Antler's Day Eleven: Kekova and the guilt from a gift.....

[antler]

And so we finally got to go to Kekova.
At 9am a mini bus picked us up at Villa Kirmizi Lale and dropped us down into town, just before the taxi rank, where a Volume Travel 30 seater bus was waiting. The guide, in his bright red Volume Travel polo shirt, introduced himself as  was Mohamed Ali.  Oh yes, he was full of confidence and I asked him if his middle name was "bullsh1t", to which he cracked up - and agreed.
The final 4 passengers arrived - 4 early 20's English girls
Along the Kas road, Mr Ali pointing out Kaputas Beach, then stopping high above Kas for photos out towards Meis. The bus turns off the main road and winds its way through the hills, dropping down to the fertile plains smothered with greenhouses.
The journey takes about an hour. At the top of the village, the bus stops and lets you walk a very short distance along the small harbour and out to your boat. There were 22 of us on the trip, and the boat, much larger than the Kalkan boats, can take at least twice as many.
We found some mattresses up on the sun deck, mostly in the shade.
The first stop was in a small cove where we stopped for snorkelling over the ruins beneath the water of several rooms. I think Mr Ali explained this as a previous Fish Market. The boat then went all along the coast where you could quite clearly see the ruins of many buildings built into the coastline with many ancient steps disappearing below sea level, to pots and urns clearly visible through the glass bottom of the boat.
The boat then went into the entrance of what Mr Ali called "a pirate cave" giving pleasant respite from the scorching sun.
Another stop for swimming and then lunch. A simple, help yourself buffet of 5 or 6 dishes, with the main chicken dish being cooked on the bbq, at the back of the boat. It smelled delicious after all that swimming......and Efes. And tasted the same.
There were goods for sale on a table on the main deck and Bex bought Mrs A a sarong, with really ornate "embroidery" around the edge. Nice German Lady spied another sarong and it did match her swimming costume perfectly, but she seemed too shy to purchase. Nice German Husband bought it when she wasn't looking, and presented it to her, along with a round of applause from those aware of what was going on.
After lunch, the cruise across the bay sent us all off to sleep, there on the upper deck, the canopy protecting us from the piercing sun. It was the engine starting again that brought us round, having slept through the walk up the steep paths to the ruins of a medieval castle. Oh well, next time.
One more stop for swimming before arriving back at the harbour and chance for a chilled drink or ice cream. I bought a couple of small ices and had TL2 left in my hand.
As we wandered along the narrow street, thus cute little 7 or 8 year old lad said "Good Bye!" with such a lovely smile on his face, and automatically, for some reason, I held out the TL2 change I had in my hand. "Thank You!" he said, wearing the deepest of smiles. I looked behind at him, as we walked away, seeing him clutch the coins in his hands high above his head, looking to heaven and said "Yess!"
I boarded the bus bound for our 6pm arrival back at Kalkan, feeling terrible remorse for what I had just done.
Steve



Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=9645.0

[antler]

Forgot to say, the cost of the Kekova Trip was TL50 each, more or less.....

[Skunk]

Another blissful day by the sound of it, and actually you don't miss much on the trip up to the castle - just another hot and sweaty slog up a hill for a bit of a view and not much more.   When we went we went with Abi travel, and they stop for lunch at a restaurant in that harbour.  It's very good as well. Can't remember how much it is but around £30 each I think.
I don't think I'd torture myself over a 2tl gift - not worth worrying about!  Enjoy your day today - is it pool or beach club or..............? Keep em coming,  you are bringing the place to life in your usual inimitable style. S

[Lizilu20]

Wonderful report Steve, yet another thing to add to our "to do list"!!! Thanks for taking the time to share. Loved the bit about the little boy!! 

[HolmfirthNicky]

Wonderful report Antler. We did the Kekova trip last week with Adda and we had a lovely relaxing day out. We also didn't bother walking up the castle, we got as far as the cafe and sat there for an hour drinking iced coffee and eating icecream whilst taking in the view. Those who did brave the steps said it wasn't worth it.