05.03..22
Day X, April 18:
(If you missed part I of the story, here it is)
Our last night in Kaleucagiz was unique in that we had lightning and thunder! It never did rain, but it ended our perfect five nights there. I paid our bill, and considering we were there five nights, had one meal and the three hour boat ride…and the bill was about $250, I was good with that. After breakfast we rode into Kas and we dug that room, too! We were close to everything, and it was cute and pretty large. We had a balcony (which we love), and a really nice bathroom and shower. The bed was soft and we stayed for seven nights. After we unpacked we strolled downtown, found some restaurants pricey, others better, and had a nice meal for about $10.
Day XI, April 19:
Our first full day in Kas and we were surprised by an early morning rainstorm! There was nothing predicted, but by 0900 the sky was clear and we started our exploration. That usually means two things: 1) a good coffee shop and 2) ditto on a good simit spot. We lucked out on both!
Afterwards we walked a bit and explored and found a really nice campground, of all things. We have no camping gear, nor a traveling van, but they did offer bungalows for 600 lira: $40 USD. That is a lot for a bare room with no amenities, but the location of this place was extraordinary, so we may return at some point down the line. Meanwhile we found an almost as good location in a restaurant where we could hang out for the entire day. They had no “minimum purchase” (yet), though they will starting in May, so we worked, sunned, and relaxed for several hours.
Both of us got really good vibes there in Kas and plan to return in October (after Greece) for maybe two months. Subject to change, of course…
Day XII, April 20:
I guess we don’t need to document every day in paradise…and today was just that: paradise. Nice breakfast on the balcony, went to the beach for a few hours, and researched rooms for later this year…Yes, we plan to return for a month or two. And by the way, once again we were the only residents of this pansiyon. There’s about 8 rooms, but very, very quiet, which was fine with us.
Day XIII, April 21:
On my way from Bucharest home to Antalya in April, I covered much of the western Turkey coast. One of the towns that caught my attention was Kalkan, about 40 km north of Kas, which is where went. Riding through that town was beautiful as it starts along the state highway and slowly slopes right down to the ocean.
Today we checked it out, and it was VERY sloopy!
I can’t say I was as impressed as I expected to be, but it’s worth a visit, and we did get an invite from a local expat to stay at her resort next week, so we’ll see if that comes together (it did). As it was, we did not stay in Kalkan (yet), but we went 20 minutes further to Patara Beach, one of the longest in Turkey. It’s about 11 km and is pure white sand from one dune to the next. And there was hardly anyone there.
Kathleen and I have been so enjoying these two weeks and each day is as good as the last.
Day XIV, April 22:
What do you do when you wake up early, maybe from the FIRST “call to prayer” at 0450? You get dressed and catch the sunrise at the 2000 year old Antiphellos Amphitheater! So that is what we did, walking along the mostly dark street at 0545, but it was beautiful. There were a few stray cats hanging out, and they were joined by two street dogs who hung out with us. A good way to start the day!
Day 15 (and more):
We have been digging into Kas, looking at possible living places, and getting to know the town. There is a section of town called Cerciler which one of the local British residents told me about. It is more of a “locals” neighborhood, rather than a tourist-centric part of town. It’s up at the very top of the hill surrounding the town and some of the views are pretty spectacular. It’s also sparse of restaurants and feels a bit run down.
How much is it worth to live in an area you really don’t want to live in?
We faced that same question in Mexico, and lived in Colonia side rather than Portside. The difference in rent was considerable, and Colonia, though not as “nice,” was also not as crowded or expensive for food as well as rent. It looks like we can get something more or less “in town” for maybe $800 USD, which fits in our budget, so I decided that unless we could save $300 or more, we’ll look to move into the town proper.
Meanwhile, we found amazing beaches and coves, and though the water temp is still a bit cold, it won’t be long now! We stayed an extra day at the current pansiyon and have been invited to a very nice resort from the Welsh owner who appreciates our lifestyle. We always appreciate the universe taking care of us! It’s 15 days since we left and we’ll be heading back to Antalya next Sunday.
April 26
Reluctantly we finally left Kas and had an interesting offer: In the local Facebook page for the city of Kalkan I posted that we were looking for a room for a night or two. A very nice Welsh lady, Elle, has a six bedroom retreat/ spa that is she is just readying to open, and she invited us to stay for a few days. Which we did. It was magnificent with a full on ocean view and amazingly comfortable bed. We had full run of the house and chilled for two days plus went into “town” for a meal and to explore. We were more impressed than on our first go-round so decided that maybe this town does deserve a further view.
April 29-May 1
We had a few choices of how to route our last leg home, so we stopped in Demre (again) for a quick snack and trucked on down to Adrasan, a small, out of the way, beach town that was very laid back. Kat found us a great pansiyon for a good price, so our last few days were spent there, enjoying the little stream outside our window along with the ducks quacking over there. We had a great fish dinner, very inexpensive, and the room was nice, as was the coolish night temperature. Since we are already “packed” Kat wanted to visit Istanbul before leave for the US in four weeks, so we will rest for ONE day, then fly to Istanbul. Oh, well, I knew we’d get there eventually, so why not now?
This 21 (actually 23) day Beta test did actually what we wanted it to do. We were able to pack the bike and take with us what we needed to live. In 60+ plus days we will do it again, but that trip will be about four months. Most of the time we’ll be in warm temps, but towards the end it may get chilly so we have to incorporate that into our packing plans. We will “end” in Northern Greece and we have several options of where to go from there, but it looks like south to Athens then ferry back to Turkey is the most likely case. Stay tuned…
