Our NI Travel News’ Journalist GEMMA WEIR takes us back to the sophisticated Turkish gem of Kalkan…
Turkey never made it onto my bucket list. I suffered from a preconceived idea that it just ‘wasn’t for me’. I reluctantly made the booking as a gift for my husband who had been before and had been chirping on about it for six years since.
I opted for Kalkan after sourcing exactly what I was looking for – four star, absolutely no children – thank you very much! One four and a half hour flight from Belfast and a private taxi transfer that I am still to this day awestruck that we survived, and there we were. Kalkan, Turkey. We arrived at night when the warm August air still held its heat and we were welcomed with what looked like a million twinkling lights reflecting off the water where ships and yaghts had moored for the evening. It had been a long journey, and virtually anywhere can look pretty in the dark with a few fairy lights, so I decided to reserve my wrath of judgement on Kalkan until I could see what I had done in the morning.
Kalkan is a sophisticated and historic harbour resort, nestled at the foot of the Taurus mountains; it’s certainly a more posh option for those who want to escape the mayhem of waterparks and tiny-humans. The marina is a stunning sight and I think, most likely where I fell in love with Turkey too. We would sit and saunter our way through a lazy lunch watching the boats come and go while we enjoyed the most amazing mezze we have ever had! This is the resort for luxurious relaxation, but there’s still plenty to pass the time if you’re feeling more energetic. As always, I had my ‘must do’ activities of authentic and traditional experiences that speak of the culture of my new surroundings…
The Traditional Turkish Hammam
There are many ‘Turkish Hammam’s’ throughout Turkey, they offer lots of lovely relaxing beauty treatments and massages – But I wanted to know where the locals go for a real raw experience of Turkey – Something unique to truly remember. What happened to me that afternoon, I will never forget!
I arrived in a hot and steamy marble room, everything was foggy and wet, no-one spoke English so my form of communication was limited to a few hand gestures. I plopped onto a marble slab by a lovely (but quite indelicate) lady who, quick as a flash, whipped off my bikini top and her own briefs!
As my brain was frantically trying to find the hand gesture for ‘put it away’ she threw a bucket of water over me and started to scrub very roughly with a big soapy sponge – nowhere is sacred in the Hammam – but I was delighted that the bubbles got in my eyes and left me temporarily blinded until everyone was wrapped up safely in towels and behaving a little more British – A small mercy that I am grateful for! This was an unusual experience that I’m glad I partook of – I’m aware that judgement is justified when I whisper quietly… ‘I think I enjoyed it a little bit!’
Small House
In keeping with my pursuit of tradition and authenticity, I discovered this little gem! Small House, is literally that. A small House with a little balcony for two that sits above the people below and takes in the glorious Turkish heat while Mamma in the kitchen makes you the most lovely traditional home cooked meal.
We arrived early enough to get a seat on the balcony – this quirky little house is covered with graffiti on the walls from visitors from all over the world who have been treated to real Turkish Hospitality under that roof.
The atmosphere is fabulous, the food is wonderful and the experience is quaint and typically Kalkan. This is a must!
The Boat Tour
Kalkan is not short on boat tours! My top tip for this one… Do a bit of research! We did two different tours, one we had booked through a tour company and we whinged the other one – Wouldn’t particularly recommend a whinging it approach if you’re going to be stuck on a boat all day!
The first tour was fabulous, the boat was great, the toilets onboard are never fantastic, but they didn’t leave you dying to get into the sea for a widdle before you’d chance sitting down! A well chosen boat tour in the Kalkan sun is a truly beautiful thing – we stopped at various little spots along the way to get off and explore and jump int the sea. My favourite stop saw us jumping off the bot for a short swim to a pebble shore for a mud bath and a drying snooze before rinsing off in the glistening sea. The tours usually offer lunch, again, this is where good research comes in – but we were pleasantly surprised to see a BBQ going at the back of the boat and the vegetarian selection of mezze and pasta offerings was great.
Yes, I did fall in love, like so many before me, with the Turkish charm. How could anyone not fall head over heels sitting on a big soft floor cushion, high above the streets in an open air restaurant, listening to the call to prayer vibrating through the air; eating vegetable hotpots from clay pots over flames while watching the crimson sunset falling into starry night skies. The locals are friendly and warm and some are complete chancers, one trader swore blind that our airline would definitely accept an 18 by 18 foot Turkish rug as hand luggage, apparently they “do it all the time!” (They don’t! Don’t do that!).
I was pleasantly surprised by Kalkan, one could stroll around leisurely in white linen there year after year quite rightly I feel, feeling a bit ‘Audrey Hepburn’ in my oversized sunglasses while breathing in all the ‘I told you so’s’ of the masses who had gone before me. Turkey, you truly are a delight.
