Kalkan – 1st October

From Fethiye we took the coastal route passed Olu Deniz then on to Kelebekler Vadisi “butterfly valley”.  We had been told of a place that would be worth a visit called Faralya, but actually when we arrived, we just couldn’t find a nice vacant B & B or hotel to stay, so decided to drive on. However, the roads from here weren’t particularly great and the only way to link up to a better road was to drive over the hills through what was mostly a single-track road, just slightly better than a dirt track I would say. The winding road climbing higher & higher with some extremely sharp hairpin turns, of which I have never experienced before, each turn Ed instructed me to turn my head 180’ to see if anything was coming down into our direction. I instantly became an expert navigator extraordinaire not to mention a very stiff necked one. The views were just incredible.

The road eventually straightens out and we come across a lovely old couple selling honey & cooked sweet corn on the cob. We just had to stop and make a purchase, who knows how long it had been since another car had passed, we had seen only two on the road in the last hour or so. Ed chatted to the couple and I practised my limited phrases in Turkish much to their shock. I’m not so sure it’s every day they see a blond English woman in shorts stop by for a chat. Just after finishing our corn the old fellow took the cobs and threw them over to his goats all grazing behind him. No environmental waste going on here.

We needed to make tracks as the light was fading so off we drove.

Just as it was getting dark, we arrived in Kalkan.

Kalkan is an old fishing town, and the only safe harbour between Kas and Fethiye, it is known for its white-washed houses, descending to the sea, and its brightly coloured Bougainvillea’s it averages 300 days of sunshine a year.

Until the early 1920s, nearly all of its inhabitants were Greek and the town was called Kalamaki. They left in 1923 during the exchange of populations between Greece and Turkey after the Greco-Turkish war and emigrated mainly to Attica, where they founded the new town of Kalamaki. Abandoned Greek houses can still be seen at Kalkan.

Kalkan was an important harbour town until the 1970s as the only seaport for the environs. It declined after the construction of Fethiye road, but soon revived after the emergence of the tourism industry in this region.

It’s fair to say that the British have definitely taken to Kalkan and there is a thriving population of holiday makers & citizens here. There are plenty of restaurants & bars catering for all tastes and even more little shops down the steep side streets, where you will need plenty of leg power to browse.

Our first evening, we checked in to the True-Blue Boutique Hotel – a small family run establishment which had great online reviews. We were shown to our room by a lovely chap called Raffi, it turned out to be a studio apartment, kitchen area with an even larger open plan sitting- bedroom area. A very large bathroom with a nice sized walk-in shower. Our own patio area and parking space just outside. He even ordered us a take away (Lahmacun) which arrived in no time direct to our door. Well, our five days were spent either relaxing by the very quiet, clean pool or just chilling during the day times. I managed to catch up with some work on my laptop (someone has to keep the money coming in) as Ed keeps telling me. Our breakfasts were just great, relaxed, plentiful, full of fresh and homemade produce to choose from each morning. We spent only one evening in the main town a 20-minute walk away or just a few minutes by taxi. So many restaurants to choose from it was quite hard to decide. We eventually opted for a good-looking steak restaurant and had a nice meal. To be honest once we had eaten and taken a little stroll, we were glad to get back to the hotel, we found the town too busy, its our age I know! Tuba and all her staff made us feel so welcome there, we felt like we could have easily spent another week, however Cyprus was now beckoning us, we were so close. One more day tomorrow on the road to Tasucu Mersin to catch the ferry. Its really amazing how far we have come.