Istanbul to Kalkan and the Villa

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Well, after five days we have finally gained some internet access and will now be able to continue with hopefully some more regular postings. Trying to find free internet access has been really challenging. Even though lots of sites are located these Turkish folks seem to be very security-conscious as just about all the sites are security enabled. Those that aren’t are generally too weak to offer any sort of reliability,.
The problem has been resolved however. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and do what you have to do so we bought an ‘internet stick’ from Turk Cell. Good for two months or 3 gigabytes, and probably whichever comes first so we might as well make it in gigabytes since we are only here for a month. I am sure that 3 gigabytes is more than enough to last.
So since my last, (and first), post where we had our luggage, and thankfully, clean clothes we have been in Istanbul (on the European side) until Sunday the 12th. Istanbul is one of those great cities you have to experience for yourself. Nothing I have ever read, and no film/video tour of Istanbul that I have seen really describes the place and I certainly don’t think I will be the one to finally do it. On the crossroads of civilizations, trade, cultures, and histories it is, well just an awesome place whatever your particular interest might be. A blend of old and new, traditional and leading edge you will see veiled women in traditional Islamic dress walking down the street beside the young girl with the shortest mini skirt seen in years. (Someone tells me history is repeating itself and mini skirts are coming back into style).
It’s a city of mosques echoing throughout the day with the sounds of the calls to prayer. It’s also a city where you will discover a large Roman Catholic cathedral several hundred years old. We also learned a little of the politics of Turkey when we ran into a peaceful though very vocal street demonstration monitored and almost herded by Turkish police. (Prepared for whatever with full riot gear.) We watched briefly, from a distance, and then moved on to put more distance between us.
We thought that our timing of this trip was pretty good as Ramadan had ended on the 8th of September the same day we finally got to Istanbul, arriving from Amsterdam and getting to our hotel about 4:00PM. Kind of bagged after our long flight from YVR we managed to make our way to the Sunrise Pub & Restaurant about two blocks from the hotel after Beth, Al, Lynn, and Karen arrived. I think we probably had a beverage and a snack of some sort before we ‘crashed’. So much for our first day in Istanbul, but we were in the right place, the Sultanamet area, where the Blue Mosque and several other places of interest, and shops and street vendors abounded. But not for visiting today.
Did you know that Ramadan is followed by the Festival of Eid? We discovered that it is a four day holiday celebrating the end of the period of fasting during Ramadan, and just about EVERYTHING is CLOSED, even the Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar. Most of our day then was one big ‘walk about’ with thousands of Istanbulites. (?) even my friend Google isn’t helping with the plural form for residents of Istanbul.
On Friday we took advantage of the Istanbul ground level metro system to visit Taksim Square. Compliments of Wikipedia, “Taksim Square (Turkish: Taksim Meydanı) situated in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major shopping, tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, and is the location of the Cumhuriyet Anıtı (Republic Monument), which was built in 1928 and commemorates the formation of the Turkish Republic. “
It is an area that for some people like Annie, Rupi, and Neelam would be in heaven for. It is blocks and blocks of shops and shops ! Fabrics, fashions, jewellry, shoes, fragrances. Originals from top designers to the latest ‘knock offs’. It has huge shiny new stores on the main streets to little hole in the wall vendors on the side streets, with prices to match. We walked through part of it from one Metro station we arrived at, to the next Metro station about 3 kilometres away, where we caught our ride back to the Asian side of Istanbul where our hotel was.
It was along this walk through this shopping area, which is only a small part of the Taksim Square district, that we watched a noisy street demonstration, escorted by riot police, as it made its way down the streets. Thanks to the many little alley ways it was easy, and a good idea just in case, to be out of the way.
Besides those who had political statements to make we shared a gorgeous blue sky day with thousands of others who were celebrating and taking advantage of a 3 or 4 day holiday following Ramadan.
The next day, Saturday, Beth, Heather, Lynn, Annie, and Al took off on a boat tour, a “Cruise on the Bosphorus & Dolmabahce Palace”, leaving me with a day to myself. I had hoped to use the time to do some blog entries, prepare photos for the blog, upload a whole bunch of pics and maybe create a short video clip for the blog. Somehow that didn’t happen and I had a great day wandering about collecting more photographs and doing a little shopping. After all, Christmas is really not too far away now.
The Bosphorus cruise left the Istanbul harbor and went North on the Bosphorus Sea towards the Black Sea passing the Asian side of Istanbul. Some of the points of interest included the Rumelli Fortress, the biggest fortress of Istanbul, and a cable car ride to Pierre Loti, a high hill named after the French writer. As the trip continued northwards the great city walls of Istanbul which were breached only twice in history, once in 1204 during the Fourth Crusade, and the last time in 1453 when Sultan Mehmet the Conquer and his army including cannons conquered Istanbul.
Returning South and passing the European side of Istanbul the tour stopped at the Dolmabahce Palace and Harem before cruising under the Bosphorus Bridge, one of the world’s largest bridges connecting Europe and Asia. Next stop was Camlica Hill, the highest point in Istanbul and then on to “a word from our sponsors” - - a fashion show of leathers.
Sunday morning was an early 5:45AM start from our hotel to Ataturk Airport for our flight to Dalyman in Southern Turkey. We left Istanul flying through thick black clouds holding a promise of thunder and rain for the day, but that was OK ‘cause our hour and a half flight to Dalyman was a flight to sunshine, and vitamin D potential. We landed at Dalyman under clear, sunny, blue skies and our driver was waiting for us for the 1 1/2 - 2 hour drive to Kalkan and “The Villa”.
Arriving at the villa which overlooks the harbor it couldn’t have been 15 minutes before the first of our group was in the pool. And it was probably a most refreshing dip because at 2:00PM the temperature was 34C. No rainy season here yet! Unfortunately we had to drag Annie out of the pool for more pressing pursuits such as laundry and shopping for some groceries including charcoal for the BBQ. Heather has taken on BBQ control, (a challenge on our first nite), while Beth, Karen, and Lynn seem to be taking care of food prep. Al has found himself to be a ‘beast of burden’ packing groceries and ‘other’ essentials up the hill from the shopping area.
The villa location is pretty much perfect. It is located surrounded by a small olive grove, only about a 5 minute walk from what is the village shopping area and a walk to the harbor is less than 10 minutes away. I hear that the village has changed since it was first discovered by a couple of our group in 2004. No longer a quiet little fishing village it has about doubled in size and there are no fishing boats in the harbor. Tourism is the economy now and the growth is the result of vacation villas built for British and German tourists. But with the current European economy these gorgeous 3 to 5 bedroom villas can be purchased, fully furnished, now in the 225,000 to 300,000 British pound range. Apartments, or condos seem to start about 90,000 British pounds.
Once the laundry was on the go and groceries were in the villa the rest of the time was pretty much sun and pool time. Fortunately it cooled down a little during the afternoon and by 6:00PM it was only 30C.
I wakened Monday morning to the first call to prayer about 5:30AM and by 6:30AM I was out for an early morning walkabout through the village and down to the harbor. We had been considering a ‘day cruise’ as a possible diversion for our time here and I noticed that most of the boats were offering day cruises for about 35 Turkish lire per person, about $25 Canadian, lunch included, 10:00AM to 6:00:PM. Down is a significant word here because the villa, although a great location, is UP from everywhere else, think Southbound from the Patullo Bridge to wonderful Whalley. By the time I got back to the villa, the thermometer at 26C, promised a toasty day under a perfect clear blue Mediterranean day. The kind of blue sky you see in picture, or on tourism posters.
Guys, you have to experience a Turkish barber shop at least once. Does your barber give you a luxurious hot foamy shave, a shampoo, and a relaxing/refreshing neck and shoulder massage for about $10.00 ? If you can’t find the Hammam, ( Turkish Bath ), it’s the next best thing.
Later in the day wandering about with Beth, Karen, and Heather negotiations began for a day cruise. With our group of 7 which would be anywhere from half to one third capacity we felt we might have a little negotiating leverage. The best we could do was 200 Turkish lire for all of us, just slightly under 30 lire, so a little price break although another operator made it like we were robbing him when he offered the same deal for 300 lire.
Back at the villa there was not much else to do on such a wonderful day, especially when the pool and terrace is right at the back door. Well, actually the pool is about eight feet from the door. Life is tough when you have nothing to do but lay around poolside, take the occasional dip to cool off a bit, and enjoy the 32C.
On Tuesday I wakened again with the early morning call to prayer. At one point it sounded like he got something scratchy in his throat and it seemed to be a very short call. Turns out that scratch may have just been his amplifier dying as the power went out and was off till just after noon. Still, by 6:30AM it was light enough for another early morning stroll. It seems new alleyways with shops and restaurants are found everytime. A maze is what it is, but if you head either down or up you will not be lost for long. Back at the villa about 8:30 and it was going to be another hot one.
About 11:00 I noticed a strange stillness about the villa and not just because of the power failure. As I wandered through the villa I discovered that it seemed everyone had slipped away and I had been ‘abandoned’ so in turn I abandoned the villa for another trek (down) of discovery. Thanks to cell phones I met up with Beth, Al, Karen and Heather just before they were going to get on the Dolmus, (local bus) for a trip to Kas, about 20 minutes down the road, where it was market day. They returned with some fresh produce, herbs and spices for dinner, and lots of Turkish Delight candy (for desert).
Lynn, Annie, and I ended up with having to ‘hold down the fort’ so to speak. It’s one of those difficult tasks that someone has to do laying in the sun beside the pool. If I knew how to do it I would insert one of those little “Smiley” icons about here! Instead, it was 33C at 12:45 and we seem to be developing a bit of a routine here. Not boring here but perhaps a bit tedious reading. Sorry.
About 140 unedited photos were uploaded. I think you can see them here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kanetravelblog/TurkeySept814201002#

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Photos

Waiting for the bus
The first 3 of our group heading off a day before the Alberta group

Artefes Hotel
Home away from home waiting for luggage in Istanbul

Sunrise Restaurant and Pub
Jet-lagged but needing a little relaxation

Fish Market
Half a dozen great restaurants behind the market

Architectural Detail
Awesome centuries old buildings

Taksim Square
Anything but square with blocks and blocks of shops and shops for Annie, Rupi, and Neelam

Overlooking Kalkan
The villa is down there somewhere

The Villa
A little smaller than in Portugal but the pool is only steps away

Sorry !
But its wonderful and not raining

Comments

[debbie]

Jealous
yes, I'm jealous.....the early morning stroll's sound marvelous and so does dipping in the pool. Just a hint, Heather likes to BBQ cause there is danger involved! have a great time Deb