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Author Topic: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....  (Read 4258 times)

Offline tuppy

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We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« on: June 24, 2011, 12:52:53 PM »
Hi everyone, I know a few people said they would be interested to read our holiday report when we returned so here it is…..and straight in at the deep end with:

Dogs

This problem (so called) nearly made us cancel our holiday. My wife and I are both scared of dogs and the reported “packs of dogs following us home at night” and incidents including dangerous dogs made us feel like we wouldn’t be able to enjoy one minute of our holiday. Thank god for the people who helped change our minds!
First of all there are dogs in Kalkan, but not nearly as many as I had expected.  At the top of the hill leading to our Villa we had 3 regulars. They spent 90% of the day asleep in the shade (as did nearly every dog we saw). They never once followed us, made any attempt to come near us or even acknowledged us walking past. Many shops and restaurants had dogs outside but again they never once followed or came near us. I was always looking to see if they followed or were in any was aggressive to anyone else but I can honestly say that in two weeks we never saw one incident that made us feel that the dogs were a problem.

In 14 nights we never lost a minutes sleep due to dogs barking. On our second to last night we heard a dog barking for about 5 minutes but that was a one off and for most people is better than the amount of barking you hear when tucked up in your own bed. The one thing we did notice was that they liked to chase people on scooters! Again though they never made any attempt to bite or attack people riding them, it was like a game really and quite fun to watch!
It’s down to the good people who messaged us on this forum that helped change our mind about cancelling our holiday and really me and my wife cannot thank you enough.

I would ask the people who contributed to the posts about dogs “taking over Kalkan”, following people home in packs and generally ruining any chance tourists have of “ENJOYING KALKAN” to think twice about what it is they are reporting. People may see one off incidents that give them concern about a certain dog, they may see an increase in dogs and automatically think that this is a bad thing, but to make out on this forum that the problem is constant and that if something isn’t done about it then Kalkan will be “empty” and “unsafe” is just plain wrong. It gives people who don’t spend a lot of time there or who like us where first time visitor a false impression of the place and could (very nearly did) cost people a lot of money. Luckily it only ruined the 3 week build up to our holiday which we normally spend chatting about how good the holiday is going to be. But as the rest of our report will show we had the time of our lives!!

Restaurants

Our favourite restaurant was The Corner Restaurant. Situated in probably not the best location next to the first roundabout it was only due to one guy telling us that the food was “the best in town” that we made our way in. If this place was on the harbour or had a rooftop terrace with good views you wouldn’t be able to get a table for love nor money! The food is exceptional! My wife ate the Jumbo King Prawns 3 times during our stay! The steaks were cooked to perfection and the mixed Borak to start was enough for two and also very good! The service possibly lacked the warm personal feeling that we had from other restaurants but it certainly want in any way bad. A couple more of our favourites where Gironda (the best service we have ever experienced), Baharat, Chapter One and Café Vita or Feners Bar for lunch.

Weather

Seriously do not take a blind bit of notice of any online weather reports you see before you go! Nearly every weather report we saw said that it would rain about 7 days out of 14. In two weeks we saw about ten drops of rain that lasted seconds. Kalkan seems to have this thing where the clouds reach the mountain tops surrounding the cove but then just sit and look a bit threatening! They never seem to full reach the resort and the weather we had from 6th-29th of June was perfect!!

Beaches

Kaputas beach was beautiful. Got some excellent photos there and the sea was surprisingly refreshing (much less salt then we have experienced in places like Cyprus?). While you are there it is important you try one of the best pancakes in the world made by the little old lady sat at the back of the beach in the shade. My wife had lemon and sugar and I had Chocolate (followed by another lemon and sugar!) and honestly they are divine!
We visited Patara beach on what was probably the windiest day in the world! Really good fun jumping in the waves though and the untouched coastline looks really something else!!

Beach Clubs

Visited Kalamar Beach Club twice during our stay. Very peaceful, tranquil and a beautiful setting. Sea trampoline, canoe, pedal boat all available for free and watersports available at a charge. Good service and definitely somewhere we would recommend spending a day or two. Also tried the Beach Park Beach Club, not our cup of tea really. Looks a bit run down compared to Kalamar and the slide although fun probably needs to have the landing a bit deepet due to rocks underneath. We did try a jet-ski while we were there which was good fun and it might be more suited to families?

Excursions

It cost us £20 for a day’s trip to xanthos, Tlos and the saklikent gorge. Probably the best £20 we spent all holiday! Most places offer the trip for £25 but we used Volume travel in the old town who provided us with Yetkin our tour guide! Cannot recommend highly enough, really nice lad who knows his stuff, never once rushed us and was very funny! The trip itself was amazing, saw some really interesting things and the gorge was good fun with some excellent photo opportunities.

Transfers

We used Adda transfers. £55 each way and they were superb. On time, polite and pleasant but didn’t do the usual chat our heads off during the hour and half ride – which was nice as it allowed us to take in the sights.

Water

The water was a bit sketchy to say the least. Again I can see that some people report this problem as something that makes Kalkan hell on earth but honestly you will be surprised what you can make do with if need be. Saying that we did have a constant supply of hot, well boiling hot water! Toilets not flushing were a bit of a pain sometimes but just close the lid and forget about it!!!

All in all we had the time of our life in Kalkan! It’s a beautiful place to visit and we will be back for sure. The one thing that I keep with me was looking up at any one time and just having your breath taken away by the views. Most tourist resorts have good and bad parts, good hotels and bad hotels, good places to eat and bad ones….from what I saw Kalkan was just a heaven of good things! There wasn’t a single villa we wouldn’t have stayed in, the hardest choice on an evening was choosing which good restaurant to eat in! The views from all 6 balconies in our Villa where out of this world….even better with an ice cold effes!

Hope this helps put a few issues on this forum to bed – and thanks again for the people who changed our mind about cancelling!

We will try and upload some photos soon!

Carl & Katie


Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=8049.0

Offline Mrs Enjoy Kalkan

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2011, 01:00:43 PM »
So glad you enjoyed it, wonderful holiday report.

The majority of people on this forum do love Kalkan. It is just the small minority that like to have a moan now and again.It's lovely to hear a report from a new visitor and a fresh pair of eyes.Perhaps this will make people remember why they fell in love with Kalkan in the first place. 

Offline Kalkan Magic

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #2 on: June 24, 2011, 01:46:29 PM »
Thanks Tuppy for a great report and for taking the time to post it. I was delighted you enjoyed yourselves and it will be appreciated by many that you gave a realistic, true and honest account of the dogs - or lack of them..
Thanks again

Offline kalkan4eva

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #3 on: June 24, 2011, 02:20:48 PM »
Hey Tuppy, so pleased you both had a lovely time in Kalkan after your initial fears. We're back in less than 5 weeks - can't wait :)
Better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt :)

Offline itstime

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #4 on: June 24, 2011, 03:20:31 PM »
I am so delighted that you decided to give Kalkan a try :) Sounds like you had the kind of experience we have every time we visit. Beauty, peace, tranquility, great food and company, glorious sunshine and the company of some lovely lazy street animals. What a joy :)
Back out again a week tomorrow and cannot wait!!

Offline maryjane

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #5 on: June 24, 2011, 05:58:52 PM »
Tuppy, what a splendid post - I think you should be appointed as an ambassador for Kalkan.  Makes me very homesick for a special place, well done :) :) :) :)

Offline HolmfirthNicky

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #6 on: June 24, 2011, 06:00:08 PM »
Hi Tuppy, so glad you went ahead with your holiday and really pleased you enjoyed it and saw the 'Kalkan' that the majority of us see. Whilst we were in Kalkan we spoke to somebody who lives out there and they said they were worried that the negative comments on this site would affect tourism.
Great report!
Nicky

Offline Potter

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2011, 09:23:54 PM »
Great report Tuppy. I'm really glad all went well and you both enjoyed Kalkan. It is better that you experienced this wonderful place for yourselves and formed your own opinions. I hope you have many happy returns!  ;)
Mark & Kay
I'll get me coat!! ;-).....Bang on!

Offline Vally

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2011, 09:31:30 PM »
Hey Tuppy,

Glad you had a great time!

Offline deepasforever1

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #9 on: June 27, 2011, 11:39:33 PM »
What a great report!  I'm glad you had a great time.  I can't wait to come back in 3 and a half weeks!!! 

Offline popps

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #10 on: June 28, 2011, 07:32:40 AM »
Hi Tuppy,
Just read your post and very pleased that you had such a good time. I've been concerned about some of the negative posts regarding the dogs - it proves off-putting for first-time visitors such as yourself and, most importantly, for the potential wellbeing of the dogs themselves. Thanks for giving such an honest and objective review and, again, glad you enjoyed your holiday!

Offline Rachey

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Re: We nearly cancelled our holiday but....
« Reply #11 on: June 28, 2011, 05:28:54 PM »
Hey Tuppy
Thanks for posting such a lovely report! You've not been bitten by a dog, but by the Kalkan bug, and thankfully there's no cure  :D


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