Hidden Wonders -

Tamara Alaryan

Living in the U.S. and having our wedding in Istanbul, my then-to-be husband and I knew we wanted to explore the Black Sea in the Aydir/Rize region for our honeymoon. I NEVER use tour guide companies when I travel as I've always had horrible experiences with them, but I had a gut feeling that Hidden Wonders would be different, and boy, was I right!!!! After many hours of research into the region, we stumbled upon Hidden Wonders and we immediately sent them an email. Our primary point of contact, Gamze McGrath, was quick to respond to emails and accommodated our unique circumstances in the COVID-19 world. Gamze was extremely patient and helped us shift around our dates (due to reasons beyond our control) with minimal financial loss. Gamze even tossed in a few freebies as a wedding present, which was unexpected but thoughtful, considerate and exactly the type of hospitality I'd expect for this once in a lifetime occasion. When we arrived at the airport, Volkan greeted us at the arrivals door with a bouquet of flowers and a warm welcome. We walked a short distance to our vehicle, which was cleaned and restocked with water and goodies every day (it was covered in snow and mud by the end of every day given the places we visited!) and our luggage was placed in the back. Both Volkan and the driver were extremely professional, polite, and had extensive knowledge of the area both historically and topographically. The entire trip was very relaxing and Volkan moved at our pace during the entire stay. We communicated every day via WhatsApp to decide what time we would meet in the morning (usually around 9:00 a.m. since that is when breakfast would start at the hotel we were staying at). Volkan also helped us locate restaurants in the area for dinner and would order, pick up and drop off the food to our hotel room given the few restaurants open during the pandemic. Volkan also personally knew almost everyone we went to visit, which was an amazing advantage since he would often call up the owners of places and they would open up just for us. For instance, we saw some signs for zip-lining that my husband and I were eager to try out, especially with the gorgeous mountain and river views, so Volkan called up one of his friends and they opened their zip-line business for us. Volkan also took us around to all the authentic family-owned restaurants in the area and we were able to try different foods every day - he explained the foods that were region-specific so that we could order it. It was SO delicious and very affordable compared to other parts of Turkey! The restaurants would serve us platters upon platters of different foods and it would only cost us about 130 Turkish Lira TOTAL for us both. We were so fortunate to have experienced the region during the pandemic as there were not many other tourists around, which made our honeymoon feel even more special. If the Black Sea is on your list of places to visit, I HIGHLY recommend Hidden Wonders - I am extremely happy with their services and will not only be recommending them to family and friends, but will be using them again when I am next in the region! Thank you so much, Hidden Wonders!!!

Abhay Dhond