Winter in Kalkan

[Bee]

Well that’s it. We’re off!
Having talked for so long now of spending more time in Kalkan we have finally taken the plunge and are all packed and ready to go. Well that’s not strictly true. Ready to go yes, packed no.
We are heading down to Kalkan by car leaving on the 22nd November from Folkestone via France, Italy,Northern Greece, Istanbul , then the final leg to Kalkan.
We have decided to do a winter trip, rather than summer one to experience the “out of season” Kalkan.  We are so looking forward to doing lots of walking, polishing up on our photography & snuggling round the fire in the evenings, catching up on all those must reads which we never get time for.
We’ll be blogging along the way, so if any of you need a little Kalkan lift during those grey winter days please feel free to follow our journey. .... to be continued..........
J & B.

Linkback: https://www.enjoykalkan.com/forum/index.php?topic=8799.0

[suziq]

Lucky you. I hope you have fabulous time. We are doing the same thing next April May and June.We hope to get to grips with the language, cooking and relaxed way of life, lots of walking and maybe even try some scuba diving. We had hoped to drive overland too but have sadly chickened out and have boringly booked flights. Now we are trying to work out how to get all our bits and pieces we will need for 12 weeks, over in our 20 kg allowance!

look forward to hearing about all your adventures. Where are you staying?

[tortoise lady]

Happy travelling.    I will look forward to reading your blog, not only of your journey but also your experience of Kalkan in the winter.    Quite different at that time of year but if wild winds blow you can have the pleasure of snuggling round the fire in the evenings.

Is your place centrally heated?    Ours isn't and I was very glad on a winter visit when the weather was bad that I had taken not only toasty slipper socks but also a hot water bottle!  But I am a cold blooded creature.   Much enjoyed the restaurants with log fires to welcome us!   

Have a great time.

[itstime]

Look in forward to hearing about your experience. Never been out of season, latest We've experienced is Octber. I have a dream...............................................

[amber]

For a winter trip to Kalkan can I recommend you include in your luggage - hot water bottle,warm PJs,thick socks,wellies,candles,thick jumper,paperbacks,shorts and t-shirts.Weather can be very mixed!!
Lots of thunder and rain today and forecast for the next few days too.Water has been gushing down the streets and electric on,off,on,off and now on!! Lot less building work seems to be going on this year-hooray.Its really quiet and peaceful now and you meet such interesting people.
Have a safe journey,cant wait to read all about it.

[Reygirl]

I've had a couple of short visits out of season and loved it.  I wish both parties well and know you will appreciate and enjoy how different it is to being there in the tourist season.  Look forward to reading your reports.

[MartynE]

Sounds fantastic!

We are going to come over to Kalkan for Christmas week this year... our first proper stay outside of the main season (apart from the "buying" trip when we completed our purchase one November) so we will be watching your adventure and reading your blogs with great interest! Fiona, as always, is fretting about what to pack for the trip. She also thinks it's "freezing" if the temperature goes down to single figures C, so it should be an interesting week....

We are also thinking about coming out for a much, much longer period sometime soon, so the road trip idea sounds really appealing. I will be fascinated to hear what that's like for you. Please keep blogging!!

Hope you have a fab time. And if you are still there at Christmas time, do pop in and say hello.... mulled wine, anyone? 

[Bee]

Thank you for the advice. We have packed all sorts of clothes for all sorts of weather from T shirts to favourite thick woolly jumpers. Wellies and cagoules are packed too. Didn't think to pack a hot water bottle. I'll get a couple today. The best thing about driving is you can just keep on packing. It's great.


Our lives have always been so organised, we always have a plan, work 9 till 5, shop on Friday, roast on a Sunday ...bla bla bla.  We are both 50 next year and both decided to do something for us. We left our jobs, thrown our cards in the air, and are ready for our next stage of life. We are taking the next few months to decide on where and what to do next.


We have lots to sort out this week.  Our furniture is going into storage on Friday. We are in the process of finishing off renovating a house, just a few bits of making good to be done, ready for a tenant to move into on Saturday. Lots of friends and family to see, tax returns, Christmas cards, birthday cards and last minute shopping.

We are off to France on the evening of the 22nd November and will spend a night in a hotel there before heading south.

[baklavabuddy]

The first time I stayed in the winter was Feb 06. It was raining when I arrived and the night was so cold. I piled so much stuff onto the bed, it was so heavy I could not move!

But the next day the sun came out, it warmed up and was perfect. T Shirt weather and picnic lunch.

I now have an electric blanket, bought in Turkey which keeps the chill away at night

[MartynE]

Bee, we are thinking exactly the same way...  kids left home, and we've got our lives back... but you are a few months ahead of us. We have just sold our house and will be moving into rented accommodation next week for at least six months while we plan what to do with the rest of our lives. But Kalkan features heavily because we have such an investment there...

It's scary but exciting at the same time, ain't it?!

[Bee]

MartynE, We must meet up. We did exactly the same. Sold our house, moved into rented. bought a couple of little buy to lets then bought another house which we was going to live in, but decided on changing out lives completely. So, that house was let yesterday, we give the keys back to the house we are renting on the 22nd and then were off. Every time I think about it my stomach goes over. I can't work out if it's fear of excitement!

[MartynE]

Yep, we should definitely meet up... will you still be there at Christmas?

As I mentioned earlier we will be there for Christmas/New Year (getting there 24th Dec and returning to UK on 2nd Jan). We still have work here ... for the time being ... so have to return for that (but next year.. who knows?  )

If you are still there at Christmas, we'd love to meet - and maybe we can pick your brains about the drive down amongst other things - if and when we move to Kalkan permanently we will probably drive down!!

[amber]

Bee - you sound a bit like us,worked and worked and worked then approached 50 and thought what are we doing with our lives? why are we waiting till we retire to do something different.We might not see retirement or maybe just get too sick or old to do something different.So we rented out our house in UK,put our belongings in storage,left our jobs and came to our holiday apartment in Kalkan.That was 6 years ago and we are still here!! House still rented out and a few years ago we moved all our stuff out of storage and got rid of it!!!
Its not always easy and living somewhere is very different to being on holiday but would I go back to our old lives??? NO!!!!

[Skunk]

Sounds just fantastic and I hope you have a wonderful time.   

[tiamaria]

Look forward to reading your blog...... Enjoy your journey and your time here in Kalkan.  Good luck, safe journey

[tortoise lady]

I forgot to say it is a very good idea to take torches.    Even in summer, as we know, there are sometimes electricity cuts and if they happen in the middle of winter in the evening, possibly shutters or curtains closed it can seem very dark indeed!   I would recommend you take the kind that can stand upright and act as a lamp.    Lots of candles are very romantic but torches are essential for safely moving around the house or apartment in the dark and can add extra light to a room if standing upright.    Spare batteries obviously.     Might be a good idea to also have a lighter to swiftly light the candles rather than lots of matches.

The torches also come in very useful if you need to go out when there are no street lights.    There are restaurants with their own generators but you need to reach them!

Just as well you are going by car as we all add to your list.    I think the hot water bottles and torches are pretty up on my list of essentials in winter.   

(We recommend guests take torches even in summer but anyway leave one in each bedroom in case they forget to pack any.      Some go astray naturally but we try to replenish each time we go)

[amber]

Good point about a torch - I went out in the dark yesterday without my torch and my foot ended up a very muddy hole up to my ankle! Yuk!!

[Lantana]

Hi Bee

 So you can save some space for all the goodies you will buy on your journey - I would forget about packing torches and hot water bottles - you can buy them here.  Dozens of torches for sale in the market, ours were bought for just a few lira and still working well after three years.  Same with hot water bottles, available cheaply here. Electric blankets cost less than 30 lira.

Concentrate on the real winter essentials.  Stock up on wine as you pass through France -  even after twelve years here
we still miss French wine  - and perhaps a few French cheeses.  Parmesan and salami in Italy..............etc.

  Enjoy the trip and happy shopping.  We are looking forward to seeing you both and hearing all about the adventures.

Lantana

[Charlie]

Hey Lantana great to have you back - you've been missed . Happy travelling Bee, look forward to reading all about your journey.

[tortoise lady]

Good to hear it is easy to buy hot water bottles in Kalkan.    Can you let us know which shop/s stock them, Lantana.    It would save taking them out the next time we do a winter trip.

When I suggested torches I was particularly thinking of Mag lites - not cheap, the smallest is about £10 in the UK.   They are very good quality though and their special attraction is that they can stand upright on a level surface and act as a lamp.   Readily available in UK at places like Robert Dyas and also online but not sure how available in Kalkan, almost certainly not in the market.    I must add I have no connection with Mag lites, just an enthusiastic user.    I have had more than one shower in Kalkan by the light of an upright Mag lite placed in the bathroom when the electricity is down.

A few years ago we did buy one or two plug in lights which came on when the electricity went off but they soon broke.    In September I saw one or two different versions of these in local shops.    Has anyone bought any in the last year or two and could recommend any particular type.    Would be good to again have them not only for ourselves but to assist guests in power cuts.    I would guess that any of you living out there would be having something like that for emergencies.    Would be nice to have something that looked attractive!   Would be useful not only in winter of course.