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Author Topic: So how did you discover Kalkan?  (Read 5675 times)

Offline bizzylizzy

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So how did you discover Kalkan?
« on: June 03, 2016, 05:52:57 PM »
Only 18 more sleeps until that fabulous morning when we wake up in the best place in the world
This set me wondering how others found their way to the magicial place that is Kalkan; We started our journey many years ago. Did Spain, The Balearics, The Canaries, dallied a little with the Caribbean and finally found our way to the Greek islands, Always enjoying our holidays but like so many Kalkan addicts “never went back to the same place twice” (Ring any bells anyone?) As our youngest daughter left for university we treated ourselves to a “Proper grown ups holiday” in Belpais. It is a beautiful village up in the mountains of Northern Cyprus. Fabulous views, fantastic food and that all important wonderful Turkish hospitality.  Late one night  a fellow bar fly remarked that if we liked this place so much we would love this little town he knew in Turkey. Little did we suspect that this was to seal our fate for many years to come.
But the path to true love never runs smooth. The following year we did our research and booked two weeks at the Yali hotel (now the Lykia Gardens) with Tapestry holidays. Three days before we were due to fly they went bump. We had 72 hours to find a replacement holiday After a 6 hour stint in the travel agents all they could offer us was two weeks in Sharm el Sheik. My only comment is, NEVER go to Egypt in August.
Twelve months on we tried again and booked two weeks at the Nur Hotel with Thomas Cook. Not a pizza in sight in those days. Baris made us very welcome and on the first evening we duly joined the group around the bar. “Been to Kalkan before then” asked one man. All eyes at the bar suddenly focussed upon us. “No” replied OH. The whole group rolled their eyes, (somewhat smugly I thought.)”You’ll be back” he predicted “Oh no, we never go back to the same place” said OH politely. ”You’ll be back” he predicted and all twelve heads at the bar nodded in unison. I found this a little strange at the time but many times over the years I have seen this exact conversation take place with Kalkan virgins and we are the ones smiling knowingly now.
We left the Nur and walked down in search of dinner. “Plenty of restaurants to choose from” We thought. We had a drink at the Moonlight bar and walked back up a little to eat. That night we never suspected that there was more to Kalkan. The next day as we went further down my mind was blown to discover Gironda, The divine Coast (Still miss that one) Olap  Kosh and then the harbour, Trio Aubergine  The Fener , Cafe Cleo. The list goes on and on .Kalkan  just kept on giving.
The following year we went to the Mediterran and discovered THAT VIEW. Oh wow. We were truly and hopelessly addicted from that moment on. We are now serial renters and try to spend at least 6 weeks a year in our special second home Is it only me who cheers as the car rounds the bend and Kalkan appears below and sheds a couple of tears on the return journey or is it a common symptom of acute kalkanitis.?
If anyone is still reading how did you get in on the secret of Kalkan and if you are the guy who tipped us off all those years ago in Belpais we owe you the best slap up meal Kalkan can provide


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Offline kalkan4eva

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #1 on: June 03, 2016, 06:44:57 PM »
well, bizzylizzy, you've not made many posts but this one blew me away :) :) Yes its changed but the magic still draws us back, year after year.
So in answer to your question, our route to Kalkan is not too dissimilar to yours - having been about a bit and never going back to the same place twice - with the exception of Cala d'Or in Majorca when the kids were small. We had enjoyed a really lovely holiday in Parga in Greece and the following year, I told BH I was going to find another Parga but in Turkey. My research style is forensic, so I hunted high and low until I came across Kalkan - if you've ever been to Parga you will get the similarities. Within days I'd booked flights and found a small apartment for a very reasonable price and have been coming every year (albeit to different accommodation), ever since. We still get to other places, but often say to each other "that wouldn't happen in Kalkan"....Last year we had a week in Corfu and took a boat trip to Parga for the day - its 15 years since we visited and whilst there had been a lot of building work, it was mostly sympathetic and not large scale so it really hadn't changed that much to look at but I doubt we would ever go back and actually holiday there again....unlike Kalkan, with its invisible mystical thread :) :)
Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt :)

Offline Sezkalkan

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #2 on: June 03, 2016, 07:16:56 PM »
We are relatively new to Kalkan, our first visit being in 2014 when we went with friends who had been trying to get us there for a couple of years! 'You'll love it' they kept saying and eventually they got us there and it was love at first sight!  We decided to come back the following year (2015) and we too brought more friends with us (apologies, we realise we are meant to keep it a secret!). Our friends only stayed 10 days and we were there for 2 weeks so after they went we decided to get an estate agent to take us around the different areas, as we didn't understand the areas of Kalkan and we got shown around an apartment, which is now the one we own! We had absolutely no intention of buying but the beauty of Kalkan captivated us! I'm just sorry we didn't come years ago, I really feel I've missed out, but am so looking forward to spending many years relaxing there and meeting many other Kalkan lovers!
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Offline Kalkan regular

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #3 on: June 03, 2016, 07:51:01 PM »
A Tapestry holiday (had been other places with them and got it half price in May 2003). Bought at the end of 2004, an apartment in the old Mina hotel, now the Emir Apartments. Have never regretted it and love Kalkan.
« Last Edit: June 03, 2016, 09:37:37 PM by Kalkan regular »

Offline joycie

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #4 on: June 03, 2016, 09:12:48 PM »
A Tapestry holiday to the lovely Hotel Serra. A small boutique hotel not far from the Meldi. They had to drop us off at the Meldi because the transport couldn't get down to the Serra. Lovely Carlos bought the car up and we walked down to the Serra. It was love at first sight Mustapha who had the furnishing shop on the Kas road welcomed us with Serafina his wife. Their daughter who was only small was called Serra. I think there were only five bedrooms but it overlooked the sea no buildings on the waste land then. Karlos and Verdette (who now looks after some of the pools in Kalkan) ran the bar and we always played dominoes when we returned after dinner. It was so relaxing that we decided that we would do it again the following year but unfortunately they were taken over by Exclusive Escapes and we couldn't afford it. We went with Tapestry to Yali and again loved it. It was a very different beach club in those days and we also had some lovely lunches at Caretta Caretta.
We did go back to the Serra and also had the Villa next door again with Exclusive Escapes.Another villa in Kalamar and then we found the lovely Nur apartments. Fab holidays there and Sue and Shaun's Sahaine gave us a fab holiday during the heart attack saga,
I just can't imagine not having a holiday in Kalkan. We have been lucky enough to travel round the World but I've never found anywhere that has grabbed my heart like Kalkan.
So three weeks in September is my idea of heaven and Kalkan is where you'll find us most Septembers.

Offline Bob & Jayne

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #5 on: June 04, 2016, 04:25:24 AM »
A holiday in Olu Denez and Hisonaru 6 years ago with friends and our children, OH had seen a holiday report about Kalkan and said lets hire a car for the day and go and take a look, all I can remember was how beautiful it was compared to where we were staying, completely different.  I remember it being a Thursday because it was market day, and very busy as we drove down into town.  We too were totally blown away, we walked down to the beach and had a swim, and we have photos of us sat on the Thrones, you know the ones! We spent about 6 hours there taking photos, and just trying to take it all in! We had lunch at Korsan, our very first meal in Kalkan and I can even remember what we had, the most amazing hot sizzling prawns with a wonderful salad!  :D. We left around 5pm, and drove out past Adem's on the Kas road, little did we know we would be visiting his wonderful restaurant every year since! We took more photos at Kapatus, and then turned round and drove to Patara, where we had the most wonderful moonlight swim, the beach wasn't closed then like it does now at 7pm, it was pitch dark but many many people there, I will never forget it.  We then drove into Patara village for dinner, which we have in fact returned to twice now for lunch.  We had a beautiful meal, I seem to remember lamb and the wonderful homemade chips, with Turkish mezze to start, and I remember the most fabulously presented salad I have ever seen.  When it was time to leave, OH asked for the bill, and the lovely man said you pay what you think it is worth! Never have we experienced anything like it, we were dumbfounded.  We really didn't know what to say, but gave him a generous amount of our Turkish Lira.  Sadly, it was then time to drive back to Hisonaru.  We got back after midnight, exhausted but we had had the most amazing day, and are so grateful to that holiday programme that OH came across that day, because the next year we returned to Kalkan and bought our beautiful apartment, and have been going back every year, and will be we know for many many years to come  :) :) :) :)

Thank you bizzylizzy for starting this thread, am looking forward to reading what I think will be a lot more wonderful posts from a lot of people on here.  :D :)

J&B
« Last Edit: June 04, 2016, 07:43:35 AM by Bob & Jayne »

Offline Mayday1

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #6 on: June 04, 2016, 07:01:09 AM »
For many years,before i met my better half,she had travelled all round Turkey with family and friends and soon introduced me to the country,interspursed with holidays to the usual european delights of Spain and so on.We went on trips to Bodrum,Side,Kushadasi.........and then Kalkan.

Our first visit,with no D 400 took 2 + hours from Dalaman.We stayed at Samira Deluxe......We thought we were miles away from Kalkan but now,with the D 400 everything seems so much closer.Right from the beginning,Kalkan was special somehow.....The friendly people,the views, the pretty village,the restaurants and so much more.

Our second and third visit was to the Pirat hotel overlooking the lovely harbour and it was after our third visit that we started thinking seriously about buying a little bit of Kalkan......already being described as the "hidden gem" of Turkey.We contacted Anatolyn Sky who arranged an inspection visit for us and we stayed at the boutique hotel,the Rhapsody,as our base to begin the search in earnest.

We also searched with Bridget of 2black lions,finally discovering our little bit of paradise......Caretta,in Komurluk.We have no regrets,and as Kalkan has steadily grown,we have grown to love this special place more with each passing year.


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« Last Edit: June 04, 2016, 07:04:45 AM by Mayday1 »

Offline hobbo

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #7 on: June 04, 2016, 12:32:14 PM »
Back in 1988 we were on honeymoon for 3 weeks in a small place between Fethiye and Olu Deniz, we hired a car for a few day to explore and as OH had done her research we drove to Kas stopping off at Patara beach for a swim (it was July and we were the only two on the beach) leaving Patara on the old road to Kas, as we were driving a particularly picturesque bay caught our attention and we stopped to take a photograph of the small cluster of white-washed buildings splashed with purple bougainvillea nestling at the foot of the hillside around a small harbour. This was our first glimpse of Kalkan, but we didn't know it's name then. Four years later we spotted a very similar photo in a Turkish Delight brochure an more or less immediately booked and we stayed in Kalkan for the first time at the Patara Pansiyon near the harbour. Our 1st son was born later that year and not wanting to face those hills with a buggy or backpack we spent our holidays in various other places around the world (including other parts of Turkey), we did manage to visit a few times for part of a day when on gulet holidays or staying close by. We returned for a couple of family holidays with our lads when they were teenagers then in Oct 2010 when I was over on my own doing some 360 virtual tour photography, on my last day I came across a villa that was for sale, it was in a great location, on a large plot and well proportioned rooms, it needed a lick of paint but apart from that it seemed ideal as a holiday home that could be rented out.. Back in the UK OH wasn't convinced, we had 2 lads off to Uni and other priorities so the idea was put on a back burner. Then the owner contacted me around xmas 2010 and negotiations started again and I flew out early Jan, as OH couldn't get time off work I ended up buying it before she had even seen it! April 2011 was our first stay in our 2nd home, on the flight out my wife referred to the villa as 'his villa' , whilst we were there it became 'our villa'.
Since then we have managed to visit every year and we have traced many people who feature on our holiday photos from 1992, many are still around today.
Only 14 more sleeps and we will be back for our 3rd visit of 2016.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2016, 01:28:27 PM by hobbo »
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When anything goes wrong I’m responsible!!

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Offline Haybo

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #8 on: June 05, 2016, 01:41:53 PM »
After years of camping, cottages and RV holidays in the USA, OH had a chance conversation in 2012 with a colleague who told him about a place they went to year on year....they sent us a link to Kalkan Magic, cafe Leon and Kalamar beach club, and before we could make sense of it, had booked a 2 week stay at Emir for the following summer.  We were so looking forward to it even thought it wasn't our typical holiday.   Then 3 weeks before departure, OH Had a series of serious heart attacks.  I thought it was the end of our Kalkan dream before it even started.  Thankfully, he was given the ok to travel and we were off.
We had a quiet, but wonderful time, and experienced that "knowing look" on a daily basis! I don't think we met anynother Kalkan virgins at all.  It was clear that people turned up in he dead of night for the startnof their holiday and immediately booked for the next year! As we had not been able to do some things during our stay because of OH's health, we went into panic mode and booke for the following year too!
In 2014 we returned and were blown away by the warm welcome, people remembered us, it was awesome.  We met Christina and Bob&Jane, and before we knew it, we had booked for 2015!
2015 turned into a 3 week extravaganza....trip to Ephasus, jeep hire, lost wallet and iphone(all returned in tact) , meeting Lizilou and Automan, and no plans to visit in 2016 as we are coming out in 2017 to celebrate a special birthday. 
I got the chance to come out fro a week with a girlfriend...which I grabbed with both hands...may get to meet K4e and I think Antler may be around too....
THEN.....a friend asked for help booking a holiday in August and guess what ...we are coming too! 9 days......

Offline sukiliz

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #9 on: June 05, 2016, 09:18:22 PM »
For us finding Kalkan was via the Peloponese, in May 2002 we were purchasing a villa a few miles outside Kalamata but the sale broke down and was a very stressful time so we decided to take a two week break in October in Turkey as it was a few years since we had visited the country.  We stayed at the then very basic, Lighthouse Hotel in Patara and one of the guests said 'You must go to Kalkan, they have tablecloths there!' so a few days later we drove here, stopping en route to take in that wonderful view, we saw a villa with a 'for sale' sign and two days later it was ours.  We've never regretted the decision to buy and visit three times a year hoping to spend much more time here when we retire, in the not too distant future. We have visited many places on the coastline between Kusadasi and Side over a twenty five year period but nothing compares to picturesque Kalkan, it's people and the wonderful restaurants of course.

Offline Babs

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #10 on: June 06, 2016, 08:45:48 PM »
We picked up a brochure for the Patara Prince hotel in a travel agents and then the following year booked to stay in a villa there......the Iraq war started and we changed our minds and cancelled. A couple of years later we booked a villa at Kalkan Tepe through Tapestry, at the time this was the highest accommodation in Kalkan. We then went to America the following summer then returned to Kalkan the following year.....and every year since!
For about 12 years now...I am finally losing count! :laugh:

Offline Lizilu20

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #11 on: June 13, 2016, 09:46:33 PM »
I discovered Turkey in the early 90's (after dedicated Greek island hopping including Paros, Andros, aegina, crete) needing sonethinbg very cheap and cheerful, ending up  holidaying in Altinkum then Izmir visiting didim, ephesus, Pamukkale and eating cop sis on barbecues in the national parks. I then did a road trip with a friend from Izmir to fethiye, stopping off at marmaris, icmeler, butterfly valley and olu deniz. We never got any further as we had to turn round and go all the way back again, but it was always my intention to discover a bit more of  the Turkish coastline!

I then discovered my OH and as we both had very young daughters and soon another on the way, we mostly went to Majorca, Canaries and then lots of lovely Greek islands, including  Kos and Naxos abd dallied a couple of times with mainland Greece,  then Caribbean and America - getting hitched in Vegas on one of them!  All this time and all these years I wanted to go back to Turkey but OH point blank refused to go. Don't ask me why, he can't even remember why himself, I think it was fear of the unknown. Not long after our daughter was born I read about a place called kalkan which sounded right up our street and OH was all for it until I mentioned it was in Turkey.  I never forgot though and it stayed in the back of my mind for all these years.
 
We have friends who bought an apartment in fethiye and  constantly asked us to stay with them but   it was always a no until we got him drunk one night and booked the flights! There was no turning back then!
You probably know what's coming  next - he fell in love with Turkey, the Turkish people and the beautiful scenery and food. 'Just like  the best Greek island with spice' he said, and on that note I remembered kalkan and with friends we booked a beautiful Villa called the mavi manzara, up near the Mediterran hotel. We woke up to that view and the rest, as they say, is history!   :) 

Offline bizzylizzy

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Re: So how did you discover Kalkan?
« Reply #12 on: June 14, 2016, 12:52:12 AM »
Hi Liziilu
 'Just like  the best Greek island with spice' What a fabulous and apt description.And yes "that View" from the Mediteran It makes my heart sing like no other


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