We are sorry that we could not see you again to say bye. My entire family is deeply thankful to you for arranging such a fantastic trip. We have friends that will be traveling to Turkey next year and we will definitely recommend you and Credo.

Thanks,
Gwen Kim
Boston / USA

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------November 23, 2003

Hi Ilgin,

Just wanted to let you know we arrived home safely... We cannot thank you enough for the wonderful tour that you and your company put together for us. Everything was perfect and the extra care and time you spent on us was above and beyond the call of duty. We shall highly recommend you and your company to our friends. Your cell phone calls while we were out of Istanbul were so much appreciated, and meeting us both times at the airport in Istanbul was a very special touch. We have all returned to work this week, and with the 7 hour time difference we have all been going to bed very early and then up at 4:00am. But today is the weekend and we are meeting the Greenbergs to compare all of our wonderful pictures, and to choose the best. We ourselves took 375 photos. We still have that terrific one of you when you first picked us up at the airport. Thank you so much again for your wonderful service, that was above and beyond

Sincerely,
Carole & Steve Zamon
Toronto/ Canada

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------November 03, 2003

Dear Sirma,

I was going to wait to send this until I had a chance to go through my photos, so that I could include one or two with the e-mail. Unfortunately, I've been so busy since returning that I have not yet been able to get to the pictures. So I thought I would just go ahead and send this.

First, I wanted to thank you again for all your help. You were fantastic and everything was outstanding. You were able to zero in on our preferences very quickly and the suggestions you made were excellent, as were the attention to detail and the guides, the hotels and the transportation arrangements. We especially appreciated your flexibility and breadth of knowledge and contacts, given the variety of things we did and the flexible way in which we did them. Thanks also for the way you helped out when things didn't exactly go according to plan. Beverly, Phyllis, Mel and I thank you for helping to make our trip such a wonderful one. Many of our friends have now expressed interest in visiting Turkey. Don't know when any plans will actually materialize, but when they do, we will make sure that they contact you.

Beverly joins me in sending our warmest regards. Below is a short synopsis of her thoughts on our journey.

Beverly's Reflections of Turkey, November 1/ 2003

This trip to Turkey had been planned and postponed for more than 2 years. Each time it was scheduled, other events took precedence. Going with our dear friends, Mel and Phyllis Holson, were always a part of the equation. But when we actually set the date for October 2003, the reactions of many of our friends and family was semi-surprising. "Why are you going to Turkey NOW-it is right next to Iraq?"

After a rather continuous stream of these concerns, for some reason, I still did not feel hesitant or concern. Even a close friend- now working in Iraq-expressed nothing to raise any yellow flags. My feeling was, and remains, it is more dangerous to drive on the freeways around Atlanta than to go to Turkey. And so the intrepid travelers ventured forth for almost 4 weeks of exploring and slowly beginning to understand a different culture in a distant land. My reflections are not at all meant to be a travelogue of our trip or of the country. My interest is more of an overview, with special focus on lifestyle, people and cultural changes.

First, here are a few adjectives that we all felt toward the last part of the journey: peaceful, diverse, beautiful, fascinating, friendly,fun, mountainous, mysterious, surprising, unbelievable, antiquated and charming. And, there are lots of cats.

We covered a LOT of territory that is rarely visited by tourists in buses and from cruise ships. We drove to big cities, small cities, tiny villages, magnificent ruins and antiquities, mountainous terrain, huge agricultural fields and orchards. We explored a famous area called Cappadocia. Describing this mysterious place is challenging-like nothing else on earth. Remarkable conical rock outcrops are the region's most famous features. Carved into the rock are scores of caves, underground cities for hiding, and hidden chapels adorned with exquisite frescoes-ample proof of the strength of the Christian faith that was established by the 4th century AD. Our small hotel was built into a cave. It was a unique and wonderful experience.

We sailed a week on the Aegean Sea in a Turkish Gulet(motor sailing vessel) and explored seaside towns and harbors as well as unspoiled coves. It was absolutely glorious-what else need be said! We did our best to improve the quality of life for many merchants. Both Mel's will testify to this universal truth. There are huge covered bazaars, small bazaars, and portable stalls at all of the famous sites. We made instant friends with carpet merchants, more carpet merchants, and more carpet merchants. They dress well, are very friendly and professional, and often quite funny. We were not in the market for carpet, although Turkey is one of the best countries in the world for carpets of all shapes and sizes. Many of the merchants have family businesses. "If you don't want a carpet, please visit our store next door where we sell beautiful jewellery, leather coats or exquisite pottery." Some of the most aggressive sellers are the women in small villages. Once you park your car, you are fair game. They appear from the shade or a nearby dwelling showing handmade costume jewelry and other clothing or crafts they have made. "No" is not a word that they acknowledge.

We were surprised at the level of English spoken. In the bigger cities and towns, it is easy to communicate in English. The schools begin teaching English in grammar school. As we went into the smaller towns, the level of English was good, but seemed to be limited to the job they had. Once we veered from what they knew, the communication came quickly to a halt. In some of the smaller villages, we reverted to the old fashioned way-sign language, charades and drawing pictures. Menus usually had a section in English. As always, the few words of politeness that we learned in Turkish were extremely well received-even when they spoke fluent English.

Having not studied much about Turkey before we went, I learned a good deal about what a secular state meant. The national hero, even idol, is a man named Ataturk. In 1925-1938 he began westernizing Turkey. He abolished the traditional Muslim governing body. In 1928 the country was proclaimed a secular state with a Western-style constitution. The Islamic courts and religious schools were abolished, and a Latin-based alphabet replaced Arabic and Persian ones.

As we traveled, we noticed the differences in the dress of women. There is a definite correlation between wealth, education and religion. The younger women(20's-40's)in cities are as western in dress, appearance and attitude as most European or American women are. Very few headcarves are worn. Their career opportunities are good, we were told. Quite a few young women wear long sleeves and long dresses or slacks- usually with a long coat. They would be wearing headscarves, but with their face clearly visible. Almost no all encompassing black burqua's are seen-but they are there in isolated numbers. This ultra religious, extreme attire is frowned upon in Turkey. In smaller towns and villages the dress reverts back to long baggy pants and headscarves for women of all ages. The younger women we found in cities and towns range from lovely to beautiful. Infact, the majority of the population looked quite trim and "normal" in weight. There seems to be an absence of women in their 40's and 50's. But of course, who can tell what age they are when they are after 30!! The young women and men wear uniforms to school, and often only go half a day due to heavy demand for two sessions. In one small seaside town, we went into an Internet cafe around noon, and soon found ourselves mobbed with teenage boys, dressed in uniforms with ties, waiting for computers to play action games. There were no girls there.

There were signs of very progressive living, such as solar heating panels on most of the apartment buildings, the ever present satellite dish, yet we saw massive unfinished apartments, condominiums or office buildings that dot the landscape along the way. There were signs of prosperity or just comfortable living as we passed acres(or hectares)of fruit, olive and nut orchards, seas of plastic(greenhouses) and surprisingly, fields and fields of cotton being harvested. I even saw a poster of "Gone With the Wind".
The food in Turkey is quite good. For the most part, at each meal you are served a series of appetizers called meze. You select the ones you want and they are shared at the table. They are mostly salads, lots of olives and cheeses, cold vegetable dishes;seafood,like calamari, squid or shrimp.) We often used that as the whole meal. Next offering is hot meze, and if you are still hungry, you can order a fish, lamb dish or something else. Fruit is usually offered for dessert, but it is hard to resist the baklava. Dress for meals(and generally),is casual but nice.

We were told many times, by many people, how much they miss having tourists and visitors from America. The attitude of everyone we talked with was so friendly, positive and hopeful. It was so peaceful to travel anywhere-from remote sites to crowded cities. In the past year or so, that rate has dropped almost 75%. They are hopeful that Americans will soon return to see the wonders and beauty of Turkey. Beverly Copen

Hope you will contact us when you are in the US-and come visit in Atlanta. Let us know if we can be of help at any time.

Warmest regards,
Dr. Melvyn & Beverly Copen
Atlanta/ USA