Ekol Travel: Frequently Asked Questions

** People often ask questions about following terms ( Please, forward any other questions, you will receive the reply within 48 hours.) **

1) What is the climate like ?

*Climate in Turkey and Greece is very smilar except for the eastern and northern regions of Turkey. It is very hot and dry in the summer period (between 30/43 C° ) but rainy and cold in the winter eventhough it hardly receives any snow...It is very snowy in mid and eastern Turkey during the winter period and very rainy in northern Turkey and Greece..It sometimes snows up in Northern Greece.It gets mild from the end of March. It is realy warm and nice from mid May till the end of September.

2) How safe is it ?

*Turkey : It is as safe as any other European country eventhough Eastern Turkey has suffered from terrorism untill the year 2000 due to the P.K.K terror organisation claiming a seperate Kurdish state.The western part of Turkey has always been quite safe in every aspect .Pick pocketing case is a as common in big cities such as Istanbul,Izmir as in Rome or London.Mugging is not very common but it is also a case in the back streets of Istanbul.(avoid accepting drink or food offers from strangers or any invitation to the bars or entertaiment places.)Locals are very friendly,shop-keepers often approach to the tourists walking past their shops, they sometimes get very presisting and groovy eventhough they don't mean any harm, it may get realy annoying..

*Greece : It has generaly been peacefull,they don't have local uprisings or terrorism action in the country eventhough they have to deal with frequent labor strikes,demonstrations which often interupts the public services.Pick pocketing and mugging are as frequent as Rome or London..You should be aware of any strangers approaching you in public areas and watch your values at all times.

3) How frequent is public transportation ?

*Turkey : Since railway system is realy backward,coach transportation is highly developed,Turkey is maybe the most advanced country in Europe for it's inter-city coach services.You can catch direct buses to most main destinations from anywhere anytime ..The standart of coaches are very high, non-smoking, cabin-crew service, very clean and all very modern buses ( Mercedes,Man ect..)most important is that prices are very competative and realy cheap as there are over 20 national and over 200 local bus companies in the country.There are frequent domestic flights to 20 different local destinations in Turkey.There are several airports in tourist attraction areas and most of them have domestic and international services.Turkish Air Lines is the only option at this moment in the country.

*Greece : Main land Greece has railway and bus transportation to almost every corner in the country. It is undoubtable that Greece is one of the leading countries in the world in sea-transportation.Local and international Greek companies run cruise boats, ferries, hydrofoils, small local boats inorder to provide transportation between the islands and overseas..Olympic airways is the national one and they have very frequent flights everywhere eventhough they don't have regular flights between the islands, all scheduled via Athens.

4) Monetary system :

*Turkey: It is Turkish Lira but in most touristic regions,you can pay in U.S Dollars,Euro and G.B.P Credit cards,especialy Master and Visa are welcomed in most shops and restaurants..Travelers checks are welcomed in touristic shops.

*Greece : They started using Euro a few years ago.Everything is in Euro..They often send you to the nearest exchange office as they prefer to be paid in national currency.They are not as flexable as Turks in the form of money.Most major credit cards are welcomed...