Like a Virgin. Touched For The Very First Time.
Background: We (Fiona and Martyn) have been backwards and forwards to Kalkan many, many times since our first visit - on honeymoon - in July 2004. Like most people we always thought "you never go back to the same place twice" but we were, of course, bitten by the bug.... and became fully Kalkanised the following year, when we bought our first apartment (the one we now call Sunrise, in the Nur Apartments block). Since then, apart from living here for a couple of years between 2013 and 2015, we have always visited two or three times a year. Spring and Autumn to "open up and close down" but also a week or 10 days in the summer to check up on things. Of course, we love it... just coming round that headland and seeing the bay still gives that "ahhhhh" feeling every time... but the problem is that since buying that first apartment and founding Kalkan Secrets, we now have so much business to conduct whenever we are here that we never really have a holiday here. We have started to view it as a second home and business location, rather than a holiday resort. This is dangerous, we decided. We really don't want to get complacent or jaded about Kalkan... so we agreed that this year, our July visit to Kalkan had to be a HOLIDAY. No business if we can avoid it (which is proving hard, however...more about this later!) and just get back to our initial simple enjoyment of Kalkan for what it is - a beautiful, relaxing, fun place to be! To be just like the Kalkan Virgins we were 13 years ago...touched for the very first time. As it turned out, this could be made easier because of a conversation Fiona had with a friend who works in her hairdressers. They were talking - as anyone who knows Fi will recognise, this is not hard for her to do - and when it got onto the subject of holidays, Fi mentioned Kalkan. Well... "that's really funny", her friend Jan said, "because I've heard two or three people in here talking about Kalkan recently and I was wondering what it's like..." so of course Fiona, ever the saleswoman, suggested that Jan and her husband Paul should come to Kalkan to find out! They had never been to Turkey before and didn't have a clue what to expect - and, of course, the recent press scaremongering had affected their confidence - but, after much discussion,they took our word for it and decided to book. The dates that they could come, as it happened, coincided with ours! So we offered to give up the two-bedroom penthouse in the block that we normally use and said they could stay in that one... we would have the one remaining one-bedroom apartment for our stay. They were booked to fly out a day before us and to leave a few days before we do, but as the penny dropped we realised that this could be a perfect opportunity for us to see Kalkan again through the eyes of genuine Kalkan first timers! They really were about to be touched, for the very first time... and we felt so excited for them. Now So... fast forward to this week.... Jan and Paul arrived in Kalkan on Monday afternoon and, before we left for Gatwick from home on Tuesday lunchtime, Jan had texted Fiona to say they had had a good flight and were happy in the apartment. Phew. See you later, then! We arrived in Kalkan on Tuesday night courtesy of easyJet and a very cool, comfortable and efficient transfer from Volume Travel. This was our first departure from the norm - I normally hire a car and drive from Dalaman to Kalkan, but this was a proper holiday, right? So, in true Kalkan Virgin mode, I was actually able to take in the moonlit scenery along the way. It really is a pretty, scenic drive, isn't it - even at night! I had forgotten. Our driver whisked us through the villages and all the familiar place names flashed by until we came through Kinik and I knew it was nearly Ova (sorry... Fiona rolls her eyes every time I say that, too). Anyway, I just love the anticipation of going up that last long climb after Yesilkoy and up past LaVanta, then around that headland and... hold your breath... aaaaahhhhhhh! The dark silhouette of the islands. The bay. The twinkling lights. It never fails. KALKAN! Yayyy! By now it's 23:45. Hmm... time for my first cold Efes? Well, I haven't unpacked yet. Yes but we are on holiday. That's a yes then. (I do love it that Fiona thinks the same as me). Cases dropped in the apartment, quick loo visit and freshen up then head down into town to try and find Jan and Paul. Fiona's whatsapp call to Jan was unanswered, and they weren't in the penthouse, so they must be up to something. Better go and find out what, exactly. Call it fate or whatever but, about two minutes after leaving the apartment, we were just down by Hunkar when we saw a familiar couple coming the other way. Jan was giggling. A lot. And Paul looked... well... relaxed... or mellow... call it what you will. Anyway, they looked suspiciously like they might have had a reasonably good time. We had intended to call into Kaya to see the boys but it was all dark, so Marleys it was for my first Efes, while we got the lowdown from Jan and Paul about their First Day In Kalkan. Like Virgins. Touched For The Very First Time. Ahh...sweet. More later :)
