Turkey! September 2007

Ok ok..yes, long time etc...

So, in Sept we went with a group of mates to Turkey, with the idea of having a beach/relaxo holiday, rather than a travel around one...

This turned out to be a GREAT idea, as we had a really great time, got a tan, spent HEAPS of time in the water, and ate way too much great food!

So we headed out Saturday 11am ish, which was a very reasonable time for us!..plenty of time for me to pack that morning etc...easy run out to Gatwick (I think?) , and no hassles getting on flight.

We flew into Dalaman at about 9PM ish local time, with just a hotel name in another city (Fethiye) assuming we'd just be able to bus it or whatever, however unfortunately, there were no Buses going from the Airport to Fethiye..luckily we had sat next to an English lady who was also going to Fethiye, so we all shared a cab, and got there no trouble.

Transport in general in Turkey , from what we saw, is very good with mini-buses (Dolmesh's) going everywhere you might want for about 1YTL (Yanni (new) Turkish Lera) , which is about 1 Euro worth.

Caren and I decided to spend the day in Fethiye before heading out to our eventual destination, Kalkan, about 3 hours on bus away, and so on the advise of the same lady we shared the cab with we went on a "12 Island Tour" on a Gullet (boat)...there was about 12 other people on the boat, which was nice as there was plenty of room for everyone to sunbath etc...

The weather was outstanding (and infact, we never saw a single cloud the entire 8 days) ... the Boat trip was a full day (lunch on board included) , and was basically a put around the harbour visiting various islands and sites, and swimming / drinking / sunbathing..

Very very relaxing and fun way to spend the day.

Water temperature was probably mid 20s at least..bit chilly for the natives, but like a spa bath for us hardened Kiwi's!


(Some Gullets parked up for Lunch)

The water was beautifully clear also, and very very salty, great for swimming / diving..

So , with a very great start to our holiday, we finished up the boat trip (great food too by the way..fresh fish caught off the boat as we were sailing)...had probably had 6 or 7 swims over the course of the day, and had both gotten hideously sun burned naturally!

The next day we were due to bus to Kalkan where our Villa was, but had some time to kill so we decided to track down the famous beach of Olu Deniz.

We caught a Dolmesh out there, and settled down on a beach..to be honest, it was OK, but nothing particularly amazing..had some swims, and went back to Fethiye..
It turns out, we never actually went to Olu Deniz..like twit's we had stopped to soon..if we had kept walking around the point of the beach we were on, we would have been there!

Never mind though, on the bus a 2pm and off to Kalkan where we had a Villa booked for the week.
(Caren having her 6th Dip for the day... heaven)

The Villa is owned by a mate of mine, so we got it for a good price, plus the timing was perfect..just outside of peak season, so not millions of english tourists everywhere..infact, it was pretty quiet, which after living in London, was a real relief to everyone.

So anyways, we arrived that night...everyone else had all ready arrived by that stage, and were sitting out by the pool drinking bear and planning a mission for dinner.

The Villa is quite high up a hill , so is probably about a 10 minute walk away from the main town where all the Bars and restaurants are. This is quite good really, although the walk back up the hill could be a bit much from time to time :)

So we all wandered down the hill to find something Turkish to eat.

To be honest, despite the touristy nature of the place on a whole, the food really was top notch..we all really enjoyed what we were eating the majority of the time.

(View from our Villa out across Kalkan harbour)

There was tons of restaurants vying for our pounds, but , as a rule, the local workers were much MUCH more friendly and jockey than their Egyptian counterparts.
We eventually over the course of the week, got to know a few of the shop owners, and would often stop by for some turkish tea and a chat in the shade. I think , secretly, they were relieved we weren't English.

Anyway, so Day 1 at Kalkan, we all decided to take it easy, and just hang in the Villa / Pool and de-stress...Some of the girls went down to the town to empty their wallets + get some essentials (breakfast stuff etc...) , and the chaps played table-tennis and lounged on the deck.

The Villa itself was huge, with 6 bedrooms (I think) , over 4 levels and was really great, as everyone had a huge bedroom with a full en suite bathroom , stacks and stacks of room.

(The lads on the top level of our Villa).

I guess it was around 31 / 32c most of the time , which was just bang on really.

Anyways, later that night when we went down to eat, we also booked a day-trip on a Gullet for the next day. Although Caren and I had already done a day on a Gullet, there was no complaints from us at all as it really was such a great way to spend a day!

We managed to book the whole boat, so it would just be our party on board, which was good.

Next day we all got up earlyish, and headed down to the Marina and set out for another day of boating / swimming and eating.
Truly, this was shaping up to be an excellent holiday :)


(Us on a Gullet again!..this time in Kalkan...hard work, but damnit!..someone has to do it!).

So there went another day..we all got back, once again, horribly horribly sunburned , and at some more food at a great place on the roof of a building, with "traditional" turkish mats and pillows for seats and a low table.

Some of the chaps ordered a Hooka (Sheesha) pipe to smoke some apple tobacco (pass) , and we all got great food again.

To be perfectly honest, at this point the days seems to pretty much blend into one another :)..

I think the next day we split up, as most folk wanted to go Olu deniz which was just out of Fethiye.. but, Caren and I weren't to keen to backtrack, so we caught the bus to Kas instead, which is a famous little town about 45 mins drive away from Kalkan.

Kas if mostly famous for it's diving, so that was what we had in mind. a Week earlier in London, Caren had had a specialised Dive medical, as she has never been allowed to dive before due to her Blood clot history, however, with the change in prescription drugs, she was now allowed to Dive!..Exciting stuff for us both!!!!!

So we organised a trial drive for Caren out on a boat in Kas harbour...there were about 10 other divers on board (all experienced) who were out for a days diving, so we just relaxed on board, and went snorkeling for a couple of hours.
Once one of the Dive masters became available, they geared up Caren and , literally, threw her in the water!..no instruction or anything just "breath through this bit"..push! ..heh.

I hastily jumped in as well with my snorkeling gear on to watch.
Caren did AMAZINGLY well, even the instructor was blown away. she was incredibly calm and confident in a new environment, and lasted at least 45 mins, which, anyone who has dived before will tell you that is incredibly calm for a first dive (more usual lasting about 20 mins , as newbie panic's and uses all their air breathing fast).
















So that was a great day, Caren really enjoyed it aswell, and now wants to get her PADI , which I'm all for..maybe some diving holidays coming up soon! (*rubs hands with glee*).

The next day Julie's cousin, who lives in Turky, was coming down to visit.

That morning we all met up and most of us went for a turkish bath, which was realy great. I'm sure it was the touristy version, as I've heard some really interesting stories about "real" turkish baths, but it was really good..and we were most definately clean afterwards!

anyways, one day bled into another, and the rest of our time was split between eating, swimming and relaxing in equal measures!



(Caren, Julie and Fifi in the lovely blue waters of Kalkan harbour)