I have not posted many blogs during October because I was on holiday for two weeks and came back to a very busy time at work. I suppose it is pay back time for being away for two weeks. So having just started to find my feet again I thought I would post details of my holiday in Kalkan, Turkey.
David and I have been visiting Kalkan and the nearby resort of Kas for around 18 years now. We adore the place and visit most years for one of our holidays. I can only recall one year when we did not visit because we fell back in love with Greece that particular year.
We have stayed at a number of different hotels over the years and returned to some on a regular basis. We are currently enjoying staying at The Pirat Hotel which is right at the centre of the town over looking the harbour. We stayed here last year in June and visited again this October. The views from the rooms are just spectacular and my favourite time is sitting having a coffee first thing in the morning on the balcony and watching the sailing boats and yachts being prepared and leaving the harbour for a days sailing.
We also love to visit the beach clubs on the other side of the bay and we catch a free boat from the harbour to them. This year our favourite was The Mahal where we had peace and quiet, space and fantastic views across the bay towards the town. Lunch was just divine with ice cold beers and a shady spot looking out to sea. The Mahal was a little pricier than the other beach clubs but we worked out that for the cost of the sun beds, lunch and a couple of beers each that it had cost about £20 each for the day.
We also had a lovely day at The Palm Beach beach club where they have a great platform built over the sea with comfy sun beds overlooking the bay. They have a great cafe bar where we had some pretty tasty snacks at lunchtime.
We visited the market which is held every Thursday towards the top of the town (Kalkan lies on a hillside, so everything is up hill from the harbour). I bought 3 T shirts which cost me about £1.35 each. They are not fake designer tops, just normal T shirts. One is a vest style with some fancy detailing around the neck, the other a standard T shirt shape and the third is a strappy camisole style. The market moves to Kas the next day but the market is different there with much more fresh food and sometimes goats and hens for sale on the road down to the market.
This year we could not book our hotel on just a bed and breakfast basis with Jewel in the Crown holidays who we usually use. We could only book on a half board basis and as we have eaten at most of the restaurants in Kalkan we were happy to do this. The breakfasts have been brilliant when we have stayed before so we thought the evening meals would be equally good. There was plenty of choice and the food was filling but it lacked some finesse. It was tasty but just not a comparison to eating in a rooftop restaurant looking out towards the sea or in the hustle and bustle of the kebab shops in the middle of town.
We were lazy this holiday and only went on one visit to Kas by dolmus where we had a look around the shops, stopped for a drink in the harbour and later on at one of the beach clubs for a view out to sea. In the past we have visited Patara and Fethiye but having stayed near Fethiye last year we were not too bothered. We spent most days lying by the pool, visiting the beach clubs and having a wander around town shopping and having a light lunch.
The weather was fabulous with temperatures up to 34 degrees but towards the end of the holiday we had one day where the wind picked up and we watched the fork lightening head towards us from Kas. We decided to spend a couple of hours in our room while the storm passed and we watched a DVD, David always takes a small portable DVD player to plug into hotel TVs so that when we are feeling really lazy we can watch a film late at night or when the weather is not brilliant.
I am not sure whether we will return to Kalkan next year or not as we felt this time around that we could do with a change. We may feel differently next year when it comes to booking our holidays and it also depends on whether we can get a good price or deal. We had managed to save over £100 each on this holiday and sometimes we cannot resist a great deal. If I was having just one holiday a year then I would not keep returning to Kalkan but as we have a couple of holidays each year it is not a problem to return.
We also had a lovely day at The Palm Beach beach club where they have a great platform built over the sea with comfy sun beds overlooking the bay. They have a great cafe bar where we had some pretty tasty snacks at lunchtime.
This year we could not book our hotel on just a bed and breakfast basis with Jewel in the Crown holidays who we usually use. We could only book on a half board basis and as we have eaten at most of the restaurants in Kalkan we were happy to do this. The breakfasts have been brilliant when we have stayed before so we thought the evening meals would be equally good. There was plenty of choice and the food was filling but it lacked some finesse. It was tasty but just not a comparison to eating in a rooftop restaurant looking out towards the sea or in the hustle and bustle of the kebab shops in the middle of town.
The weather was fabulous with temperatures up to 34 degrees but towards the end of the holiday we had one day where the wind picked up and we watched the fork lightening head towards us from Kas. We decided to spend a couple of hours in our room while the storm passed and we watched a DVD, David always takes a small portable DVD player to plug into hotel TVs so that when we are feeling really lazy we can watch a film late at night or when the weather is not brilliant.
I am not sure whether we will return to Kalkan next year or not as we felt this time around that we could do with a change. We may feel differently next year when it comes to booking our holidays and it also depends on whether we can get a good price or deal. We had managed to save over £100 each on this holiday and sometimes we cannot resist a great deal. If I was having just one holiday a year then I would not keep returning to Kalkan but as we have a couple of holidays each year it is not a problem to return.
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