish but may not be found in Tourist resorts.

Soft Drinks:

Ayran, sIra, kIzIlcIk, seftali - totally different than anything available in UK.

Wine:

much better than beer, including KavaklIdere, Villa Doluca. Both red and white are good.

1.8) Ionian Coast Info

(from Ian Davis, summary of responses he received to his survey)

Shopping:

Bodrum is one of the most expensive towns to shop in (40% more expensive than Istanbul).Buying anything must bargin until the shop keeper gives up. If you are looking for more expensive souvenirs, its worth while traveling to other less well know towns in the area.

Places to see:

The castle in Bodrum ( rebuilt by the knights of St John) is worth a visit.

Troy- the famous city is within traveling distance of Bodrum, mostly ruined but still worth a visit. Bergama-site of one of the seven original churches mentioned in the bible. Has nice amphitheater,some pillars still standing, nice arches and a few mosiacs.

Efes-site of another one of the seven churches,Paul lived here. Is very well preserved, very good amphitheater, a library, roads of marble and is said to be a very exceptional site, comes highly recommended.

More info on where-to-visit, what-to-take-with-you etc. missing.

These places are only the tip of the iceberg.

Egemen Metin TURAN (metin@knidos.cc.metu.edu.tr) - Metu CC - September 2, 1994