Last few days in Kalkan

Phil did a brilliant job of blogging about our adventures in Kalkan so you may wonder why all went quiet at the end of our holiday. Well, the simply reason was that the water bottle leaked in the rucksack and water went into Phil’s laptop and when we went to switch it on when we got home from the boat trip, there was no power, nothing, the whole thing was caput. Phil’s laptop is only a few months old and we are slightly worried, because we know from breaking the screen on the little laptop that we are not covered on the insurance. The new laptop is still under guarantee so we are hoping that we can get it fixed and Curry’s can recover the hard disk.

Back to our last few days in Kalkan. After posting the blog at the Kelsan Kebap and sharing a turkish breakfast we stepped aboard the Sunset Boats vessel. We were meant to go on a different boat but they had sold out for a private party which is their prerogative I guess. We were a bit miffed at first but we managed to bag the best sun beds on the top deck and after a few minutes we figured the Sunset Boat was just as good as the one we’d previously picked. There were 12 people on board, all of us English. It felt most luxurious as we’d sailed out of Kalkan Bay heading out first of all to Mouse Island. Phil felt a little sick which probably wasn’t helped by the fact that we were settled at the top of the boat. The Sunset Boat first stopped at Mouse Island. This was basically a bunch of rocks, obviously no habitation on the little island. The captain said this was our chance for a free swim and snorkel and just about everyone jumped or dived off the boat. Phil did a little snorkelling and we spent a very pleasant half an hour.

When the captain gave the signal, everyone climbed on board and we set sail for Green Beach. Phil was feeling more nauseous by the minute and felt slightly better when he lied down. After a while we reached Green Beach which was again, another pile of mountainous rocks and essential a small uninhabited island. We also learnt that this was the place where they do the ‘mud’ thing. Basically the captain’s son jumps off the boat and when he got to the rocks he collected a bucket of mud from inside one of the small holes in the rocks. There were several other boats anchored around, all doing the same practice.

Phil jumped off the boat and swam to the rock shore, along with most of the others. He didn’t fancy a mud rub down so he just sunbathed on the shore watching the others. I didn’t fancy being covered with mud so I watched from the boat. I did initially jump off and swim to the shore but it was rocky that I couldn’t stand up so I decided to swim back to the boat. And actually I was glad I did as it turned out there was a nest of hornets near to the shore and I could see Phil frantically swatting them. There were a few swarming around the boat so I had to slide back to the bottom of the boat near to the Captain, in case of attack.

After the mud thing was all over, everyone came back to the boat and the Captain and his son served up lunch which was rice, meatballs, bread, salad, vegetables and chips. It was quite tasty, not the best Turkish food I have tasted but very well presented and freshly cooked. We had Kevlova for pudding and fresh fruit salad plus whatever drinks you wanted. Phil had a soft drink because he was still feeling a little queasy, I had a couple of beers and we got chatting to the couple next to us and the captain who was nice man.

After lunch was cleared away, we settled on our sunbed and the captain set sail to Camal Stone, so called because the 2 rocks are meant to resemble a camal. Personally, I couldn’t see the connection, but it didn’t really matter because I was having a lovely time on the boat. After the camals, we then set sail for Kalamara Bay where we were served up with tea and cakes, very English. We finally got back into Kalkan Bay just before 5 o’clock. The whole trip cost us around 17 quid a head, which was remarkably cheap for a whole day out. After we got off the boat we went to Kelsen Kebab restaurant for a drink and a light supper and then it was back to the villa for an early’ish night.

On Friday morning we went to look at a couple of flats with an agent in the centre of Kalkan http://www.emaestate.com/ The flat we spotted in the window which was a 2 bed top floor apartment for £54K turned out not to be in the block that we first thought it was in. The flat turned out to be another block which was rather old and run down. We weren’t impressed with the inside either. We looked at another couple of flats nearer to Kalkan centre but we didn’t like those either. Jill sent me an email to say that one of the owners in their block was interested in selling at what seems a reasonable price. But on reflection if we buy I think we’d want something that needs refurbishing as opposed to something that’s finished. I dunno, we certainly won’t rush in and will need to do some research on the net if we decide to buy in Kalkan.

We went to eat at Adams restaurant just on the road to Kash overlooking the sea. The menu was impressive but not cheap and although our meal was very nice, I didn’t think it reflected on the cost of each dish. But it was still tasty, we had the whole terrace to ourselves and the beer was cold. What more could a girl want? After lunch we went back to the pool and chilled. It wasn’t planned but we ended up driving into town for our ‘last’ meal. We decided on the Lounge Bistro halfway down the road to the harbour in Kalkan. They had a guitar vocalist who was later joined by a band, they were very good. Phil chose a chicken dish which he said was delicious whilst I went for a ‘lounge’ burger which although not an adventurous choice, tasted lovely. We loved it at the Lounge bistro, food was superb, service was excellent and the live music was a bonus. We had a great night and ended up being the last to leave at 2pm. God knows how Phil managed to drive the bike back to the villa but thankfully we made it back in one piece.

A hangover on going home day was not the best idea but we lingered in bed with our books for a few hours and then got up and got started on the cleaning and packing. There wasn’t a lot to do, just cleaning, sweeping and mopping. After we finished we got on the bike and went down to the harbour for lunch. We decided to try the top terrace at the Saffron Restaurant. Good food and excellent service but again, a bit on the pricey side. That said though, the terrace had a terrific view and the toilets were fabulous and well equipped.

After lunch we went back to the villa for a shower and a last minute cleanup. Phil drove the back packs up to the Hotel Kalamara ready which was where we were being collected for our airport transfer and then he came back for me and we went into town to drop off the bike. Luckily the rental owner didn’t spot the indicator which we’d had to glue back on when the bike fell over but Phil had to pay for an extra day’s hire which was no big deal. We then went next door to the BarBQ bar to watch the Grand Prix qualifying with a last couple of EFES beers. As soon as the qualifying finished we jumped into a taxi to the Kalamar hotel to wait on our transfer to the airport.

I’d had to reconfirm our transfer the day beforehand and queried why we were being picked up so early. The Customer Service lady told me that the collection time was correct and I couldn’t negotiate a later time. We were picked up in a nice air conditioned minibus and another couple were already on board. This time the driver was sober and we made it to Fetiaye in record time. When we got to Fetiaye or somewhere on the outskirts we were turfed out of the minibus and squashed into a car along with the other couple. When we got talking to them we realised why we had been picked up so early. They were flying to Manchester and had a flight time 2 hours earlier than ours. I have to say, I wasn’t impressed, especially when we got to Dalaman airport to find that our flight was delayed. This meant we had 5 and a half hours to kill.

Phil was not a happy bunny; he’s not very good at return journeys at the best of times so you can imagine how grumpy he was. We understand that Dalaman airport is new but we weren’t terribly impressed with it. Check-in wasn’t too painful neither was passport control but the price of food and drink is extortionate. You expect to be ripped off at airports but Dalaman airport just takes the biscuit. Phil paid £10 for a burger king meal for me, albeit it reluctantly, and he paid £11 for one large beer and one small beer in the bar. We sipped our beers very slowly and deliberately because we knew we had to make them last!

We finally board the plane at 12.15pm Turkish time. We managed to get cat naps here and there but the flight was packed and we had a baby in the seat in front of us and a family wriggling and squiggling in their seats behind us. The flight of 4 and half hours was otherwise uneventful and we landed at Luton airport just before half past 2 in the morning. Harriet and Shane were waiting in the drop off point when we finally stumbled out with our cases at 3pm. I felt very bad that they’d had to stay up late and I think had I of known that we were going to be delayed I would have booked a taxi back. It’s just not fair and I so hate to put people out. We finally got into bed at half past four, absolutely shattered and unfortunately for Phil I was in the wide awake club at 6.30.

Needless to say that we were shattered all of yesterday. I had the washing/dryer machine on all day and Phil dropped me off to collect my car the OB flat and then I went to Tesco’s for some basic supplies. I couldn’t think what food we needed so will have to go back again today. In the afternoon Phil settled on the sofa to watch the Hungary Grand Prix and I went to Christine’s for a girl’s late luncheon. We were lucky with the weather and after a glass of Pimms we settled in the garden for a lovely lunch of lasagne, baked spuds, salad and also salmon on a bed of couscous. The sweets looked delicious but I 2 servings of the main and I was stuffed. It was nice because Janet was there so it was good to catch up with her. I met some of Christine’s friends that I met before also a couple of new friends. Unfortunately I don’t think I was very good company, I was so, so tired, it was almost like having an out of body experience. It was a nice afternoon but I was the first to leave just after 5pm, I was just knackered. We stayed up for a few hours but had an early night, we were exhausted. I can report that we both slept like logs and hopefully today we can get everything will be back to normal.

Well, I say back to normal, normal being one hundred million things to do and I already feel overwhelmed with my list. Some things just never change. I have got my sister Julia coming to stay tonight with my nephew Jack. It’s a shame the weather is so dismal because we would have done a B-B-Q on the patio but I suppose this is England so we shall have to have supper inside. It’s such a change from the sunny blue skies in Kalkan that I already wish I was back there.