Pages

Monday 19 June 2017

Turkish Holiday

So here we are again in Kalkan. I keep thinking that the world is a big place and there are lots of other countries to visit but I adore Kalkan in beautiful Turkey. Equally the Turkish people in Kalkan are just so lovely. They great us like long lost friends each time we return. How they manage to remember us I do not know but they do.

We have three holidays a year so just having one of the three in Kalkan is not so bad although we are coming back to a Turkey again in September but on that occasion we will be staying in Olu Deniz. Over the last couple of years, Turkey has lost favour with some tourists and a couple of travel companies that we have used many times over the years ceased trading. We have had to come on our own this time rather than through a package holiday so I booked the flights, accommodation and transfer separately. I've done this previously in Turkey only that time we stayed in Gocek and the transfer was 30 minutes maximum. The transfer to Kalkan is 1.5 - 2 hours and an 80 mile plus trip so the transfer costs were not cheap but I did some shopping around and got a sweet deal in the end.




I have felt frazzled the last three weeks at work. Stressful tasks, long hours and travelling around the country led me to feel permanently tired and slightly irritable. I have so needed this holiday to wind down. The weather is perfect and I've seen we are missing a heatwave in the UK so I feel a little cheated but I'm glad my family are enjoying the hot weather at home.



We have lazed around a lot so far with a couple of days by the pool and a day at one of the beach clubs dotted around the bay. You get a free boat to the club, free sunbeds and umbrellas etc as long you buy your food and drink there. We love them all but our favourite is the Kalkan Beach Park. A dog followed us along the harbour with his mate and when we got on the boat he joined us but his mate was not brave enough and stayed on the harbour side. The captain was not bothered about our guest and just laughed to himself. The dog happily sailed with us to the far side of the bay but he then decided to take the return trip back.




We had a day out in Kas which is about a 40 minute drive away by bus. We love it here as well and have had a few holidays here over the years. We looked around the shops, stopped at one the beach clubs for the breeze to cool us down with icy cold beers.






We looked around the weekly market one day and strolled around the village but bought nothing as we don't need anything really, plus we can buy the offerings cheaper at home on the Cheshire carboot sale!


We are sunbathing (or rather shade bathing) under fluttering umbrellas by the pool at the moment. I have to be careful after getting skin cancer two years ago so I wear factor 50 on my face and at least factor 30 on my body. Having said that both of us have permanent tans with loving warm holidays and spending as much time outdoors at home as we can. Give me a sunny day and I'm in my garden!

We are going for a stroll to the KAPSA shop in a few moments. It is an animal charity shop that looks after the strays, finds adoptive forever homes (often in the UK) and foster homes in Kalkan for the many dogs and cats. We'll see if there are any bargains and also leave a donation.

Table booked at the fabulous Olive Garden for tonight. Authentic Turkish cuisine on a roof top terrace with view out over the twinkling lights of the harbour. Bliss...

No comments: