That's another thing about Turkey that turns most people off - it's so difficult (and expensive) to travel outside of Turkey. I'd feel stifled being stuck in a country where a simple trip to , say, Italy or Spain involved HOURS and HOURS of travelling; several stops - and mega bucks!
Another thing that is off-putting about Turkey is how boring it is. Even the summertime can become boring - there's only so much beach you can do or old stones and ruins you can stare at!
But in the winter it's deadly boring! I know some of the larger towns have shopping centres and cinemas etc, but you can't compare them to the ones we have in London.
I suppose we are very spoilt in London. Besides being so close to the airport and being able to travel anywhere we want to, we have so much to entertain us here. Museums, galleries, theatre, luxury cinemas, sports clubs, leisure centres, wonderful shops, great cafe culture, pubs, wine bars, clubs, music venues such as Ronnie Scotts, stadiums etc.....and that's without all our beautiful parks, canals, the river - and not forgetting the wonderful palaces and buildings you can go and visit. We also have every cuisine available to us : French, Italian, Thai, Indian, Spanish, Mexican, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, Turkish, Russian...you name it and London will have it. And not only do we have immense choice, but the food is sometimes actually better than what you can get in those countries!
Whereas in Turkey you only have Turkish food, really. You can find a few British restaurants (fish & chips - usually not very well cooked or authentic) and there's a few Indian, Chinese, Italian etc - but I never found one that could compare to London or abroad.
The other thing I didn't like about Turkey was the lack of choice and how supermarkets didn't stock the sort of things I like. The beef in Turkey is not nice (they drain all the blood in the Halal method and they don't hang it long enough) so it's always usually tasteless and on the tough side. I remember expats fantasising about all the things they couldn't get out there : beautiful bacon, pork sausages, roast pork with crackling, breaded ham, pork pies, veal ham and egg pie, Scotch eggs, black pudding, decent steak, cold meats in the deli counter - such as salami, Parma ham....gravadlax, decent smoked salmon, tender Spring lamb, top class steak mince, fresh cream, mature English cheddar and Stilton, French/Italian soft cheeses, fresh milk, decent tea and coffee, lovely squash drinks such as Ribena, decent wine, proper chocolate, fresh cream cakes, Cornish pasties, steak and kidney pies, sausage rolls................oooh the list goes on and on..........
And the PRICES they charge for imported wines and spirits are ridiculous!
But besides all that - you also have the problem of not being able to get a work permit. So you're doubly bored!!! And getting poorer by the day................
Does anyone know what the inflation is in Turkey? I know the fuel there is the most expensive in the WORLD!
Oh, and you have to pay LOTS of money to buy a dustbin on wheels!
What on earth makes people go out there I wonder?
There's just nothing to do out there - unless you want to gaze at lots of crumbling stones!!
Strawbs