Watch out, watch out, there's a Haybo about!

[Babs]

Excellent plan......I celebrated my birthday late this year....in Kalkan! 

[keith]

Well done to the boys for arranging the birthday surprise. I probably won't get a chance to visit Ephesus but it sounds like a really exceptional place. It is the type of historical site that I would love to explore and I should probably be more adventurous!!

[Haybo]

Well I honestly don't know where the days are going! They are flying by at breakneck speed and are seriously melting into one!

After the excitement of the fl ates etc from Alternatif, we spent a lovely day aboard Pina X with Bob & Jayne, Kalkan Gems and 2 lovely ladies from out apts.  it was so lovely knowing all of the people on the boat, thee was no territorial stuff and the constant 'excuse me's!'

The food was fab, there was plenty of jumping in and mud bathing.  The currents seemed pretty strong as at the last stop, we found ourselves constantly drifting away from the boat! Great exercise getting back - especially to eat cake!

After the trip we had a lively cool down drink at Cafe Leon - iced mocha - i had been looking forward to that for a couple of hours! Then back to Emir to cook.  Dave did an exceptional job with a spag bol, with ingredients that weren't quite what he expected....who puts a hole down the middle of spagetti?

We then discovered that we only had 2 magnum icecreams in the freezer, so had to play cards for them!  Apparently they were very nice ....as you can tell I am no card shark!

Yesterday was a pool day - i am determined to get my legs brown! So, the odd dip in the pool, reading my book and chatting with new friends was he order if the day.  Several apartments were leaving last night if first thing today so there was lots of beetling about getting packed, borrowing case scales etc! I am very thankful to Patricia and her family who gave us all their left over produce....especially as it included instant coffee...we were still perservering with grinding our own beans in a pan with an olive oil bottle!

I was very sad to say goodbye to Kalkan Gems.  It has been lovely spending some time with them.  I hope they had a safe flight home. 
We decided to aim for a cheap tea last night and went to Adana Kepab.....i think we all ate
and drank for 112tl! That said, I think our allegiance remains with  Hunkar.
On the way back up the hill, i popped into Kaya. As i had arranged from the UK to go on their BBQ trip on 11th, but couldn't get them to tell me what time.
it was a good job I did as they don't have a trip on 11th! That would have been awkward! We go with them The following day!

Before i started to type this, I saw the FB Message from Coriander.  I am sorry to hear that they are having problems.  We had a booking for 10 there for last Sunday and they cancelled so we knew something was amiss.

The plan today is to hit a beach club then eat in tonight.  We need to pop to see alper as i think we have a jeep booked fir tomorrow so that will be fun!

Will try to pull together an interesting report for you!

[Lizilu20]

Very sad about coriander, we were looking forward to going there this year. I know the restaurant is still open but I believe that the chef is different and all staff changed?
I hope they manage to sort out their differences. Seems like a sad end to a new and thriving business with such good reviews. 

Glad you are having a lovely time though Haybo. Made me laugh about the magnums!

Have fun in the jeep. 

[Haybo]

Yesterday was Kalkan Beach Park for us.  We like it over there, we even have favourite beds...bit sad! We were a bit late getting over there so they had already been taken .  We managed to find a nice shady and sunny spot so everyone was happy.  Even tho alot of the faces were the same, it seemed a bit different organisationally.  I think we only saw our at tendent twice all day.  Right at the start we had to ask him to take a drinks order rather than him being on it. 
Tom took himself off for a full english which he said was awesome, only to join in with lunch Jess than an hour later.  We shared club sandwiches and chips.  We had been warned by others and the at tendent that lunch orders might be slow.  It took about 35 minutes so that was ok.

There are 2 turtles hanging out in the swimming area at KBP so we spent some time stalking them and got to swim with them for a while when they surfaced.  It was lovely! There was quite a chop to the sea though as it was breezy over there.

We made our way back over around 4 as we had to pop to Goz Optician to get my and matthews new secs.  Gosh. My per scription has changed! Made me feel abit queasy wan i out them on.. It has made it impossible to read wearing my prescription sunnies now so i will have to invest in some cheap ones for reading whilst sunbathing.

Whilst he was sorting out my sunnies, we went for a drink in Cafe del Mar.  The guy in there has offered to grind our coffee beans for us! Yay!   We went foam there to Yali to get provisions for D to make a curry. We dragged the shopping IPA the hill only to remember we had forgotten to drop into Alper re the jeep hire.  D and T went down there to sort it out and then came back up and straight into the pool!   Consequently it was gone 8 before we started cooking tea.

It was worth the wait as it was delicious.  Had enough mini magnums to go around tonight, but had a couple of games of cards anyway!

We had a power outage at 5:30 this morning that went on for about an hour, so the sudden silence when the aircon went off woke me up.  I got up and only Patara Prince had any light on, everywhere else was dark.

So, we have a jeep today...where will we end up? The only thing I know for sure is Guru's Place for dinner!

X

[Chris_S]

Just curious:

Did you not get photochromic reading glasses?  No need for sunglasses while in the sun then.

[keith]

Hi Haybo.....sounds like you are having a great holiday and I'm pleased that the turtles are still around. Can't wait to hear about your adventures in the Jeep.

[janeb]

Really enjoying your posts. Thank you.

[kalkan4eva]

Touch of the Joycies there Haybo 
Enjoy Guru's, little mentioned on here, but lovely traditional food and Huseyin had sourced some very drinkable locally produced wine last time we were there.
Hope you have fun in the Jeep

[Haybo]

I don't think the spell checker is my friend!

[Haybo]

Jeep day! What a great day we had.  We loaded our trusty cool bag up with frozen and chilled water, biscuits and fruit and set off...first dropping back down to pay Alper...i went in as i hadn't met him before, and he had sent a 'hello' back up the hill with D!

We went to the filling station up by the D400 and had no idea how much fuel this thing would need....we put in 50tl as a start, but as we drive off, the fuel guage barely moved! We decided it was best to have too much than too little so stopped off again in Yesilkoy and put in another 50!

We trundled along the D400 to the Saklikkent turning...boy it was warm with the sun beating down.  We passed lots of kids sellingnstuff by the roadside,so there was lots of waving and calling out! We were surprised as we approached the river that there was no evidence of any early 'tubers' or even more surprising, no jeeps safaris...it was almost 11am.  We hit Saklikkent and the place was deserted.  When we went on a trip a couple of years ago onthe dolmus it was heaving when we got there at about the same time of day.

We weren't stopping either and continued the climb up to Tlos.  The scenery is so beautiful.  I was cooking a bit so was glad when we went through shady areas.  We could see Tlos looming in the distance.  The boys who all love things like this were getting very excited!

We parked up at a little cafe and made our way across.  It costs 5tl to get in.....it is a fascinating place.  D and T did a bit more exploring than M and I as M was struggling a bit with the heat so I graciously volunteered to escort him back to the cafe for an ice cold Sprite!
the others joined us after about 40 minutes so we had another drink...i think 2 sprites, 2 fresh orange juices  a coke and a water cost  21 tl!  Before we left we boughtna couple of apples from some kids inthe car park.

From there we headed off to Pinara......heading back down was quite dusty and we could see that it was absolutely chucking it down off towards Fethye.  We wanaged to skirt around the edge of the rain, just getting hit by a few big drops, but when we hit the D400 again we could see that where we were heading looked very dark.

Still, being the fearless adventurers that weare, we pressed on.  Pinara, although signposted is a very little visited site.  It is similar to Tlos in that there is an amphitheater, acropolis and necroplois, but it much more hidden away, looking over the Xanthos valley.

We were the only people there and it was wonderful.  The boys got to climb up to the tombs and we were able to use the jeep to get us to other parts of the site.  The ticket man told us to follow a road to the next car park, but after 30 minutes af climbing uphill in the jeep, we figured we were going nowhere! The road was unmade and it was very bumpy! The boys spent most of the journey stood up in the back whooping and hollering as there was a geeat echo.  Thankfulky the rain stayed away

The risk averse person that I am was less keen on this and was relieved when we turned around to head back down.  We made it back to Kalkan for about 5 and all threw ourselves i to the pool!

Dinner was booked for gurus place so we headed out there in our jeep.  I dont want to post what seems to be a negative review, but things just didn't go our way! Firstly the table we were offered was in the car park...not keen on that.....thenthe table we did have was i. A force 10 gale...not their fault.  There was a large table in that were getting lots of personal attention so we felt a bit neglected.  We asked for the dessert menu about 4 times but didn't get given it...so headed home to the magnum stash!

Lazy day today........

[Babs]

Haybo....your jeep day reminded me of a day we went out on a rather battered jeep and were rather too intrepid for our own good.....but that's a very long story 
As we came down from the mountains towards Kalkan were being chased by the rain, but thought it would be fine when we got back as "it never rains in Kalkan in August" how wrong we were, we arrived back in torrential rain with me with a towel wrapped round me as the jeep leaked.
Still.....happy ending, we bought baclava on the way home and when we got back our friends who were staying in the apartment above us invited us to share our baclava with them and their nicely softened ice cream.......as there had been the inevitable power cut.
By the time we went out in the evening, everywhere had dried up and normal service was resumed! 

[Haybo]

Babs that does sound a bit like our day....would have loved some baclava!

[Bob & Jayne]

Your Jeep day sounded fabulous Haybo 

[keith]

Haybo......if only I could be as adventurous. Sounds as though you had a really great day in the Jeep. I daren't even drive on the main roads in Turkey let alone up unmade roads.

[suzyq1]

Sounds like you are having a great holiday Haybo. Thanks for sharing it with us. Like Keith, we don't venture far on holiday so its great to hear about other peoples  adventures.
We have a weather warning in place for tomorrow and Friday, so you are definitely in the right place.

[Haybo]

What have i been thinking! No report since Monday? Bad!

We got up earyish on Tuesday so that we could make the most of having the jeep before handing it back at 9so D and I went to Yali and did some shopping which we then didn't have to carry on up the hill.  We had agreed before he took it back that we would ask if it was available for another day and he came back with the news that he had booked it for2 more days! Excellent!   

Whilst the boys were pulling themselves together, i wandered into town to seee if incould find somewhere to get my nails redone.  I phoned my folks and had a good wave to them at the Mavi webcame, much to the amusement of other folks, then I went to the Wella place near Samphire biut couldn't get in until later, so booked a slot before dinner rather than walking back down in the afternoon.  So, it seemed rude not to go and do a bit of bag shopping whilst I was there so went into BSG to look at the mulberry i had seen earlier in the holiday.  Instead i fell in love with a cream gucci that was in the sale! YES!   I was also in the market for a messenger bag and again had seen a mulberry, but then, there in front of me was the true object of my desire...a Louis Vuitton messenger...sold to the lady in green shorts!   Flushed with success, i bought a couple odf Longchamps for our dog sitters and treated myself to a taxi home as i was about £50 better off than i thought i would be!

The rest of the day was spent chilling at home, before heading back into town for the nails and dinner at Alternatif.  My usual nail lady would have kittens if she saw rpthem doing nails here...a metal nail file and sitting with the light box on your lap.  Not the greatest job on my hands, but my toes look good!   Dinner at Alternatif was excellent as usual. Had the jack daniels steak.  So soft snd velvety! I had dessert fir the first time as i have been curious about fried icecream......curiosity satisfied........don't think i,ll be doing that again!

Wednesday was another jeep day, so loaded up with snacks and water, we boarded the chariot with plans to go to Sidyma and Letoon, but on the way out D decided he wanted to see tow to get to the top of the ountain here, so we tok the Elmali road to see where it took us.  Wow, the scenery and countryside the other side of the ountain is glorious.  As a result we just keep driving and ended up in Elmali! Boy it was hor in the jeep.  The new plan was to stop in Elmali for lunch, but when we got there, it was all a bit traditional, lots of groups of men sitting around...i had planned for ending up at Patara so i wasnt really dressed appropriatley, so we just picked up the Fethiye road and  headed out!

We stopped for fuel and light refreshemnts and then headed into some more beautiful countryside.  We found ourselves in a rocky canyon full of goats, wandering loose!   The boys were starving so we had our eyes peeled for somewhere to eat and eventually found a roadside restaurant ...the issues of my attire were still there, but we felt that we would be ok.  A young lady (about 14) showed us to our table and we asked for the menu...no menu...didnt they want us to stay?  Eventually she took D and the boys off into the kitchen where she pulled a large metal box out of a brick fire to show them several dead creatures being cooked.  Thumbs went up, salad, water and soft drinks ordered and we were good to go!
The salad was enormous and covered in a delicate balsamic dressing...the bread was in a pretty bread basket that has so much bread in it, it was brought to you in a carrier bag!   Then a platter of lamb meat over a flame was brougt to us and we tucked in.  Simple food, but so welcome and delicious! 95tl and we were on our way.

We eventually joined the D400 and headed back to Kalkan driving straight past our original destinations... We, along with that delicious lamb were getting cooked so we needed the sanctuary of the pool!   Dinner was again a fairly simple affair in Hunkars, followed by a wander into town to the mavi camera to wave to my sister who was back from her hols in Egypt.  Coffees in Cafe del Mar and a pop into goz to see if D's specs were in - they weren't and home for us.

Thursday was another jeep day, but to be honest i couldn't do another day, so I opted for a trip to the market with Bob & Jayne.  First I went to look at their lovely apartment and then we set off to walk to the market, but passing Emir I could see D was still here, so popped in to ask him for a lift to the market!

jayne leapt into the back like a young gazelle, whilst I was less graceful.....i will leave it to her to describe my mthods for on boarding and alighting!

The market was fairly quiet still, but soon started to fill up....spent a fortune on 3 nectarines and some mushrooms! £2 maybe!   Had the rest of the morning and early afternoon to myself , then the boys came back and we had pool time before heading down to our moon light cruise.......

[Haybo]

 .......we still had the jeep so we set off early to make sure we coukd get a parking space down by the harbour.  Bob &Jayne had managed to get on the same trip to do some meteor shower watching and we had offered them a lift back up the hill later so we were really pleased to find a space.  Dave popped along to get his glasses and by 18:15, after an issue with the anchor which required Adem to dive into the harbour, we were off! First stop, Firenk bay ...blimey that was cold! Then off to mouse to watch a superb sunset.  We then headed into another bay for the bbq and star gazing.

The food was marvellous as usual, but the choice of stargazing spot was not! We had kalkan directly behind us, and 15 other boats and their lights to contend with...the boad right next to us was full of partying teenagers playing loud music.  The lightnpollution was too much.  Is saw 3 shooting stars and 1 meteor, but had hoped for lots more.  That said, it was still a lovely trip.

We got back to the harbour at about 23:30' paid our bills and wandered back to the jeep.  Rather than wait for Dad to come back for them, our boys decided to walk home, with us , bob&jayne going up the hill in the jeep.  D dropped me off first then dropped the others a few doors down and headed back into town to scoop up the boys from wherever they had got to.  The boys got back here before he did.

As D came in, he said "who's got my phone and wallet?" To which we all replied "Not me!"...so we had a quick hunt around the bags,mthe apartment and the jeep, but they were nowhere to be seen.  D and eldest went back to the jeep to go down to the harbour, when T had the bright idea of calli g the phone so they could hear the ring tone......but they couldn't hear it.  A few minutes later, T looked at his phone and he had a missed call from Dads phone! They called it back and a guy answered and arranged to meet them at Chillis to hand it back! It's not absolutely clear where they found it, but it may have been near  AKBank, which is odd because we didnt stop there! There was no sign if the wallet though. Still, a massive relief to get the phone back, so a big thank you to the guys that handed it back.

They parked up again at the harbour and went to the boat, spoke to the taxi guys, followed the route back up on foot but no sign of it.  They came back to the apt at around 01:00 and we started the process of cancelling cards. What a nightmare! We reckoned there was between £100 and £150 in the wallet plus cards, licenses etc....having been burgled twice this year, we were getting familiar with that feeling of despair!

Up early on friday morning to do a daylight search ask in Yali etc but no luck, so we picked the jeep up from the harbour and came back to the apt.  D had to return the jeep by 9 so he told Alper what had happeded.....he was really great and took D to the Jandarma to report the loss inncase it was found.  I posted here and asked John at KTLN to post something there so that word was out.!

2 jarndarma bought D back here to collect the site manager Aytac to act as a translator, and off they went again.  Job done. 

T was leaving at 17:50 to get his flight home, so they went down to the gym one last time before we had late lunch at Ata okabasi and said our farewells.  Whilst they were out,mAytac came to the apartment to say there were 2 ladies here that had got Dave's wallet!

A very lovely german lady staying further along at Ada villas had found it on the floor just by Bob &Jaynes apartment just before midnight! We are so blessed. Obviously everything was intact.  we had told everyone at the complex what had happeded so i stood at the top of the pool shouting " they've found the wallet!!!!!"

When D got back from the gym he went aling to see them.  We are SO SO GRATEFUL to everyone that helped, especially people we don't even know offering us money to tide us over.  As Kalkan Regular said. "ONLY IN KALKAN!"

So, fed and watered, T left for the airport and we jumped in the pool!   One week left!

[Kalkan regular]

Just think Haybo, if you'd stuck to your original 2 week booking you'd be home now instead of having another week to enjoy!

[Haybo]

Yes, Kalkan Regular, i would be watching countryfile, thinking about work tomorrow, instead, it's beach club or pool.,

Chris s - only just spotted your question about glasses - i got ordinary distance glasses and chenged the lenses in the sunnies i got lat year.  I prefer different glasses for sunnies!