An aspect of international travel I enjoy, is having my impressions either confirmed or completely turned on their heads. This latest destination did one of those things. While not completely out of line, my impressions were so overly romanticized about Turkey. Here are 5 things to know about Antalya that form part of the reasons why I won’t return.
First Impressions
Usually I am leery upon arriving into a new destination and it takes me a few days to truly decide if I like a place or not. So, I was rather surprised when my first impressions lingered rather than changed for the better, as they usually do.
I had been inundated on social media and google searches of the beautiful parts of Istanbul and Antalya. You know the ones, the ornately tiled mosques, turquoise waters, gorgeous carpets, hot air balloons, colourful souks etc.
What I found, at least in Antalya, was very little of that inherent beauty. I was in the region of Antalya city for more than one month. I walked and explored every day. Here is what I saw that I was not expecting, or rather completely unaware of.
Homelessness
Now I am not immune to homelessness. In fact, my home town in Canada is rampant with such a huge and growing population of homeless peoples of all walks of life. When I first moved to that little town 25 years ago, to raise my children, they were virtually non-existent.
By the time I left Canada almost one year ago, the place I worked was considered by the local police as ‘ground zero’. The situation is out of control, crime is out of control and there is no positive outlook for any type of change.
In Antalya, when I would be out walking, especially before say 8:30am, I would regularly, every day, see homeless people sleeping on benches throughout the city and parks. Always male, I never once saw a female. When they moved on for the day, their pieces of cardboard were a reminder that they warmed that doorway or bench just hours prior.
I also saw them repeatedly in the parks, laying on the grass near flower beds or again on benches. I don’t know why, but I was not expecting to see this level of homelessness here in Turkey.
Beggars
Another thing that came as a complete surprise was being approached by women of every age, usually with a child in tow, and asked for money. These women do not look dishevelled or poor. In fact, if they hadn’t stopped to ask for money, they wouldn’t stand out at all.
Stares
I have lived in many countries around the world. I know first hand, that staring is just a ‘thing’ in certain countries. In fact, I encounter it in almost every destination to some degree. Well, Turkey is one of the countries where it is so blatant, I actually had a difficult time ignoring it and it began to bother me towards the end of my stay.
Handsy Men
Two men, one a baker and the other a shop keeper, actually got handsy too. The baker came out from behind his counter, told me repeatedly how beautiful I was, wanted to take selfies and kept wrapping his arm around my shoulders and waist.
The suitcase store man, was just down right grabbing my flab, my batwings, shoulders, waist, touching my back, yep, it was like that. Ick.
Dogs
I knew there were thousands of stray cats. I had been told and seen pictures, and I was actually looking forward to this. However, I was completely unaware of the population of large stray dogs. I have a fear of dogs, from being attacked as a child. This was a very uncomfortable encounter, every day. Being followed down streets, being sniffed and having to step over them and their poop.
This post is getting too long, so I’ll sign off for now. But in keeping with my goal, full authenticity, I wanted to let you know what to expect on your next trip to Antalya, Turkey. This isn’t to say there are not beautiful parts of the city, there certainly are, its just, for me, they were overshadowed by the above.
