Kalkan Turkey Forum - EnjoyKalkan.com would like to place cookies on your computer to help us make this website better. To find out more about the cookies, see our privacy notice.
To accept the cookie click here, or please login or register.

Author Topic: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan  (Read 4401 times)

Offline lucasvdb

  • EnjoyKalkan Member
  • *
  • Posts: 41
  • My Thankyou Count: 13
    • Share Post
Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« on: October 06, 2017, 05:13:08 PM »
Last June I didn't bring a laptop as that would have had to go back in the hold on the return flight.
I only had an old Tesco Hudl and that thing turned out to be very virtual and just wouldn't connect to the wifi.
When back at home I promised to do a retrospective holiday report but that never happened, apologies...

With the restrictions lifted the laptop has come back to Kalkan, and please find here my Day 1 report.

Well, more like Day 1+2

On Wednesday we had a pleasant drive from Herefordshire to Bristol Airport. Parked in the Silver Zone car park which now has a very new check-in/out building. Short bus ride to the terminal, to find a whole lot of all new self-check-in-your-cases pods in the Easyjet area instead of the long queue of passengers waiting to drop off their bags at only 1 manned booth. A big improvement!
Security control wasn't busy either, so we had plenty of time to buy our duty frees (gin, gin and scotch). The only surprise was a full Airbus to Dalaman, we hadn't expected that! There was a 100 mph tail wind so we even got into Dalaman ahead of schedule.
All bags arrived on the carousel and we were out of the terminal building, looking for the Dalamancars representative. There he was, and led us to the hire car. Not the Dacia Stepway I had booked many moons ago, but a 7 seater Lodgy model with less than 10k kilometers on the clock. We had to add diesel of course at the Opet station as that is their fuel policy: from nearly empty to nearly empty. We then decided to have a very late dinner in Dalaman, and found the Sofra kebab in the main street still open for business. Two kofte and one mixed grill, 3 ayran, 1 water later, paid TL 81, and off we went following the satnav via the old winding road to join the D-400 at the Gocek tunnel. (The new one is still not finished!)
Fairly uneventful journey to Kalkan, no police checks this time.

Thursday is market day of course. As another member said they all sell the same, and many items we don't need/want. However we do like the fruit&veg section and filled up our Cafe Vita bags with all that is needed to eat-in. And we can recommend buying fish from the van at the top there. Then off to Migros for the other necessities including the ayran that we like very much. However, disaster, no tonic water on the shelves! What to do with all that gin from the duty free? Try the old Yali, none either... To the rescue came CanCan on the Kalamar road, he still had enough to last us the two weeks he said. BTW they are very nice people there, we have known them for 10 years now. Later I did manage to have a sun-soaking session at the poolside, and got into the water for a couple of minutes: rather cold to say it mildly.
As said earlier we are eating-in, as our son has decided to start a 3 day fasting period now.... We have our pre dinner G & Ts of course, and then feast on the home cooked sea bream, veggies, pasta and EFES.


Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=13836.0

Offline keith

  • EnjoyKalkan Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 344
  • My Thankyou Count: 2638
    • Share Post
  • Owner: No
  • Resident: No
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #1 on: October 06, 2017, 07:23:53 PM »
Thanks for posting. I look forward to reading all about your holiday.

Offline Babs

  • EnjoyKalkan Lover
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,589
  • My Thankyou Count: 111
    • Share Post
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #2 on: October 06, 2017, 08:39:58 PM »
Look forward to,hearing what you get up to but am completely baffled as to why anyone would go on a three day fast in Kalkan.....pure torture!

Offline Lizilu20

  • EnjoyKalkan Lover
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,725
  • My Thankyou Count: 307
    • Share Post
  • Owner: No
  • Resident: No
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2017, 10:20:35 AM »
Thanks for posting and I'm looking forward to reading your reports. I'm with Babs - 3 day fast? In kalkan ?  :o your sea bream meal sounded good and glad you managed to track down the tonic!  :)

Offline lucasvdb

  • EnjoyKalkan Member
  • *
  • Posts: 41
  • My Thankyou Count: 13
    • Share Post
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #4 on: October 08, 2017, 10:27:39 AM »
Day 3

After breakfast we went - on foot - to town.
Passed by the Yelken restaurant because we had heard they had closed, at least temporarily. Everything was packed up so it might be closed for longer. Shame because it is one of our favourites, and the closest to our apartment! Then called on Cafe Vita to book our BBQ night for next Wednesday. Going down the hill is better than up of course, however when it is around 24-25 degrees C either way is no problem at all. When in town we visited Yusuf 'the coiffeur' to make an appointment for Vicky to have her hair done to his high standards again. After that we checked out that Agora had closed indeed. Another one of our usual places deleted from our to-dinner list. Wandering through the streets we felt at home again. We called on Bulent the butcher to buy some freshly minced beef for the evening meal. He always recognises us from a mile and waves us in to have a chat, even if we are not buying... I'm wearing my old Arsenal shirt so one of the subjects is Mezut Ozel. He clearly states that that man is earning far too much! Back to the apartment after that.
In the afternoon we just do some lazing by the pool. This pool must be the best kept one in Kalkan. Ali the gardener cleans it every day with the long pole 'hoover' and - power cuts permitting - the filtration pumps are on all the time. One of the neighbours joins us as well and we're being updated with all the happenings since June. So tea is late and rolls over into the G & Ts and crisps period. For dinner we actually have the left-over sea bream, and the beans + potatoes from the market. We = just the two of us, son is still fasting.

Day 4

Peeking our head outside the balcony door we decide to have breakfast inside today. At 11:15 we are driving to the town to see the Mouse Island swimmers. I drop off our neighbour who cannot walk that well any more at Korsan Meze. I can say now that I have actually driven in Kalkans narrow streets. Car parked opposite Carrefour and we take the shortcut of little alleys and join her for a cappuccino. The swimmers still are far away despite having started from a point closer to the beach. Looking down on the beach front there are quite a few people out and about at Kleo, Fener etcetera. After the coffees we make our way downwards to find all the boats are in, no surprise really looking at the waves and feeling the gusts of the winds. We call on the Yildiz boats to make a booking for the next trip. Osman has a private party on Friday the 13th but Adem has places free. We continue to the harbour pier next to Indigo, just to see the swimmers have been moved way off course by the currents and the winds. Half an hour later they still haven't arrived and we decide to go back home, via Carrefour to buy a few supplies as we were parked there anyway.
Not much to report for the afternoon I'm afraid. Hung up some pictures we bought in June from Yilmaz the tattoo man next to Mussaka, and finished installing a strip light under the cupboards in the kitchen area. However! Son Robert announced he was giving up on his fasting and had a peach for (late) lunch. He looked very refreshed and content after that.
By now you know the evening routine: G & Ts and crisps! And cashews for Robert to replenish the missed good fat whilst fasting. I made the meatballs with a Turkish spices mix made by the man in the first stall when you enter the Thursday market. We had wine this time... and buy Agora again for the next time! (Enough said)

Whilst writing this:

1. It rained cats and dogs.
2. We had yet another power cut.

Luckily the laptop battery was full, and there is always the backup of copy&paste


Offline lucasvdb

  • EnjoyKalkan Member
  • *
  • Posts: 41
  • My Thankyou Count: 13
    • Share Post
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2017, 11:57:07 AM »
Thank you all for the good wishes!

Robert has been 'cured' now and has promised not to fast ever again when in Kalkan.
And Vicky has seen Yusuf and has new highlights, I missed reporting that in the previous post whilst doing the copy&paste backups.

Offline keith

  • EnjoyKalkan Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 344
  • My Thankyou Count: 2638
    • Share Post
  • Owner: No
  • Resident: No
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2017, 02:36:05 PM »
I'm pleased to hear that your son has made the sensible decision to end his fasting. I'm impressed that he lasted so long!!

Offline lucasvdb

  • EnjoyKalkan Member
  • *
  • Posts: 41
  • My Thankyou Count: 13
    • Share Post
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #7 on: October 11, 2017, 09:42:40 AM »
OOPs there seems to be a lapse in the updates from my side!
Too many G & Ts you may say.....

Day 4:

That was the Sunday with still many power cuts and a lot of rain in the morning. We have a few chickens at home which means every Sunday we'll have a couple of boiled eggs and toast. No change when on holiday! Interestingly the supermarkets seem to only have white eggs, haven't seen any brown(ish) ones. Without our electric egg boiler we use at home at hand, the big dilemma now is how many minutes we should boil the eggs on the gas hob. Just time to Google this between the power outages, however that doesn't really give the right answer. It's like 'is the glass half full, or half empty?' question. It is a choice between starting from cold, then time 4 minutes when boiling, or bring the water to the boil first, add the eggs, and start counting. We decide to use the second method. Of course this means two out of four eggs cracking and turning into poached eggs! For next year we'll have to invest in a egg-piercing gadget.
After breakfast it is waiting for the sun to be fully out so that we can take our spaces on the poolside. We really don't have to claim these sunbeds by putting towels on them, as we are the only persons on the complex who are using the pool.
Later in the afternoon we are driving to Adam's Place to see that for ourselves. We are made very welcome as every post and Tripadvisor report says about this establishment. We are just having a beer this time, but book dinner for next Tuesday.
After the obligatory (double this time) G & Ts we are walking down to Oz Adana to have dinner. No alcohol there so just water to accompany the food. I ordered the Adana Kebab, Vicky a Chicken Kebab, and Robert the Beyti Kebab. Whilst waiting, the free puffed bread and dips were served. Noisy place there on the roundabout but that also means one isn't missing any of the hustle and bustle of Kalkan at dinner time, even in October. We did like the kebabs too, perhaps a little bit too much bread based for people like myself having new dentures.... You can't argue about the price though; TL 90 including tip for 3 persons is very competitive. After that we had a stroll through the town. Some restaurants were doing well, other restaurants not, and Fener is closed. Back at home we had another beer, who again said 'hydration is important'?

Day 5:

Today we'll have to go on an expedition to Kinik to find the ASAT office to renew our water supply contract. Our trusty neighbour lady joins us once more as she hadn't been able to do that chore yet. The SatNav seems to know where the Belediyesi building is, so off we go. We are being directed onto the road veering off the D-400 towards Xanthos and, a couple of miles later, we have arrived at what looks to be a market area. KTLN said the ASAT/Belediyesi was next to a market, however no sign of an A101 shop that is also in their directions. We asked in the shop opposite, and heard there would be another kilometer to go before reaching the Kinik centre! So we did, and found the office next to the Ziraat Bank which is far posher and easier to recognise than the A101 outlet! There was only one other (English) couple in the ASAT office, and after them we were served very quickly by an employee who just understood and spoke enough English to do the deed. We now are the proud owners of a new aluminium plate with 'abone number' that we have to fix ourselves. BTW why did we have to pay TL 37.04 for a new meter? It's their choice to replace the old one, not mine... Having said that we had problems with the old meter a while ago, and it took many emails and faxes to sort out the mess and get some money back. Hopefully these new meters are of a better quality.
Back to Kalkan for some supermarket errands, and lunch at home. In the afternoon sunlounger time again. Not so hot as in June, so the tanning process is going slower than I wished for. Next year we'll come a little bit earlier, last two weeks of September perhaps.
Tonight we are going to the Rose restaurant. Son Robert doesn't want to walk this time, so we'll take the car and park just before the stretch with the shops in order to be able to do a simple u-turn when going back instead of negotiating the Hunkar roundabout. We've been at Rose before and the owner and his son waiter do recognise us. Not as busy as expected having gone up the Tripadvisor ladder recently, perhaps the lack of Samira Exclusive residents may have a big influence on his clientele. Mini garlic breads, grated cheese and black olives are being offered whilst we are choosing our meals from the menu. I'll have the Cokertme, Robert and Vicky are going for a lamb/aubergine plate I forgot the name of (should have done the blog earlier I hear you say!). Efes and Tuborg for drinks. Once again Rose's cooking skills don't disappoint, we are enjoying the Eastern Turkish fayre. Finished off by some free teas/coffee and the Rose cologne treatment and hand cream present for the lady. TL 190 incl. tip, cash only as expected. No urge this time to walk into Kalkan so back to the car and up the hill in ECO mode.

Offline keith

  • EnjoyKalkan Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 344
  • My Thankyou Count: 2638
    • Share Post
  • Owner: No
  • Resident: No
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #8 on: October 11, 2017, 01:40:11 PM »
You can never have too many G&Ts when in Kalkan. It looks as though you are having a thoroughly enjoyable time and...............I'm not at all envious!!

Offline Bob & Jayne

  • EnjoyKalkan Lover
  • ****
  • Posts: 1,364
  • My Thankyou Count: 214
    • Share Post
  • Owner: Yes
  • Resident: No
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2017, 02:40:09 PM »
Great reports lucasvdb, thank you, so glad your having a great time, and that Robert has given up the fasting! Kalkan food just has to be done as do the G&Ts, enjoy!  :D :D :D

Offline kalkan4eva

  • Kalkander!
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,156
  • My Thankyou Count: 267
    • Share Post
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2017, 06:33:33 PM »
lucasvdb, thanks for taking the time to post, just catching up on EK so an extra holiday report is always welcome.
Enjoy the rest of your stay, hopefully we'll hear some more about it!
Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt :)

Offline lucasvdb

  • EnjoyKalkan Member
  • *
  • Posts: 41
  • My Thankyou Count: 13
    • Share Post
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #11 on: October 14, 2017, 09:45:16 AM »
Oh dear, my blogs are becoming like he old joke that you wait ages for one bus, then three come along at once!
If I don't start typing just after breakfast it won't happen for that day, or days.
The sun hasn't reached the sunbeds yet, so here is the next installment.

Day 6:

After breakfast Vicky and I are walking down to town again. Amongst other errands, we'll have to go to the bank to change the ASAT direct debit details now that we have a new number. This time we are taking the scenic route as we call it. Down Kalamar Road, at Bread and More turn right into the direction of the Asfiya Sea View Hotel. Turn left and you are on a road that's more like a coastal path really, going down to the road that starts at Chillies. Wonderful views of Mouse and Snake islands, the harbour, Kisla etcetera etcetera!
Our first port of call is Taner Home Tekstil to pay for some curtain alterations (these had been delivered the day before by one of his shop staff). The man himself was in, and offered us a tea or coffee. He turned out to be one of those Kalkan business men who have fingers in all sorts of pies - note all the plurals here. Besides his shop he dabbles in property, rents out villas and apartments, kits out whole complexes not only in Kalkan but through the whole of Turkey and abroad. He had been to Montenegro recently, and showed us glossy brochures of apartment blocks he was furnishing out over there. Minimum price 2 million US dollars! He said the developers wanted to do the same in Kalkan in a year or two and advised us to hold on to our property here because prices would go up in 2-5 years time. Well, we aren't planning to sell anytime yet... When he heard that I'm Dutch he said next week he would be in Amsterdam to have discussions with tour operators. So a simple credit card transaction took about an hour. You Kalkan regulars know that is the norm, people are so friendly everywhere you go.
Next stop is the bank. No need to take a ticket we just go upstairs to where the management resides. Only a 5 minutes wait and we are being served. Two forms to sign and we are out, job done. Then to the bakery to buy the brown seeded bread, and back into the direction of home. No further distractions so we are ready for lunch. By this time Robert has appeared and we are all having lunch at our terrace.
The remaining of the afternoon we spend on the sunbeds to collect more vitamin D, with the occasional cooling off swim in between. Despite the cold water Vicky is doing her 30 laps, brrrrr.
What about the evening? It's Adam's place this time, Robert had ordered his flaming lamb shank already when we made the reservation the other day. We have the rental car hence we didn't bother to ask Adam for transport. The usual welcome from everybody of the family and we are shown our table and the menus. It's a bit chilly and dark, we are pleased we dressed for the occasion which meant pullovers, hoodies, long trousers! Sadly we didn't see the moon coming up from the east. It was a clear but dark night.  I chose the shrimp casserole and Vicky opted for the Coban Kavurma Tavuk. Adam suggested an extra salad and chips from his own garden. In hindsight we should have asked for the latter to be served separately as a starter, as all the food appeared at the same time, like those busses! When the plates arrived we were not disappointed. Robert's lamb shank was the best he had ever eaten he said, my casserole didn't need any extra condiments, and Vicky's chicken dish, served on a metal contraption with an oil burner to keep it hot, was very tasty too. The vegetables were all organic, one really could taste that. Doused down with Efes as we aren't that keen on the Turkish wines I'm afraid. No room though for any desserts and, after an apple tea offered by Adam, it was back to the Kalamar Road. TL 200 not bad at all for the quality and quantity of the food we had! We'll be coming back next year but will go for lunch then to enjoy that wonderful view.

Day 7:

Wednesday is Cafe Vita BBQ day so everybody knows the score! Plentiful mezes of good quality, a small bowl of the famous chicken curry soup, and queuing up for the meat served by the chef himself who is very pleased to see us. Mustafa doing his rounds as usual, everybody is his friend! Once again Efes is our choice for drinks, we had our pre dinner G & Ts already at home of course.
Did we do anything else interesting that day? Not really, other than lazing by the pool and keeping fed and hydrated. The tomatoes/red peppers/cheese salad at lunch time is becoming a big hit, the fresh fruits - figs, peaches - at tea time also provide us with other vitamins than the D-type from the sun.

Offline keith

  • EnjoyKalkan Regular
  • **
  • Posts: 344
  • My Thankyou Count: 2638
    • Share Post
  • Owner: No
  • Resident: No
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #12 on: October 14, 2017, 06:19:19 PM »
Thanks for sharing your holiday lucasvdb.......it helps me to relive memories of our time in Kalkan.

Offline lucasvdb

  • EnjoyKalkan Member
  • *
  • Posts: 41
  • My Thankyou Count: 13
    • Share Post
Re: Hurray I can type on a real keyboard when in Kalkan
« Reply #13 on: October 15, 2017, 09:28:58 AM »
A big omission from the report for last Wednesday was to actually say that, apart from lazing by the pool in the afternoon, we also went to the traffic lights crossing on the D-400/Akbel road to watch the Cycling Tour of Turkey passing by. Arriving at about 14:00 the roads had already been closed but I managed to park in the Otogar. Jandarma and Trafic Polisi there in force, the green school children making up for most of the spectators. The traffic from/to Akbel actually was being let through in dribs and drabs. I was surprised how many cars and scooters are using that crossing, Kalkan would have been totally gridlocked if they would have had to wait for the one-and-a-half hours that it took before the cyclists whizzed past. In hindsight a total waste of time but we had to do it
I've been to a Tour de France stage many moons ago; they know how to entertain the crowd hours before the passage: at least three hours of commercial activity including free water or orangina. Here, the only interesting part was to gaze at the very nice Yamaha motor cycles the security riders were using! The cyclists took about 20 seconds to pass through the junction although going uphill the D-400 took much longer, it is steeper than one thinks.

Day 8:

Market day again. Besides the usual fruit, veg and fish we need to buy the turkish delight and spices to take home. We also looked for a kilim to spruce up our apartment. Last June we visited the carpet shop near the harbour and found the rugs rather expensive there. We thought let's try the market next time. There is really only one stall selling 'floor coverings' but we found one we liked and, after a bit of haggling, walked away with a kilim size 1.8 x 1.2 meters for TL 500. The seller preferred cash so we had to go to the bank and pay him later. They are so trustful we literally could have walked away without paying indeed!
And oh we bought some Christmas presents for ourselves: two pairs of genuine fake Ugg slippers.
After lunch lazing by the pool, in anticipation for our pre-dinner G &Ts and home-cooked fish dinner. A Mediterranean type of mackerel this time, with some white wine and an oven dish with baked potatoes, aubergine, onion, courgette topped by cheese.

Day 9:

Glorious sunshine and out on the ocean waves! With Adem on Yildiz-3 this time. Robert took his black Havaianas flipflops in his own bag because two years in a row somebody else had taken his and left a wrong size for him! Yes that is true: black Havaianas not another colour or other cheaper brand....
Adem promised to take the Kaputas route this time as there weren't any waves at all. Nice people on board, Vicky started chatting with them immediately. And the water temperature? No finite measurement in degrees C or F,  it was just lovely. So was the food but you regulars know that already. I's amazing what the Yildiz brothers' wives can prepare in those tiny galley kitchens! Very good tanning sunshine too, I'm beginning to show that I've been in a hot country again.
Having had all that food all day on the boat, the evening meal consists of leftovers and we are even skipping the G &T s this time. Replaced by a couple of Efes though!


Share via delicious Share via digg Share via facebook Share via linkedin Share via pinterest Share via reddit Share via stumble Share via tumblr Share via twitter

xx
The real Kalkan

Started by onelove on Holiday Reports and Reviews

8 Replies
3507 Views
Last post May 24, 2011, 09:30:17 AM
by alantj
wink
A Real Man.......

Started by Kefgirl on The Everything Else Area!

4 Replies
1732 Views
Last post August 25, 2010, 11:06:43 AM
by lorilou
xx
A real big Favour

Started by suzyq1 on Classifieds - Wanted

6 Replies
3322 Views
Last post August 27, 2013, 10:39:24 AM
by Charlie
xx
A real long shot, this!

Started by Mags on The Everything Else Area!

2 Replies
1913 Views
Last post July 28, 2010, 11:17:47 AM
by whiteonyx
 


Sponsored Links

* Search Kalkan Forum


* Your Account Information

 
 
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Sponsored Links

Official Turkish E-Visa Application

Official Turkish E-Visa

* Connect to Kalkan on Facebook & Twitter

Kalkan Weather

booked.net

* Random photos from our Kalkan Photo Gallery

SimplePortal 2.3.7 © 2008-2024, SimplePortal