The arrival gate opens into a wash of Mediterranean light: a low sun gilding palms and the pale facades of a small airport, the scent of salt and citrus drifting from the coast. A driver waits among the cluster of taxis, holding a sign with your name. In minutes you slip into an air-conditioned sedan and pull away, the Mediterranean at your right, the rugged ramparts of the Taurus Mountains closing in to the left. The ride is short—roughly 30–60 minutes depending on traffic—but it’s the first conversation you’ll have with this stretch of Turkey: coastal highways, squat villages of orange trees, and resorts that march toward Alanya’s castle-crowned skyline.