The last leg of our trip involved one more set of flights on Turkish Air. We flew from Ankara to Istanbul and then to Dalaman on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey. My luggage is falling apart. I packed the outside pouches too full and one burst. Somehow we didn't lose anything that I can tell. After an insanely long time at the car rental counter, we got a lovely white rental car to drive two hours east to Kalkan.
We are again on a hill overlooking the water, just like in Istanbul. Our first morning we walked down the hill to the beach. The walk back up almost killed us. At least, it almost killed me and I almost killed Becca. The humidity and heat had us melting and exhausted and Becca kept whining that I was choosing places on hills on purpose to make her miserable. I was not overly happy to have her complaining at me when I was so uncomfortable already.
Our house also has plenty of stairs. It has 3 floors and a roof terrace above those. We don't often go up there. But we're constantly up and down the first couple floors and frequently up to the laundry on the hot hot 3rd floor. But my fitbit won't be bragging to anyone about the steps I'm getting. I have a Fitbit One that clips onto my clothes but it isn't swimsuit friendly. And the weather and private swimming pool have meant that I've been wearing a swimsuit almost constantly.
We planned this part of our trip to be the relaxing part of the trip. Not so much sightseeing as lounging at the pool or the beach. But there have been little trips to see interesting things. There are a lot of Lycian ruins around. And there are some beaches worth leaving our private pool to see.
Beaches are interesting here. In the States, the beaches along the coasts are mostly public beaches. You find a place to park, maybe in the public lot, then walk down and set yourself up with blankets, towels, chairs, umbrellas, and stay until you feel like leaving. That's not how things work here. Here, the beaches seem to be owned almost entirely by restauranteurs. They set up beach chairs and umbrellas and you borrow them. Sometimes you pay to rent them for the day. Sometimes you don't. If you don't, the expectation is that you will buy some food and drinks there.
The beach down from our house is one where you don't have to pay for chairs or umbrellas. You can sit wherever you like and there's even a waterslide. There are servers going around delivering things like milkshakes and fancy drinks to people. The food is spendy, but it's convenient.
Another beach we visited was Kaputas. It's a beautiful sandy beach just to the east. You park up on the street and have to climb 200 steps down. We went in the evening when it wasn't terribly crowded. It was beautiful. But there were a lot of wasps that really liked my towel when I settled down to read while the rest of the family swam. So, it being almost dusk and closing time anyway, we didn't stay too late or get any food at the restaurant.
The other beach we've visited was at Patara, which is also a Lycian ruin. It's one where you effectively have to pay twice because first you pay to enter the archeological site of Patara, then you pay to rent the chairs and umbrellas. It is the best, beachiest beach we've found, with soft (HOT) white sand and gentle waves. But expensive with the double entry fee and 20 minutes away.
The water at all the beaches is nice, but or private pool is nice, too. It is about 5 feet deep, so the girls can't reach the bottom. They don't seem to mind too much, especially since I bought them a few floaties. And cousin Ferdinand has developed a love for our pool, paddling around happily in his little floaty jacket for longer than any of the rest of us want to be there. And one of the nicest things in my opinion is that it has 5 available bathrooms. In desperate times 5 of the 7 of us could pee all at the same time and it wouldn't cost a single Turkish Lira! Oh, and it's nice that it has afternoon shade so we don't further burn our arms or shoulders.
It's a nice villa. It's a nice town. It's a good vacation
1 comment:
I love your private pool! But I shudder at all the walking and stair-climbing you have to do. That would put me under really fast.
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