Moving day

We chose our new place east of the city of Antalya at Lara Beach. Somehow we had to go almost 16 kms (10 miles) with all of our worldly belongings.

I checked the price of a taxi, but that was going to cost over 400 lira ($12.30 USD, $16.80 CAD). Not really that expensive, but we had lots of time so I checked into taking the bus. The problem of course was carrying all of our "stuff".

But it turned out that the bus was really convenient. We only had to take one bus, and the stop was a five minute walk from both our departure and our destination!

And, we had to be out of our old place by noon... but might not be allowed into our new place until 3:00pm. So we had loads of time.

And the best part? The bus only cost 18 lira ($0.55 USD, $0.76 CAD) each!

It was late arriving. Supposed to be there at 12:08, and then another one at 12:27. We waited over a half an hour, and then at 12:32, one showed up and right behind it was a second bus with the same number. Too funny. 

It was a little inconvenient, because we had all of our groceries with us as well as our normal carry on bag and backpack. But we made it work, and arrived at our new place at about 1:10pm.

Ruth, with all of our worldly belongings.

Except, we couldn't get in. 

This place was not on either of our two "go to" platforms of Airbnb or Booking. I found it while searching google maps, and booked direct on their website. They have properties in Istanbul, Izmir, and Antalya. It was easy to book, but the company has been absolutely terrible with communication.

And yes, I knew that check in was not until 3:00pm, but I had mentioned that we would arrive early and they said there would be someone there who would let us in "if our room was ready". But there was nobody around at all.

And the only way to contact them was through WhatsApp. They got back to me quickly, but were very ambiguous, and then sent me a note saying I had to pay... when I had already paid in advance. Then they said I had not sent in passports (standard in Turkiye) and that they couldn't let us enter until the passports had been registered. 

While sorting all this out, we sat at an outdoor picnic table beside the building. It was quite pleasant out and we were sitting in the shade, so it was all good. But I couldn't get them to tell me if the room was ready. They kept avoiding my question. 

Eventually, a car showed up and a couple with cleaning gear got out. This building has maybe 12 units, and from the looks of it, they had quite a few of them to get ready by 3:00pm.

Long story short, we eventually got into ours at about 3:20pm. Not a big deal, I just wish they had been more upfront about telling us what was going on. I mentioned that to them, and did eventually get an apology. 

But, now that we're in, the place is just fine.

Tiny kitchen. But reasonably well stocked, with brand new pots and pans.

It's a fairly new building. Less than two years old.

Even has a dish washer.

Not bad, for $31 USD ($42.25 CAD) per night for a five night stay. Lara Beach is a popular summer area, and I noticed that prices rise substantially May 1st, and even more on June 15th.

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