I took a 12 hour bus to Antalya on the south coast, starting at 11:00 pm. I forgot my neck inflatable pillow in my checked bag and got stuck in an aisle seat with no comfortable place to put my head. It was not a good night. At least on Turkish buses they give you all the free plastic pudding cup sized waters that you want and an occasional snack (chocolate cake). I stayed in a hostel that was more café/travel agency than hostel. I didn’t really care for Antalya either. There were a bunch of pay beaches and nice looking water and lots of sun. That is about it.
I should mention here the popularity of ex-president, Mustafa Ataturk in Turkey. There are tributes to him all over and he is on all the money. You get the feeling he is genuinely loved when you see all the books about him, the trinkets with his likeness, and so on. I looked into his history and then I understood. He was a visionary with the drive and nerve to do things that others thought were crazy. For instance, he abolished all religious laws and established a secular government, he gave equal rights to women, he had the Turkish alphabet changed from difficult Arabic script to Latin letters (allowing people to easily learn to read in a few months), changed the Turkish language from being 80 percent Arabic words to newly invented Turkish words. And the most amazing thing is the time frame in which he did these things. Changing the alphabet happened in only five months. He is a man that deserves respect.
