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Published: September 19th 2010
Well the girls are here for shopping and that’s what they did Wednesday. There are so many little shops and vendors tucked in all the alleyways of this small town. Actually I suppose Kalkan is more a big village than a small town, but lots of shops and tomorrow is Kalkan ‘market’ day. The girls have been talking of ‘market days’ since we got here and I suppose the excitement of it all, like little kids waiting for Christmas, is why the bus trip to the Kas market. Just can’t wait !
So while the girls shop, Al and I tag along. Who knows, we may be needed to pack and carry stuff. Of course if we do it will be all uphill ! Obviously there wasn’t expected to be too much shopping as we all came to an understanding and Al and I slipped off by ourselves for a little personal attention.
We started off looking for a Hammam in the lower, (older) part of the village but didn’t find what we set out for. What we did find was a hole in the wall barber shop, (one chair, one barber), and since we both needed some attention
we stopped in. Al was in need of a haircut and while we waited we watched the barber cutting the hair of some young guy. Working with just scissors and a comb he did a pretty good job of the young guy’s hair. And fast ! Its’ been a long time since either of us had such nice thick hair, but his turn will come too. That young guy will turn into an old guy like the rest of us, then it will be his time for wishful thinking.
I was up first and although I thought the barber who attended me a couple of days ago was good, this guy gave an even closer shave and added a little flaming touch at the end the first guy skipped, or maybe doesn’t use. A little taste, or insight of how simple routine things change over time. While I was being shaved and Al was waiting a couple of women came to the doorway, spoke with the barber, and the barber said that Al was to go with the women and away he went.
It must be some sort of special conversational skill that barbers all over the world have.
Although I speak no Turkish, fortunately he spoke some English and we were able to have a reasonable conversation. Whether or not he fully understood what I said, we seemed to get by well enough to understand. (sort of)
A shave, shampoo, and massage later, refreshed, the barber led me through a couple of alleyways to the shop where Al was just being finished being worked on. Then it was my turn. We switched and it was Al’s turn back at the barbers. Then we just wandered our way back to the pool, oops, I mean villa.
A few hours later and thoughts turned towards the evening meal and I suggested some kebabs that I had noticed at the local butcher shop so ‘down’ I went and back ‘up’ with the kebabs. There is no beef or pork here so the kebabs were made of ground lamb and they were delicious. Wonderful spicing, don’t know what it was other than good ! And so ended another wonderful day in paradise.
On Thursday we all agreed that tomorrow (Friday, of course) that we would break away from the villa, its pool, and Kalkan to go visit one of
the nearby local sights, the Saklikent Gorge.
So there we were Friday morning about 10:00AM waiting at the local Dolmus (or mini-bus) pick-up point in the centre of Kalkan and soon we all piled in and were on our way. Coincidently it really is a small world as it turned out the girl sitting with us in the back row seemed to know some English. She admitted to being from Vancouver and when we said “me too” it turned out she was actually from Nanaimo. A Turkish girl raised in Canada since her childhood she is now in Turkey teaching English and was on a “walking tour” during the summer break and had just finished the Lycian Walking Tour. (http://www.bespoketurkey.com/lycian.html ) You may have to cut and paste this link. Hopefully not.
Along the way to Saklikent our bus made a brief stop at the ruins of Xanthos. These ruins date from about the 8th century B.C. It was the administrative centre of the Lycian region and over time has been attacked, conquered, destroyed and taken over and rebuilt by invading armies and civilizations. The Romans were among the last and Emperor Marcus Antonius (Caesars friend and Cleopatra’s boyfriend
Mark Anthony) rebuilt the city sometime after 42 B.C. The most obvious and significant remnant now is the typical Roman amphitheatre although this one is quite small with seating for only about 6000.
After about an hour we continued on to the Saklikent Gorge. Wikipedia sort of sums it up in a ‘dry’, “just the facts, mam” sort of way. “ Saklıkent Canyon, located in the continent of Asia, is the second largest canyon in Europe, were Turkey actually in Europe. It is located in Antalya province in Turkey, 50 km from the city of Fethiye. The Canyon is 300 meters deep and 18 km long, resulting from the abrasion of the rocks by flowing waters over thousands of years. As the level of water rises during winter months, visitors can enter the canyon only in the summer. Four kilometers of the canyon are walkable after April, when most of the snow in the Taurus Mountains has melted and passed through on its way to theMediterranean Sea. Saklıkent means "hidden city" in Turkish.”Who am I to argue with Wikipedia when they say it is the result of abrasion by flowing waters?
But it is amazing how the
formation of much of the left wall of the canyon looks like it would mesh perfectly with the right side canyon wall. Maybe water with the help of a little geologic movement? And maybe that’s why Xanthos lies on the ground in ruins today ? Turkey has had some significant shakers and movers over time.
The gorge is awesome ! A walkway has been constructed along one wall at the entrance to the gorge and this gets you into a fairly large open area inside the canyon. Here, if you want to continue further into the gorge you have to wade across the river. Cold, swift flowing, but not much above the knees. Naturally, having come this far we had to do a little wading and wander further into the canyon. I am so glad we did and only wish the photographs could really capture it. What the eyes see, and what little of that the camera captures are just not the same. It’s one of those places where “ ya, gotta see it yourself “
A little tricky with some slippery rocks to get over along the way. Every body seems to help everyone. Those making the
trek up the canyon were pulled up by those on their way out of the canyon, and they in turn were caught coming over, or sliding down the rocks by those on the way up.
At the end of it all there were a couple places to eat that were built over the flowing river in the shade of some large trees. Very cool and comfortable and the food and beverages were good. Leaving Salklikent we were home shortly after 5:00 for a low key quiet nite at the villa. Plans had already been made, and bookings done for Saturdays adventure.
Saturday morning found us at the harbor at 10:00AM for a day cruise. A small gullet, actually a gullet like boat more specifically designed for tour cruising, there were about 35 - 40 of us on board. A large circular tour leaving the harbor, visiting a couple of islands, stops for swimming in the crystal clear warm, and sometimes cool, waters of the Mediterranean, lunch on board and back in the harbor by 6:00PM. A nice way to pass the day, lots of sunshine and a mystery British yacht that sailed into the last bay where we
had stopped for a swim. It was flying the British Ensign, but oddly no name on either the bow or stern. I’m sure it was no one we know anyways.
We had a short time to shower and change between the cruise and our dinner reservations for tonite at a little hole in the alley-way wall restaurant called Begonvil. We had discovered this little gem for a lunch stop earlier in the week and had been so impressed with the food we determined to return for dinner and learned reservations were required. We were first to arrive with our 7:30 resevation but in half an hour all the tables were full, including the three in the walkway between buildings. Eating in the lane was a new experience. Not often we have a motor scooter race through the dining room. Including our host who raced off for some fresh product of some kind or another. If you ever happen to be in Kalkan, (and really what are the chances of that? ), this little restaurant is highly recommended but you may spend a day looking for it.
Today, Sunday started off at 30C about 9:00AM and you could tell
it was going to be a hot one. It only cooled down to 26 C when I was up for the first call to prayer. Too hot to be wandering about anywhere it was a day to just be lazy and veg out by the pool. Except me. I may have enjoyed the sun too much the last couple of days, perhaps especially on the cruise. When the boy is off his feed and a cold beer is next to unthinkably you know I’m feeling a little unwell. So today I’ve been inside out of the sun and where it’s a little cooler with the fans on. We save the AC till later in the evening. Tomorrow is another day and better conditions are expected.
I had been hoping to include some video with the blog but it seems Mr. Gates and Microsoft Movie Maker don’t want to communicate with my Sony camera. Sorry.
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Lorraine Martin
non-member comment
fun
you are having entirely toooooo much fun. Continue. Lorraine