Relax Shmelax . . . our holiday report!

[Baggy]

Just 31 sleeps to the second visit to Kalkan this year; the sherpas have been warned and the Efes training has begun . . .  so time to do a holiday report from our trip out in May.
It didn’t start well . . . OH nipped into duty free at Dalaman only to have his credit card declined.
Not a huge downer, we decided. We’ll call the bank from the car and sort it out . . . where is Hassan?
Time for a quick text: “Where ru?”. . .  “ur not here until the 18th” . .
Er …
We resolved to have a couple of beers while we waited the two hours for him to arrive  – we could call the bank back home at the same time . . .
BlackBerry says “no” . . .
So we used mine - £1.50 a minute but hey, you could have a l-o-o-o-o-ng chat for the price of the beers.
Contact was made and it was discovered someone had tried to use the card the previous night in the UK. The bank had called but we were in the air and they stopped the card. A supervised trip to the ATM enabled us take out some cash with the promise that they would give us until 5pm the following day to get some more out before they stopped the card.
Stop me if you can see where this is going . . .
Arrived, unpacked, went out, drank, ate, danced, met old friends and the holiday was under way . . .
Following day we headed out to stock up on the essentials and get some cash out.
Nope – no dice, no cash. . . . we phoned the bank.
20 minutes later the phone ran out of juice . . .
We trekked back to the apartment, charged the phone, made another call. Another operative, more explanations . . . 25 minutes later we gave up.
We had cash, I had a credit card – all would be well.
Beers had arrived miraculously on the doorstep as an apology for getting our arrival date wrong so we cracked some open and announced the proper start of another two weeks in Paradise.
And it was – as always.
We never do a lot on our holidays. Days are spent on the balcony or in the pool with the occasional trip to Patara or a boat trip (not this time – sea was too damn cold).
For us the real beauty of Kalkan are the nights. Starting with the soft light of sunset on the balcony, moving on to the twinkling starlight and (more often than I like to admit) ending with the rosy glow of dawn.
We have made so many friends there that just getting to dinner can be a bar crawl in itself and deciding where to eat, and when, takes more diplomacy than the UN at times.
We have long got over the embarrassment of telling one ‘hunter’ we’ve eaten, only to be spotted on a neighbouring terrace just half an hour later with a face full of  kofte but there are only so many times you can say ‘no’.
And we were doing well with just the one credit card . . .
Now you know I said we don’t do much on holidays? This does not mean they are uneventful (see previous reports on the saga of the ring, the shorts and the roundabout).
We went out on the middle Friday night; drinks, dinner and a lovely long post dinner chat with friends.
We weaved our way home having arranged to meet for breakfast in Patara with our pals Abdullah and Mehmet in about five hours time . . .
Waking up late in a mad frenzy I realised my purse was missing . . . couldn’t find it anywhere. Did a back track from the night before but it was nowhere to be found.
Two credit cards and about £80 and 250 lira . . . and it was Radley. Ladies, you’ll understand.
Another long call to the bank ensued . . .  and a trip to the jandarma.
I held no hope of getting it back but there’s always insurance.
I turned up to be told that nobody could deal with me but if I left my passport they would sort out the paperwork and see me at 5 . . .
When I went back nobody had any idea who I was or if they could help me but I stood my ground and a 20 minute four way conversation ensued between me, our friend Bayram, someone who looked very important wearing a lot of braid and a soldier who did the translating.
Eventually – and painfully – I wrote out an explanation; reassured them I wasn’t making any sort of complaint; got it stamped and prepared to leave.
But not before I congratulated the soldier on his English and his accent . . . (sort of Mary Poppins Dick Van Dyke, if we’re being honest).
He grinned: “Australian born and bred, ma’am. Just doing my national service . . .”
Well why the bloody hell didn’t you SAY so . . . we could have saved all this Chinese whispering and kerfuffle!!!!!
Ah – the quirkiness. That’s the other wonderful thing, besides the beauty and the friendliness.
A place where you can watch a man carefully concreting over a puddle; or where the fire crew lovingly waters the central reservation (I’m hoping for the sake of local tax payers that this is for safety reasons rather than a horticultural hobby).
And a place we will be back to in less than a month.
I’ll be the one catching up on a lot of retail therapy but holding tightly to her plastic.

 





Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=8432.0

[maryjane]

BAGGY -

[JenJen]

Fab report!  Made me laugh out loud in several places, especially the Australian soldier!  And at least you managed to enjoy your holiday despite the inconveniences :-)

[amber]

Brilliant report,I am sure we all look forward to your next trip to Kalkan!!!

[HolmfirthNicky]

Fab report!!

[itstime]

Eek Baggy hope next time is as enjoyable but maybe a bit less dramatic
Great report

[onelove]

What a fantastic reoprt.. .......sounds like you had a great time...again   

[babyboomer]

hi baggy. i am new to this site and am still trying to work out how to add things, like smiley faces. if i could i would put a whole row.the effect of kalkan, making you so relaxed and coping so wonderfully with everything that happened to you in may was great to read. You just couldnt make that up could you. you relayed it in such good spirit.very entertaining and the australian (turkish soldier) just so funny.

Have a fabulous next holiday. I will be in kalkan at the same time and if i find a stray purse or any plastic unaccounted for i will come and find you.

look forward to hearing about your next adventure.

[kalkan4eva]

Another great report, Baggy. You do have some eventful trips