Tag: souvenirs

Tourist in Adana

M's Adventures
The large mosque and the 1,700-year-old Roman bridge.

Adana is not a touristy city, but, here are the things one can do as a tourist. But, first things first. It is hot in Adana. From June through October, the temperatures can be above 86F/30C. Not super humid. In July, August, and September the temperatures are above 104F/40C. I recommend late October or April during the Orange Blossom Festival, Adana’s biggest tourist event.

Visit the old town around the clock tower and the old bazaar street.

Walk across the Roman bridge, still usable after 1,700 years.

Get a Turkish bath in a 500 year old bath house. Çarşı Hamami was built in 1529. Yes, you read that right. This bath house is located east of the main tourist street with all the shops. It is near the big clock tower.

A touristy sign in a touristy bit of Adana old town.

Visit the large mosque, Sabancı Central Mosque, the second largest mosque in the country. It is only 30 years old but is built in the style of the Blue Mosque which was built 400 years ago. While visiting the central park, walk along the river and maybe cross the hanging rope bridge.

The big clock tower and the main tourist street.

Buy some Turkish towels. I recommend venturing into the small streets downtown away from the touristy areas if you want better prices. I have seen Turkish towels range in price from $3 to $100.

For souvenirs, I recommend the womens’ cooperative, located near the clock tower.

Visit the Adana Archaeology Museum.

Visit the museum of cinema.

Visit Tarsus, birthplace of St. Paul. It’s about a 45-minute drive from Adana.

Visit and hike at the Varda bridge (film location of one of the scenes from a James Bond movie).

Go to the serpents castle east of the city.


Eat Adana kebab. Make your own food tour. Or follow my suggestions of what to try. Try salgam, sirdan, liver, and simit.

Have I done any of this? Guess. More on this later.

Souvenir Shopping in Adana

M's Adventures
Adana’s area code is 01.

Since you can’t take an Adana kebab as a souvenir, one has to (has to) find a magnet or mug as a souvenir. Recently, I was at the women’s cooperative, Adana Kadın kooperatifleri Birliği, for brunch and it turns out that they also have a shop (one is sitting surrounded by things to buy) so that is my recommendation for where to buy souvenirs.

Adana is famous for its clock tower, orange festival, Roman bridge, and the kebab. This shop, located conveniently in old Adana (just down from the clock tower, on the side of a park, Ziyapaşa Parkı), is a nice reprieve from the heat and bustle. Or cold and wet.

The orange festival is the biggest event of the year in Adana.

Aside from souvenirs like magnets, they also have handmade items and food for sale. And as I mentioned, you can eat there. The staff are very nice. It is hard to not buy a basket or hammer pants (which is the baggy style that many people wear here).

The other place I would recommend for souvenirs is Starbucks. Sounds odd? The Adana mug is adorable.

There are also other places to find souvenirs but one has to search. Or stick to the main touristy street.

Best Deals in the Guate Central Market

M's Adventures
Some of the wares available.

We got good advice. Go to the Central Market lower level to buy souvenirs at reasonable prices. Then go to Antigua and see how much money we saved. (Guatemala City is called “Guate” by the locals).

Central Market entrance.

As you may know, I love central markets. I love markets. This is my jam (as they say). I love going early before the crowds. We breakfasted at 7 am. The market was a quick Uber ride from our hotel and we were there by 8 am just as the vendors were opening up shop.

One of the tourist goods hallways.

First we looked at the various shops and did a full circuit of the lower level before returning to the ones that we liked. The vendors will friendly but not too pushy. Many of them wished for us to be their first customer of the day as it would give them good luck.

Guatemala is famous for their coffee.

I was feeling a bit dry in the throat so we had a coffee in the “comedor” which made me happy as that was the part of the market I really wanted to see (I’m much less of a shopper these days).

The market’s main dining hall.

Then we went back downstairs and haggled (they offered the deals due to it being so early in the day) before purchasing bags, shirts, and other textiles (I purchased nothing).

A typical stall at the food level.

We had no time to explore the food level of the market. Maybe next time.

Harkerville Saturday Market

M's Adventures

If you find that you have a hankering for souvenir shopping when staying in Knysna and it’s a Saturday morning, go to Harkerville Saturday Market. It’s on the N2 highway, halfway between Knysna and Plettenberg Bay.

There are stalls with leather goods, wood carvings, clothes, figurines, bags, food, and almost anything else you would imagine at a craft fair and farmers’ market.

Many of the vendors design their own wares from clothes, bags, to tables from old wood.

They even have decent toilets out back.

But, this market is only on Saturdays and they close right at noon! I almost tripped over myself shopping!

What to Buy In South Africa

M's Adventures

Not to sound too jaded, but I no longer buy magnets, keychains, or mugs as souvenirs. I try not to buy anything… and fail. Here are some of the things I looked at buying while I was in South Africa.

Traditionally in indigo colors but now found in the full range.

Shweshwe: is a fabric type. It is a thick cotton with printed geometric patterns. Read more about it on this blog. Apparently the name is the sound that the fabric makes when swishing around someone.

The original store. Okay, a well known store.

Vellies are a type of shoe that are thin soled (so you feel the earth) with leather uppers. They are a working shoe. It is a thing. These are made by many people and come in all colors. I wanted to buy the ones made by the pest controllers at the safari lodge (odd side business, eh?) but they did’t have the ones I needed in the color or size that I wanted (even though they were willing to custom make them) and I didn’t want to wait.

Our safari driver/guide wearing his well worn vellies.

Blankets: maybe it’s not special but I liked the all cotton ones I got at Barrydale Hand Weavers.

They had thin blankets, like this one, and heavier ones.

Linens: Seems odd, but household linens from Mungo are divine. All natural, handmade, locally sourced, and those other feel good goods.

Yes, we wanted everything.
I even bought the apron.

Leather is apparently a thing to buy but I didn’t find any that I wanted to buy.

Artwork, especially from local individual artists, is a good souvenir.

Artwork at the farmers market.

Clothes: If you are a ‘plus size’ person, then you will find that South Africa puts those clothes in the regular shops and makes them in colors and styles that you would actually wear.