Kalkan Turkey Forum - EnjoyKalkan.com
Kalkan Discussion => Holiday Reports and Reviews => Topic started by: Pompeyalbie on May 03, 2014, 09:10:38 AM
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We are finally here in Kalkan, met up with Songul, the site manager, and got the key to the villa which is exactly the same as we left it in October except they've cut back the trees around the pool. There are a couple of new villas sprung up opposite which look vey nice. Once unpacked it was down to Yali to get some essentials, Efes, milk, bread, butter, jam, water & soft toilet paper (Janet does have her standards. The traffic seems a bit manic with loads of double parking going on & encountered our first dog of the week having a snooze in the middle of the road.
After freshing up we made our way down to the old town get some dinner, I think it will look nice when they hose down all the sand and it looks finished. We gave a wave to the Moonlight webcam as we wandered by on the new wider pavement. Moonlight not open but you can see their space is vastly reduced, Touch is still doing refurb work but they won't have any room outside for chairs, the barber was shaving a customer so he's open for business. Fist stop was for a chat with Ozay at her favourite jeweller and she's already spotted a necklace she likes, oh dear better hide the credit cards, the we wandered down to the harbour along the easily manageable street there's no risk of slipping now. Got a wave and hello from the lads in Escudo who were doing some work outside. I amazes me how they all remember you considering the amount of people they must see a year. Down at the harbour it is very much work in progress and a bit of a building site, Fener are getting there with a few customers already enjoying the food. We made our way up to Bella's Butiq so she could look for a dress fro Ascot and has spotted something she fancies but whether they have her size is another matter. Next it was deciding whether to eat at Agora or Alternatif, it's always her choice for first night, she decided on Alternatifas we've always had nice meals there. Mustafa was as busy as ever, he never stops, it's 25 years now he's been there. In the winter he built a new villa to add to his other properties, I thought in the winter they rested but not him. Right food time, I went for the Sigara borek's , 3 large cheese boreks, while Janet went for the Prawn Pastries, 3 large prawn and cheese boreks, they were huge and more than enough, to wash it down I had to have my first Efes whilst Janet went for a tonic & Gin, that like a G&T but there's more gin than tonight. Mains I decided on the Alternatif Special fish casserole while Janet went for Chicken Hemess which she liked before. Neither of us managed to empty plates as we were both very tired & I was feeling pretty rough but there was no complaints about the food as it was as delicious as always. Seeing as she'd polished of the T&C she had a glass of Rose which seemed to be going down well as we sat chatting to Mustafa & a couple from Reading who were giving me stick as it was quite chilly when the sun went down & I was wearing a nice orange sparkly pashmina they gave me to wear. Suddenly 2 more drinks appear from Mustafa and I'm thinking "how am I going to get her up the hill after 2 wines & a T &G?" Still we managed it. One thing that does concern me about the new surfaces is that traffic seems to be using the road more and parking on both sides of the street going down the road opposite Moonlight, surely they must close the road to traffic in the evenings with people milling about?
Not sure what Saturday will bring but I'll continue this tomorrow.
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thanks for posting, Pompeyalbie. I love that your shopping list to Yali had Efes first on the list....that's just as BH would have it :) Sounds like you had a nice first evening and lets hope they sort out the pedestrianisation of the village during the evening pretty soon. Keep us updated with your stay whenever you can..
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I love that Janet's drink kept changing initials! :laugh: have fun!
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Saturday morning we awoke to brilliant sunshine & not a could in the sky so we wandered down to the old town to just chill out & do a few things. Managed to park at the bottom of the steps which look very colourful then wandered along the harbour where we found Osman & Adem getting the boats ready so booked up for Adem's maiden voyage of the season on Monday. Next stop was Gozo the opticians to get the arm on my glasses fixed and as Janet hasn't had a new pair of reading glasses for 2 years she'd better get them tested and just happened to spot a frame she liked, not to be outdone I had a new pair of Rayban framed glasses as Specsavers had reminded me only last week I was due a review. He took great pride in showing us his new Harley Davidson bike which is pride & joy. Next stop was the "copy" watch shop to get the glass on one of my watches repaired. On to Merkez for a fruit juice & access to their wifi, where I posted the last 2 messages. Just opposite the Ozul(?) restaurant was being rebadged as Paprika but it is the same chef. Carrying on up the road we hit our next stop MissSilver to deliver Ozay his duty free Jack Daniels. Working our way back down it was into Belma's Butik wher Janet found a dress she liked so that was that job out of the way, no more dress shops for me
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Babs it 's T & G because the seem to thing tonic is the spirit & gin is the additive & is on a ratio of 3 parts Gin 1 part tonic, no wonder She had to lean on me all the way back to the car ;D
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Keep them coming albie!! I always thought a maiden voyage was a boat load of women!!! :o :o
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thanks for keeping us updated, Pompeyalbie. I think it's Ozalp that has renamed its restaurant Paprika - the bar downstairs will have a different name. We had a few nights here last year - very reasonable prices and an excellent viewing position. We will be having more evenings here if Moonlight is severely curtailed.
If you think you've seen the last of Belma's, I think you might be in danger of over-optimisim :-X
Keep posting, you are keeping us all entertained back here in UK.
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Sunday was a bit wild weather wise, trees are swaying and an overcast sky.We decided to carry on with our plans to visit Myra. I did my good deed for the day by picking up a hitch hiker at the edge of town, a Swiss lady who is walking the Lycian Way and wanted a lift to the next point rather than walking alongside the D400, our reward was 2 pieces of Swiss chocolate. We stopped of at Adam's for a drink & a chat while booking for dinner on Sunday night. He is looking tired having been open all winter & trade being slack. He is building a house out in Bezigan which is a 3 year project for him. I love the D400 from Kalkan to Kas, all those bends and sea views always reminds me of the Italian Job. The are some steep climbs once you pass Kas, on a clear day I bet the views are amazing. Arriving at Demre we went to St Nicholas museum to see Santa, I couldn't believe hoe commercial it was with all the souvenir shops. The church itself was beautiful , the wall paintings to be in that condition after thousands of years is just wow, not something we have at home. Then on to Myra, once again tacky souvenir shops reminded me of outside Ephasus. I was a little disappointed as ancient cities go as apart from the theatre & the buildings in the cliffs there was nothing else to explore or did I miss it? Patara & Xanthos for me were better. Luckily the weather kept dry & warm if overcast. Got back to the villa for a nice cup of tea before the rain started to fall, quite relaxing watching the raindrops hit the pool & then the sun comes out.
Dinner was at Adam's, he loves his garden so we brought him over a couple of boxes of flower seeds plus some from our friends who came with us last October.Apart from us there was just a party of 4 , because it was quite windy we sat inside. I was feeling quite hungry so decided to have a starter of calamari which were tender rings with a dipping sauce, sometimes calamari can be quite chewy but this was really nice, janet opted for just a main as she was having the lamb shank. Over the years we've been coming here she's never tried it, I opted for lamb chops which I haven't seen on a menu before, as usual the lamb shank arrived ablaze and she said the meat fell off the bone & was really tender. To finish we shared a fruit cocktail. It was a good evening as the other party were really friendly and we had a good laugh.
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Thanks for posting Pompeyalbie, just reading your posts and they certainly have brightened up my day! even though only 7am here. Roll on July I am thinking! If you do go back to Adam's for a meal, I would highly recommend his Shrimp Casserole, we went twice in April and I opted for that on both occasions, it is superb! OH had the lamb shank too and said it was delicious. Enjoy the rest of your holiday, and look forward to reading your next adventure. :)
Jayne
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Sounds like you're having a great time, despite the inclement weather. We love it at Adems too and can't wait to visit again in august. Very much enjoying your posts, thanks for taking the time to report back. 8)
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Great posts as always. It's almost as good as being there when people manage to describe things as we remember and love them. Adems is a favourite for us too. We have never had dinner there but many a fabulous lunch and lost afternoon. Enjoy the rest of your holiday and keep posting.
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Monday as Seasick said was a bit of a damp squid, do they say damp calamari out here? We were due to go out with Adem on Yildiz today but the weather put paid to that, hopefully Wednesday will be better. We retired to Fener for eggs on to at & a cup of tea to decide what to do with the rest of the day. After dumping our bags back in the car we called in in the art exhibition in the culture centre, a young girl from Antalya's first solo exhibition and we both liked 1 picture in particular so we decided to have a think about it. We later went back into town for a Jedi juice at Merkez and to watch the world go by for a while then it opened up quite heavily so sheltering under different awning we. Got as far as her favourite shop so I used my waiting time to look at Sade's menu. This was the first place we ate at on our first visit back in May 2012, they'd only been open a few weeks and we haven't been back since so I made an executive decision we'd eat there tonight. By the time we'd got to the car it had stopped so as "excursion advisor" I said "let's go to Bezirgan", Janet never had a clue where it was, mind you nor did I, just knew it was behind the mountain. So I followed the road up and hoped I'd see a sign. There are some lovely views on that road, shame it was grey. After a few hairy climbs and a tight hairpin bend I saw a village on a fertile plain so thought that must be it. We stopped at the mosque but were unsure whether we could just go in & Janet never had a scarf to cover her hair so we followed the road until we found the old store houses. It was so peaceful there, just the birds singing, it will be terrible if they go ahead with the mining. The rain came back so we made our way back to the villa and spent the afternoon lazing around reading.
On the way down to dinner I'd decided that I'd have a shave so we stopped off at the "shack" & joined the queue, then a voice said "you'd better get your hair cut while you are at it"
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Strange it only did part of Monday's report, here's the rest.
I'd only ever had the same person cut my hair for years & now I'm letting a Turkish barber attack it!!! The shave was masterfully done then the scissors came out & off he went. I'm just about to get up once he'd finished but I was wrong it was head in the sink time, it was never like this when mum took you to the barbers as a kid. After the customary massage and fire treatment I felt a million dollars and all for 30TL less than £9 it was well worth the extra tip I gave him.
I'm so glad we booked at Sade it was packed, they must have turned away 7 requests for tables it is that popular. Janet decided to forego a starter again but my diet starts next week so I opted for the fish cakes with a spicy tomato salsa followed by the seabass stuffed with prawns, calamari & crushed olives whilst Janet went for a fillet steak in a mushroom sauce. My fish just melted in your mouth while her steak was large and cooked just how she asked it to be. For dessert we were fascinated by what fried ice cream was so had to try it. Not some tiny ball of ice cream this was a boulder coated in what seemed to be a nutty case then fried and coated in caramel sauce, words can't describe it. You can see why they are #1 on Trip Advisor, yes it was a bit dearer than other places but it was well worth it.
I hope the weather picks up as it's Fethiye market day tomorrow.
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Sorry about the lack of reports, for some reason it kept saying I was FORBIDDEN, anyway I always wrote them on Notepad & copied them over when I had a decent internet access. Now we are home I will add them all tomorrow. Early bed tonight as we were up 5 am UK time and it's been a long day.
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Thanks for your posts Pompeyalbie, it has been a pleasure reading about your holiday. Enjoy a good night's sleep, we know how you feel, we arrived home at 10pm UK time at Easter, and were back in work at 8am the next day, our choice to have an extra day in Kalkan, but so regretted it that morning!
J&B
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Tuesday and we awake to glorious wall to wall sunshine, this is more like it. We had a leisurely drive over to Calis Beach to catch the water taxi to Fethiye. It's a tradition with us since we stayed a couple of times there on our first venture to Turkey. They've done a lot of work in the canal area, clearing the reeds and building walls either side of the bridge, maybe they are trying hard to improve the resort but I struggled to find a parking spot near the taxi dock. Anyway we got over to Fethiye and they've continued their improvements around the harbour as well, it looks really nice. On to the market, I love the smell & colours for the food area, the spices and lovely big fruit & veg. I had a request for some saffron so bought a couple of bags on that for 10TL, I 'd hate to think how much it would cost in the UK. We had orders for leather sandal/flip flops for the grand daughters so the haggler made mincemeat of one trader, he's probably still crying now as she haggled him down. I bought a pair of blue & white leather "pimp" shoes well boat shoes but they look like the sort of thing Shaft would wear & some shirts which she got reduced again. Her passion is pashmina's so she bought 3 for about £10 & I bought a Turkish towel which was 35TL in Kalkan for just 15TL and the same thickness & quality. I was tempted with a Bluetooth music player but he wouldn't drop so I walked away, I couldn't have been that keen as it was only 5TL difference. I managed to escape the wander around the gold shops ( she must be ill) as we had a drink & got the water taxi back.
We got back to the villa around half fourish & it was still nice & warm so dipped my hand in the pool & thought I'd have the first swim of the year. Floated the donut by the steps & thoughtI'd easy myself in by a casual gloat around while I got used to the temperature, WRONG!! I sat in the hole & promptly did a back flip into the water. Janet was supposed to take a photo of me floating but somehow whilst laughing her head off pressed the button at the right time to catch my rear through the donut & legs up in the air going backwards. It was a nice swim really, hopefully tomorrow will be good when we go out on Yildiz.
On to dinner, we decided to park down by the harbour as the greeter by Meydan Kebab House has been a right pain every time we go by up & back no matter what time of day. We had to call in at the opticians anyway to pick up our new glasses. I look like a 60s American professor with my classic style Rayban frames
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We'd already decided on Kalamaki as our new place to visit & were lead to the terrace which looked like it had been redone for the season. We had the corner table closest to the harbour & I have to say this was the best view I've ever had from a restaurant roof terrace, it's an uninterrupted panoramic view of the sea absolutely great, I took loads of photos which I will put on the gallery. Janet decided to go all continental and have a Marguerita cocktail while I had my usual Efes. We decided to forego the starter again and for mains Janet had a Salmon Steak on a bed of mushy peas mixed with a herb she can't remember which came with salad & a small jacket spud, I opted for a Turkish dish called something like Mutacan, dice beef cooked in a sauce with apricots, figs, grapes, shallots & pine nuts. It was so tasty ( I seem to be saying that about every meal I have but it's true), the chef's here are amazing what they come up with. Janet's salmon was cooked nicely & she's not a pea lover but I couldn't even scrounge a taste of the mushy peas. For desert we both opted for the Kalamaki Dream, a poached pear in red wine with ice cream and another delicious sauce. Being the first customers on the terrace,( it must've been closed before) the owner gave us an Ameretto on the house. Our bill was amazingly small considering the quality. I'd certainly consider going there again, the food was good, the service was good & the staff very nice too.
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You're back!!!
Thanks for posting. Like you we love Fethiye Market - the sights the sounds, the colours. We usually factor in a Fish Market lunch whilst we are there too.
Think you've got off very lightly on the jewellery shop front ::)
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What a lovely report can't wait till September. I love walking along the harbour at Fetiyhe or just sitting and watching the gullets glide by.
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Good to have you back Pompeyalbie - so glad you got the problem sorted.
Every summer we say we're going to drive to Calis and catch the water taxi into Fethiye and spend the day there and every summer we never get round to doing it! Who knows, maybe this year? ??? Mind you we say that about Meis too. We used to say it about Kekove but we actually actioned that last year. We are full of good intentions but seem to go into sloth mode when we are in Kalkan ;D
Looking forward to another episode from you...
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Great reports Pompeyalbie. Glad you are back in touch. Lizilu 20, it took us 13 years before we eventually got around to doing Meis despite saying we would every year. It was a fantastic day and I can't believe we never got round to it before. Perhaps this year we will do the water taxi!
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On the way back we stopped of at the fake watch shop to pick up my watch he was getting repaired for me, at home they wanted £22 to put a new glass on it, he got it done for 20TL. While we were waiting Janet was taken by a "R****x"which is unusual for her as she's not a watch type person, so that's her anniversary present sorted, I've got off lightly this year. We both had a nice "Mont Blanc" pen each as well.
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Yes glad your sorted now Pompeyalbie, loved reading your posts, feels like we are back there already, 76 days and counting! Suziq, Meis is fabulous placeisn't it, so tranquil and such a beatiful setting, so different from across the water in Kas, we had a great day there last year, and will maybe repeat the experience in August. Lizzie, the water taxi from Calis to Fethiye sounds a great day out as well. :D
J&B
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Calis to Fethiye water taxi is a 30 minute slow crossing over the harbour, not exactly a luxury cruise so don't get too excited ;D ;D
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Hopefully we can get out on the boat tomorrow & I can stop spending money. We don't usually feel like eating after a day of Adam's wife's cooking so tomorrow's blog could be a bit boring unless I fall overboard .
Wednesday morning and the sun is out, there are a few clouds on the horizon. One problem this morning is there is no electricity in the complex, don't how widespread it is or how long it's been off.
The weather was kind and a group of 10 set sail on Yilldiz 3, they have increased the cost to 60TL but that still equates to £17 for a wonderful day out. I was determined to swim at every stop and have to say the water wasn't cold once you got in. The food was delicious as ever and being only 10 of us plenty to go around plus Janet wasn't eating much as she'd had a bad night tummy wise, maybe a hint of garlic in her meal on Tuesday night set her off. I managed to sit on my really old genuine Wayfarers & broke the arm off but hopefully a bit of Superglue when we get home will sort that out ( touch wood). We didn't go out to eat as I was feeling a bit red & Janet was tired so it was a case of sitting outside by the pool reading for a while.
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Thursday is our last full day so after the market we need to go into town to get a couple of birthday presents we'd put aside and there's a necklace she's had her eye on since Friday but not gone too close to.
Our trip around the market was pretty fruitless, janet did see some sandals for her daughter but they never had the right size. My only buy was a banana & honey pancake from the old lady in the middle, it was delicious, I'm fascinated just watching her command the "kitchen" from on high, the skill & speed she makes them, constantly turning them on the hot plate in between rolling out the dough. After that we made our way down to the harbour, I'm loathed to park up the top in fear of being hijacked on the way passed the roundabout. Stopped off at MissSilver to pick up the birthday presents we had set aside, Tomay had his 1 year old Ibrahim with him so I had a sit on the floor for a bit of balloon playtime. Next stop was Goz the Opticians to pick up my John Lennon glasses I bought 2 years ago where just last week an arm came off which he'd generously got repaired for me in Fethiye for free. I mentioned my broken Wayfarers so he said bring them in tonight & he'll try & sort them out while we have dinner.Onwards & upwards, literally, in search of a cat ornament of it lying on it's back, I'd seen it earlier in the week but couldn't remember where, turned out to be under Kalamaki. It was pushing lunchtime by now so we made our way back to Fener for a cheese omelette & a meatball sandwich, yum, yum or is it nom, nom they say now? It was getting chilly & grey so we went back to the villa where I tried to post a report to no avail so it was back to my book. I've never read so much on holiday! Must be the weather or us being idle for a change & not going out every day.
After reading everyone else's comments about Rami being at Ilyada we thought we'd give it a try, we don't normally venture down to the harbour at night but had to give it a try. I'd promised myself a streak at sometime this week so went for a peppered steak which came with rice, salad & mashed potato, never seen mash in
Kalkan before, it was done to just how I like it, pink but not bloody and the sauce was very tasty until I bit a peppercorn, pass the Efes quick. Janet opted for the seabass stuffed with calamari & prawns, I think she counted 4 fillets of seabass which were tender and melted in her mouth. For desert I had Turkish Delight & ice cream, warm squishy TD with vanilla ice cream & cream, Janet opted for Banana & Caramel Crepe with ice cream. The reception was lovely & very attentive from the greeter & 2 waiters, not sure which one was Rami as neither looked like Adem. Goz hopes my sunglasses hold out after his fix if not I'm to bring them back next trip & he'll send them to Fethiye for fixing. After going back up to the shoe shop by The Small House to get some sandals we said out goodbyes to Ozay then walked down the hill to say goodbye to Mustafa at Alternatif then on to Tomay at the harbour shop. An early night as we were getting up early to pack & get away in the morning.
Woke up early on Friday by the rain pounding down. Cases all packed and we dropped the key back at reception with what was left of the Felixs treats for the 2 cats we decided we'd see if Our House just around the corner was open for breakfast, I'd noticed them when we drove by on the way back from Bezirgan a couple of days before & Trip Advisor had them in top 5 so thought we'd give them a try. Janet wanted a cheese omelette while I went for a mixed omelette. Before this we had a selection of 4 jams, 5 different cheeses, tomato & cucumber salad with a selection of bread. I was going to ask if they could do us some sandwiches to eat at the airport but after this we didn't need it.washed down with an apple tea & a Turkish Tea the bill came to less than £10. No frills but service with a smile & home cooked food, don't know if I'd go for dinner but would certainly try it at a lunchtime.
The journey back to the airport wasn't without a fright, we got to the traffic lights where the d400 does a 90 degree turn and the clutch pedal wouldn't come up!! PANIC as a mini queue was starting to form behind us with the lights ax they went green to red to green, luckily after switching off the engine & on it came up, I was a bit wary after that and made sure I was on the inside lane every time we came up to lights. We landed at Gatwick to warm sunshine, something it wrong here, it's supposed to be sun in Turkey & rain in the UK.
The cat was pleased to see us, she'd been fed this week unlike last time, and has followed me around since we got in.
To everyone looking forward to their time in Kalkan have a great time and don't worry about walking down the streets in the old town the grip under your feet is very good now, just watch out for the drains.
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Finally worked out why I couldn't post, it was the name of a certain brand of watch ending in X . Right that's my week's report finally input, hope you enjoy reading it.
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Great reports Pompeyalbie. Glad you are back in touch. Lizilu 20, it took us 13 years before we eventually got around to doing Meis despite saying we would every year. It was a fantastic day and I can't believe we never got round to it before. Perhaps this year we will do the water taxi!
As a day trip Meis is certainly worth doing (not so sure about the people we met who were there for a week) the little town itself is exceptionally pretty and we got to see two huge, bathtub sized, turtles swimming about in the harbour. The walk up to the castle and around the small museum took about 2 hours altogether and was worth the effort.
My personal highlight was discovering a bar that sold a range of imported German beers for the price of an Effes. It had just closed for the season but the very pleasant lady who owned it said they were always open to anyone who wanted a Gernan beer. We had an Erdinger Weissbeer washed down by a coupler of Paulaner Weissbeers.
While on the topic of booze the duty free had a pretty good selection and was by far the busiest shop on the island filled to capacity with eager shoppers, so i am guessing the prices are pretty good too
The price last year was 60TL or 40TL if you booked direct with Cpt. Ergun. Not sure if he is doing the same offer this year but he is on EK so you can PM him to find out (last year I PMed him at about 8:00pm and had a reply by 10:00pm. The next day we met him at his boat at 9:30am handed over 40TL per head for the ticketsand were on our way to Meis at 10:00).
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I suspect like Misty has a bag mention radar, Cpt Ergun has a boat mention radar...I think he'll pop up shortly :)
We were thinking of doing a different kind of boat trip with him this year - I've only heard good things :)
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So glad you sorted the problem out Pompeyalbie. Wouldn't have missed this for the world. We've holidayed in fethiye and Calis in the past but never done the boat taxi. So yes bob and Jayne, let's do it!! I could do to visit telmessos gold again (where we bought my wedding and engagement rings) surely must be time for an eternity ring by now ;)
Meis sounds really good and I would love to go. The only thing that's stopped us in the past are sulky teenagers so if we don't manage it this year, it's something we plan to do in the near future.
K4E - hope Cp'n Ergun's antennae is working as he really does do a good boat trip. Despite everything, the day out we had with him was fantastic - he's a good bloke and his hospitality is fab. I can guarantee you'll have a superb day out and you definitely should fork our a bit extra for the rubber ring/dinghy experience! Such fun.
I've really enjoyed your posts Pompeyalbie and I've given you an extra "thanks" for your sheer grit and determination in making sure you got this report on the forum despite the glitches for us all to enjoy!!! ;D
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I've followed Lizilu's lead and added to your thank you count also. Loved your reports and your concerted efforts to avoid shopping are no match for a pro like Janet - a woman after my own heart :)
Thanks for persisting - although don't quite understand why you couldn't originally post and I'm sure the explaination will go right over my head... :-X
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Hi Pompeyalbie
Just catching up on all your fab reports. Glad to see that you didn't let a few 'technical' issues get in your way! Just love reading the holiday posts, so thanks for taking the time and effort to keep us all 'Kalkanised!' Can't believe you are back already :( Is it my imagination, or are weeks getting shorter? ???