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Author Topic: Lovely Kalkan  (Read 7166 times)

Offline Livingproof

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Lovely Kalkan
« on: September 11, 2009, 11:50:20 AM »
Thought I’d share my thoughts on our recent holiday to Kalkan from 24th August – 7th September. This is a very long detailed report ‘warts’n’all’. This is not intended to be a negative report, far from it, and I hope it doesn’t come across as such, because overall we had a fantastic holiday!

Summary:

Great holiday! Not perfect but holidays rarely are. Would certainly consider returning but with some provisos.

Flights:

We flew Monarch from Manchester to Dalaman and as we had an early morning flight we decided to stay overnight at the Radisson SAS. This hotel is the closest to the terminals and access is via enclosed walkways, in our case about a 10 minute walk. The hotel was fine as airport hotels go, the public rooms were all in good condition but the same could not be said for the bedrooms. Ours was extremely tired looking and in desperate need of an update, although it was fun overlooking the runway watching the planes take off and land. As we were travelling with our 2 kids we had booked a family room which is basically 2 standard interconnecting rooms and this worked out well as it gave us a little privacy and the kids had their own bathroom. We ate in the Runway Bar & Cafe and the food was fine. We had also booked their ‘Stop ‘n’ Go’ airport parking package which included 15 days parking which also worked out fine as it meant that we able to mitigate some of the hotel cost. Overall I’d give the hotel 3.5 out of 5.

We flew on wide-bodied Airbus A300 aircraft and outbound the flight was packed, inbound there were a handful of spare seats. Both journeys were uneventful and in both cases we landed 15 minutes early. A word to the wise: we had paid extra for pre-booked seats to enable us all to sit together and while this worked outbound, on the inbound flight we were separated 2+2. When I pointed this out to the check-in staff all I got was a blank look, so that’s something I’ll have to sort out now and try and get a refund. Flights weren’t cheap either as we had to fly during school holidays but at the time they were the cheapest available (apart from Onur Air who we had been told to avoid like the plague!)

Accomodation:

We had booked a 3-bed detached villa with private pool through Holidaylettings. This was a lovely villa with views to die for. It was spacious, cool (full a/c in all the rooms) and with a beautiful terrace, pool and Jacuzzi. The manager, Nevzat and his wife were delightful and were always on hand if we had any problems (the fridge tripped out and defrosted itself all over the floor and the safe refused to let us in despite the correct PIN code being entered). There were six quality sun loungers with comfy pads which made it very difficult to leave the villa! The only improvements that could be made to the villa would be: 1) Better outdoor dining as the wooden picnic table was extremely rickety and unless you all sat down together in unison, drinks on the table would go flying! There was also a very small white plastic table and 4 chairs but this was too small for our needs. A better option would have been a large six-seater plastic table & chairs with padded cushions and a large cantilevered umbrella (ours were too small to be useful)  2) The roof terrace was never used as there was no furniture up there. It was huge and it would have been nice to sit or lounge up there so loungers, dining set, umbrellas and a bbq would have made it perfect, especially as the views were even better from up there  3)The bbq was in the car port which was a long way from the terrace and meant that whoever was cooking was doing so unsociably. Positioning it around the terrace would be better.

So the villa was very nice but what about the location? Swings and roundabouts really. The villa is positioned on the hillside above the petrol station and this provides it with outstanding views across the bay. It’s also quite a bit cooler than the centre of Kalkan, helped by a bit of elevation and a nice cooling breeze which set in from midday onwards. Downsides include proximity to the D400 main road which provided almost constant noise; access to the property is difficult as it is down an extremely steep dirt track (the rest of the family would shut their eyes every time I drove down there!); too many feral dogs roaming (more of that later).

I would consider car hire to be essential. Walking into Kalkan is hazardous and walking back up the hill in the summer heat (particularly with kids) is virtually impossible. I scoured the internet and got a very good price on a Fiat Doblo for about half the price that the major rental companies were charging. Please remember that if you are picking up a car from the airport that it will need to be big enough to accommodate you AND all your luggage. We saw families trying to cram 2 weeks worth of luggage into a supermini! Driving is pretty straightforward providing you keep your wits about you. It would seem that in Turkey the rules are there to be broken! No speed limit signs anywhere so I just stuck to 50-60mph all the way. The directions are very simple so Kalkan is very easy to get to but allow 1 hour 45 minutes to get there. A bonus is that there is some spectacular scenery along the way with a couple of viewing points as well. 

Kalkan:

What a wonderful place! Although it has obviously expanded over the years, the old town has retained it’s charm and character and it is absolutely beautiful and is reason enough to want to return. In fact I would go as far to say that I found it magical and captivating, praise indeed!
 
The food is to die for so if you are a foodie Kalkan is the place for you. We ate out 7 times in the 2 weeks; the restaurants we tried in Kalkan were Trio, Kalamaki, Akin, Ramis and Ibo; we also went to the Turkish night at the Samira Hotel and ate at a Trout farm in the mountains behind Kalkan (I don’t remember the name, began with a ‘B’ I think, but it’s the first Trout Farm on the road out of the back of Kalkan about 20 minutes drive). We also had a couple of lunches out, eating at Korsan Kebab and Omars Kitchen, again both very good. The food was universally excellent, not cheap, but far better than you’d get in the UK at a similar price. If I had to pick a favourite it would be Ramis, with Trio and Kalamaki tied for second!
 
The Turkish night at the Samira is also well worth doing and very good value at 30Tl (£12.50), the food again was excellent, especially the starter buffet with 35 different dishes to choose from, and the setting by the pool was gorgeous. The entertainment was a little corny but good fun provided you don’t mind being dragged up on stage!

The Trout farm was an experience in itself being in such a beautiful location with excellent food again. The kids enjoyed the play area here as well, and the various animals. An added bonus is that they will come and pick you up from Kalkan and drop you back free of charge so no one has to worry about driving the tricky mountainous roads. It is much cooler up there though, so remember to bring a jacket or cardie (we didn’t!).

Self-catering is achievable in Kalkan provided you go with expectation that there are no supermarkets. Our first shopping trip was a shock to the system as what they call supermarkets are nothing more than a corner shop back home. They are tiny, with no fresh meat counters and some manky looking veg. Also we had difficulty obtaining: fresh milk (seems to be UHT only), caffeine-free diet coke, diet pop of ANY sort (other than caffeinated coke), no-added-sugar fruit squashes, decent pizzas (frozen ones in the Yali were awful), and Branston pickle. If you need any of these I suggest you bring them out with you (luggage allowances permitting). Let’s just say I drank an awful lot of water which can become  boring after a few days!
 
However with perseverance, and whingeing kids, we managed but it is like shopping in the UK 40 years ago, having to go to the butchers for meat, greengrocers for veg and several corner shops for other essentials. The quickest shop we managed was an hour, the longest 2 hours although deciphering the labels can take a long time! Apparently there is a Micros supermarket in Kas which is much bigger though you’ll have to travel to Fethiye to get anything like the UK. We also found shopping more expensive than the UK with imported goods in particular being dear. We also used the shop at the petrol station for anything we’d forgotten.

A useful tip: If you are looking to make a quick meal then buy a rotisserie chicken (10Tl) from the shop next to Tesko. Good greengrocers is next door as well.

We found alcohol comparable in price to the UK but considerably more expensive than France or Spain. Efes beer is very quaffable, as my head discovered to it’s detriment! And we enjoyed the Angora white wine. Top tip: if you decide to eat in Kalamaki restaurant, go for the carafe of house white wine, it’s VERY similar to Angora and cheaper!

Now I know this is an issue which has been discussed ad infinitum on here but if there is one thing which would stop me from returning to Kalkan it’s the dog problem. Certainly where we were staying it was a big issue. They roamed in groups of 4 or more and were constantly raiding the bins at night below us strewing rubbish everywhere, barking throughout the night. Frankly our kids were terrified of leaving the villa and when we walked into town the dogs would follow you. The kids fell over and hurt themselves trying to avoid the dogs and when we caught a taxi back from town at night, on reaching the villa they would congregate around the car. It was left to the taxi drivers to chase them away before we’d get out! I also ran over one on the D400 outside the petrol station which really upset us (especially the kids). The issue seemed to lessen the further we walked into town so it may be location specific but for us it was much worse than we were expecting.

Trips:

We had planned to do several trips while in Kalkan but inevitably with such a nice villa these evaporated! We did do a boat trip however; we chartered Yildiz 1 for the day complete with Captain Adem. It was a great trip with wonderful scenery and lunch was delicious. Unfortunately our youngest was seasick at the mudbath stop so we had to drop anchor close to Kalkan and spend the rest of the day there. Well worth doing though and we thought good value at £100 for the private hire.

We had planned to do Patara beach and Saklikent gorge but these will have to wait till next time. We did go out to the Patara Prince resort after meeting a lovely family at the Turkish night. They invited us over for the day and we were very impressed, nice pools, seemed to be entertainment arranged for the evenings and NO DOGS! A lot of steps though (many with no railings either!). Views from here though were some of the best we saw. Would certainly consider staying there. But we have now made some great new friends who we are planning to see on our return.

I would also recommend a trip to the market. It’s held every Thursday and because it’s under cover it doesn’t get too hot in the midday sun. It was bigger than I was expecting and just about anything can be bought here. None of it is genuine of course but some of the leather ‘Prada’ handbags were of decent quality and some of the ‘Breitling’ watches looked quite cool; UK Trading Standards would have a field day out here! Just remember to haggle! Food items are fixed price but just about anything else is negotiable. We usually managed to achieve at least a third off the initial price quoted to us. As we were here for 2 weeks we spent the first Thursday browsing the markets for items we wanted to buy and the second haggling hard to buy them!

Weather:

Gorgeous from start to finish with almost unbroken sunshine, light breezes and temperatures of 29-34c every day (I know because we had a gauge in the shade on our terrace). Low humidity as well so it never felt unbearable.

Any other tips?

Dalaman airport is a tourist trap and is very, very expensive (£5 for a small beer and £10 for a Big Mac meal). We had taken advice and packed our own drink and sandwiches but hadn’t realised that you have to go through security as soon as you enter the terminal so much of what we took was taken from us and wasted. Also trolleys were very expensive and when I tried to get one I was told that they weren’t self-service and I had to pay someone to get me one. Methinks I was scammed!

Bring ear plugs! By the end of the 2 weeks I was suffering severe sleep deprivation. I can safely say that I have never had so little sleep on a holiday before. The constant barking dogs, traffic noise and ‘Calls to Prayer’ continuing throughout the night (I was woken on several occasions at 4am).

We are planning to return to Kalkan in a couple of years time, dogs permitting, as this was still one of the best holidays we have ever had. The Turkish people deserve a special mention as well for being so approachable and friendly and fantastic with the kids. Complete strangers would come up and give them big kisses, give them sweets etc. But above all Turkey is such a beautiful country and will remain in our memories for a long, long time.

Justin

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=4344.0
« Last Edit: December 31, 2009, 11:14:51 AM by Enjoy Kalkan »
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Offline Lorretta

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Re: Lovely Kalkan
« Reply #1 on: September 11, 2009, 04:34:52 PM »
Thank you for taking the time to write such an interesting and comprehensive report. I am glad that overall you enjoyed your holiday and I do hope you will decide to go back to Kalkan some time in the future.

Offline Cosetta

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Re: Lovely Kalkan
« Reply #2 on: September 11, 2009, 05:31:59 PM »
Hi Justin, I'm sure that several residents and frequent visitors will give you many suggestions to make your next visit more pleasant.  I'll make a few that came to mind as I read your report.

Re supermarkets, this is not a major city and does not pretend to be.  It is a fairly rural village of some 2000 residents in a LDC (less developed country). We who live here have seen dramatic improvements in goods, services and the variety of foods available to us in the shops.  I used to go to Fethiye to shop for certain foodstuffs, now I can buy everything I want here except bacon which is far too expensive and maybe has not been kept refrigerated, therefore, perhaps risky.  Those of us who live here shop for fresh veggies in the Thursday outdoor market and buy meat from a butcher. 

Migros in Kas is not bigger than Sevil or Yali, and frankly, is much worse in terms of product selection.  The only Migros that is bigger is in Fethiye, they also have a meat and fish counter there.

0% caffeine Coke exists here as well as Coke Light (1% caffeine).  Maybe they were out the day your shopped.

Noise.  This is very much a function of the precise location of the villa.  Kalkan being a bowl, sound rises and echos ... more in some places than others.  Hillside villas generally benefit from cooler temps and cooling night breezes.  The higher you go, the greater the benefit from both.

Re dogs barking, this is a phenomenon everything in Turkey and beyond, the best thing is to sleep with the AC on, you then hear nothing.  Many dedicated women in Kalkan are trying to contain the dog problem but admittedly, it isn't easy, maybe not even possible.

Years ago the dogs were simply put down.  Recently I read the results of a poll again favoring the humane put-down of streets dogs.  Unfortunately, many irresponsible dog owners think their dogs should roam the streets at all hours.  Some of these dogs congregate and begin their chorus of nighttime barking.  However, many of those barking dogs are in fact tied up, they are being used as guard dogs for small businesses located on the periphery of Kalkan.

Hopefully by the time you think of returning, the dog problem will be greatly improved.  If not, rent in a different location and sleep with AC !
« Last Edit: September 11, 2009, 05:36:39 PM by Cosetta »
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Offline anne41

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Re: Lovely Kalkan
« Reply #3 on: September 11, 2009, 05:54:37 PM »
thanks for you very full report - wow ! must have taken you some time - well done.
I am due to go to Kalkan in about 2 weeks - and most of what you say I have already gleaned from reading the forum - but thanks still is good to get up to date reports.
Re the dogs - this is my main concern as I am a 'big fearty" Scottish term for dead scared! the barking won't bother me as this happens in Greece as well as the cockerels, pigs ( enormous big thing which we had last time- nearly scared me to death) etc. - good idea about ear plugs may invest in them LOL - I don't even mind them walking along side me - just as long as they are friendly and won't attack me!!!!!!!!
Still looking forward to going - I'll just take more money !
thanks again  Anne

Offline Livingproof

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Re: Lovely Kalkan
« Reply #4 on: September 11, 2009, 06:12:48 PM »
Hi Justin, I'm sure that several residents and frequent visitors will give you many suggestions to make your next visit more pleasant.  I'll make a few that came to mind as I read your report.

Re supermarkets, this is not a major city and does not pretend to be.  It is a fairly rural village of some 2000 residents in a LDC (less developed country). We who live here have seen dramatic improvements in goods, services and the variety of foods available to us in the shops.  I used to go to Fethiye to shop for certain foodstuffs, now I can buy everything I want here except bacon which is far too expensive and maybe has not been kept refrigerated, therefore, perhaps risky.  Those of us who live here shop for fresh veggies in the Thursday outdoor market and buy meat from a butcher. 

Migros in Kas is not bigger than Sevil or Yali, and frankly, is much worse in terms of product selection.  The only Migros that is bigger is in Fethiye, they also have a meat and fish counter there.

0% caffeine Coke exists here as well as Coke Light (1% caffeine).  Maybe they were out the day your shopped.

Noise.  This is very much a function of the precise location of the villa.  Kalkan being a bowl, sound rises and echos ... more in some places than others.  Hillside villas generally benefit from cooler temps and cooling night breezes.  The higher you go, the greater the benefit from both.

Re dogs barking, this is a phenomenon everything in Turkey and beyond, the best thing is to sleep with the AC on, you then hear nothing.  Many dedicated women in Kalkan are trying to contain the dog problem but admittedly, it isn't easy, maybe not even possible.

Years ago the dogs were simply put down.  Recently I read the results of a poll again favoring the humane put-down of streets dogs.  Unfortunately, many irresponsible dog owners think their dogs should roam the streets at all hours.  Some of these dogs congregate and begin their chorus of nighttime barking.  However, many of those barking dogs are in fact tied up, they are being used as guard dogs for small businesses located on the periphery of Kalkan.

Hopefully by the time you think of returning, the dog problem will be greatly improved.  If not, rent in a different location and sleep with AC !

Maybe I was being unfair re: supermarkets, but I guess I was expecting something more along the lines of what we used to get in Cyprus which although not in the same league as Tesco here in the UK, would be akin to a Somerfield or Spar-sized supermarket. We coped but seemed to spend an awful lot of time shopping which, with young kids in tow, is not a pleasant experience. Thank God for Efes!

Unfortunately we already slept with the a/c on and double-glazed balcony door shut and both us adults slept extremely poorly due to the noise (dogs barking right beneath the villa). We live in a very quiet area at home and maybe we just didn't adapt quick enough to the noise. I can cope with the dog situation as it stands however my wife and 2 kids cannot so we'll maybe look for a different location in Kalkan as it may be a location-specific issue.

If it weren't for this I'd book again in a heartbeat as Kalkan, the people, and Turkey are simply wonderful.  We definitely intend to return, hopefully it'll be to Kalkan but we may try Patara Prince or maybe try Kalamar Bay as an alternative to still be within reach of glorious Kalkan.

Offline Livingproof

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Re: Lovely Kalkan
« Reply #5 on: September 11, 2009, 06:16:52 PM »
thanks for you very full report - wow ! must have taken you some time - well done.
I am due to go to Kalkan in about 2 weeks - and most of what you say I have already gleaned from reading the forum - but thanks still is good to get up to date reports.
Re the dogs - this is my main concern as I am a 'big fearty" Scottish term for dead scared! the barking won't bother me as this happens in Greece as well as the cockerels, pigs ( enormous big thing which we had last time- nearly scared me to death) etc. - good idea about ear plugs may invest in them LOL - I don't even mind them walking along side me - just as long as they are friendly and won't attack me!!!!!!!!
Still looking forward to going - I'll just take more money !
thanks again  Anne
Anne, you will have a wonderful time I promise and I'm already jealous even though I've been back less than a week!

Try as many restaurants as you can afford so yes, take more money! The perfect end to a day was watching the sunset over Kalkan bay from a gorgeous rooftop terrace restaurant.

Enjoy

Justin

Offline kalkan4eva

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Re: Lovely Kalkan
« Reply #6 on: September 13, 2009, 10:35:48 AM »
Justin, we were never troubled by dogs at all this year when we were out in July and I think it's because we stayed so close to town - literally two mins to Moonlight. We stayed at the Dere Development, these are nice apartments or Villas to let with great views of the harbour. PM me if you want details of the properties there.
Personally, I quite like the dog escort that we usually have when we stay further out of town, but appreciate that not everyone is comfortable with this. Also dogs barking through the night would be very tedious >:(
Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt :)


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