I booked this tour because it indicated that it was a private tour (assumption: we would have input into where & when we stopped within reason) and it included a drop off at the airport. Our guide, Khan, picked us up on time at our hotel. The first stop was, as indicated in the "what to expect" information for the tour, the Karahayit Red Water Hot springs. Interesting but not much to linger over. Meanwhile, Khan seemed to take it as a tea break with his tour guide friends. Second stop was not in the plan: Khan mentioned a stop to see the "rocks of Pamukkale." This was an excuse for a visit to an onyx factory where we were deposited with a guy who explained how onyx was turned into various things for tourists to buy. He then attempted to lead us back to the room where we could purchase these treasures. We said, "no thanks" and exited back outside, where we interrupted Khan having another tea break with his buddies. Not at all happy with this and we let Khan know that we were not to be taken to any more factory tours or shopping stops. Khan was pleasant enough and certainly accommodating. But after a week with some phenomenal tour guides, we felt he provided only a minimum of historical information at the Hierapolis site. No anecdotes or stories to enliven the sites we were seeing. We spent time at the terraces where he said he would watch our things so we could walk on the travertines. I'm glad my husband stayed behind because Khan was off having yet another coffee/tea break with his fellow tour guides. We spent about 1 1/2 hours swimming in the Cleopatra pool, which is wonderful and highly recommend-you can wear swim shoes!) and this gave Khan another break. Our perception was and still is that Khan was having a pretty relaxing day! Once we were finished our swim it was time for lunch. WHAT A HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT! And yes, it's shouted because I hope the tour company takes note! This is a private tour! Yet we were taken away from the town, which had many lovely restaurants (we visited two of them the day before!) to the middle of nowhere to a restaurant that serves large tour groups arriving by bus. There was zero atmosphere-just row after row of tables, all empty when we arrived, but filling up some with the arrival of two tour busses. Food was buffet style as you can imagine when the objective is to feed a large number of people quickly. There were basic salads, some soup, pasta, and other hot items-well they were supposed to be hot. They were actually luke-warm and very bland. Probably the worst food we had in Turkey. Again, this tour was for my husband and myself. We paid a lot of money for this experience. We should have been taken to a local, full service restaurant where we could choose what we wanted to eat. Our last stop was the Kaklik Cave. This was interesting although not a highlight. Khan remained in the van. On the drive to the airport, Khan spend the time talking to the driver instead of engaging with us. On a previous tour in Cappadocia (also booked through Viator) the guide sat in the back of the van with us so he could provide commentary and answer questions we had. Also, the driver seemed to be taking personal phone calls while he was driving, which did not leave us with a safe feeling. We were dropped off at the airport at 4:40 pm- a full hour and 20 minutes ahead of when we asked to be dropped off. Khan could have suggested additional sites for us to see or even a stop for coffee, but he and the driver, who ran back around to jump in his seat and take off after getting our bags out, seemed only interested in getting rid of us and heading home. This was a disappointing and expensive tour.
Hello, thank you for taking the time to review. We agree that the entrance fee is very expensive and unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it.We always want to provide you with the best service in the region. Have a nice holiday.
