Yakapark, Saklıkent & a Hisarönü water park!

Posted on June 28, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

Last weekend we hired a car for a day again and headed off on another little adventure – this time to Yakapark, Saklıkent and back to Hisarönü.

Berkay had never driven outside of Fethiye before, so we had no idea where we were going. We switched on the GPS on his iPhone, tapped in Yakapark and surprisingly made it there without getting lost!

The drive is one with some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. To get to Yakapark we had to drive past the ancient ruins of Tlos which look amazing – Turkey has some really interesting history to discover off the beaten track.

With the help of the GPS, we arrived at Yakapark, parked the car and walked through the entrance. As soon as you walk through you can feel the drop in temperature. There are trees everywhere, the entire place is shady and the fresh cold spring water has been diverted strategically all around the area so that all you can see and hear is the force of the cold water from the waterfalls and streams dotted around the place. When we arrived there were a handful of people gathered around one of the little pools – now this is no swimming pool, it’s freezing cold water, literally a few degrees less and it would be icy, it really is that cold! People were gathered around because there were two people shoulder-deep in the water in an attempt to win a free drink. There’s a fun old sign at the bar which states “stay in the water for 5 minutes = free drink, 10 minutes = free food and 15 minutes = free ambulance” – that tells you how cold it is! We stood and watched as these two people struggled through the 5 minutes and managed to earn themselves the free drinks, they’re mental if you ask me!

Around the bar and restaurant area there are authentic seating areas where you can sit on the floor cushions and enjoy a drink or meal taking full advantage of the surroundings, but there’s also a ‘normal’ area with chairs and tables if you’d rather that instead! Perhaps even a hammock, if you’re feeling particularly adventurous!

We walked around past the restaurant and towards the back of the area where there is a very old interesting shaped tree with water pooled inside – I love how they’ve worked around the nature that was already there. There are water fountains springing out of trees all around, stick your hand in and feel how cold it is, or if you’re feeling brave put your whole head under like Berkay! That definitely woke him up after being

The whole place is just so beautiful and there’s so much to see – it’s so green with trees everywhere. All you can hear is the sound of the gushing water, the birds, crickets, ducks, there are beautiful butterflies and dragonflies all around too. I’ll let the photo’s speak for themselves.

My favourite things about this place are the waterfalls – they’re not natural, as I mentioned before the natural spring water is diverted around strategically to create these, but they are truly beautiful regardless.

You can stand and admire from the bottom of the two main waterfalls, or you can walk up the steps and across the stepping stones in front of them to get a better photo – be warned that the stones can get slippery, especially if you’re wearing flip flips as I found out!

I love this place, but you have to time it perfectly so that you’re not there when the many ‘jeep safari’ trucks turn up. They all stop here for a break and tend to be very noisy with lots of pushing people into the water resulting in water fights – it’s great if you enjoy that kind of fun, but not so much if you just want to enjoy the peace and quiet. We left just as the groups started coming in around 11.00 am, but not before stopping back at the bar for a photo with the fish. The bar has a ring of the icy cold water around it which they actually put drinks in and use as a alternative fridge too! The ring has fish swimming in it – they seem happy enough. You can put your hand in and stroke them, which I did – you’d expect fish to be slimy and horrible but these were actually really smooth and velvety – weird!

After we’d finished up here, we headed off back past Tlos again and to Saklıkent – it took around 20-30 minutes and was again a drive with lovely views across the valley with the mountains as a perfect backdrop. We’ve been inside Saklıkent gorge twice before despite it terrifying me, although we didn’t have time to go this time but I definitely do want to again soon. Instead, we drove across the bridge past the entrance to the gorge and stopped at one of the little restaurants on the other side. We knew about this little gem of a restaurant as we’d been a couple of years ago with my mum as part of an organised trip. They had a good-sized buffet of Turkish food along with bbq’d chicken or fish for 10tl, bargain! They certainly made up for the cheap food with the drinks though – they charged us 5tl for a can of coke!

There was the option of sitting at a table, but we chose the more authentic option and sat on the floor cushions on a platform over a stream of water coming from the gorge. The stability of the platform was questionable – everytime someone walked past it wobbled, but it all added to the experience! The view was amazing, water spouting out from the stream, ducks swimming, brightly coloured flowers. It was the perfect spot for lunch.

After lunch we headed back towards Fethiye, but took a detour to Hisarönü. I’d seen a new aquapark advertised online that was giving everyone free entrance for the week as a promotion. Normally we wouldn’t go to these places as they are so expensive, but since it was free we decided we’d make the most of it and we were not disappointed! It was really great fun, and fairly busy. It’s in the grounds of Gurol hotel in Hisarönü. Normal entry fee is 35tl I believe. There were 5 different slides and a great children’s section too. The slides were pretty scary, two in particular – a blue ‘bowl’ slide in which you ended up swirling around a bowl into a pool of water below, much like water going down a drain, and the other being a yellow skateboard ramp-looking slide which was actually very dangerous. You had to sit in a rubber ring and hold on tight while they pushed you down the ramp, where you slide up the other side and back down again until you came to a stop in the middle – I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone, I didn’t try it myself, but Berkay fell out of the ring 3 times, cutting his back and elbow, and another man burned/grazed the entire tops of his legs – ouch. All in all though, it was a fabulous afternoon and we had great fun, if nothing else climbing those steps to the slides 50+ times was great exercise!

After all that driving, walking and climbing up steps to waterslides, we headed off back to Calis and set up a BBQ on the beach. We actually drove to Koca Calis and sat there as we thought it might be quieter – wrong! Although there were no tourists on the beach at that end, there were lots of Turkish families with the same idea, it was very busy with delicious smelling BBQ’s everywhere. By this time it was around 7pm and Berkay had to be at work by 8pm so we had a very rushed, but delightful dinner.
All in all, it was another very hot, busy day. I can’t believe it was a week ago tomorrow. I’ve nearly been here a month already. Time is going by so quickly, but we’re definitely making the most of it this time. ❤

A Calis Beach Sunset…

Aside

I am loving my new house being so close to the beach – having the freedom to walk the 2 minutes to the beach at any time is great.

Yesterday evening after Berkay had gone to work I decided to go on a stroll to the beach to watch the sunset. It was a fairly cloudy evening and the sunset always looks better through clouds, so off I went with my camera and ended up staying for 45 minutes and taking 147 snaps!!

I thought I’d share a few with you, to show just how beautiful Calis can be.

I edit all my photos with instagram before uploading – like the ones above… but sometimes photos need no editing because they are beautiful enough on their own. The following have not been edited in the slightest and show the true beauty of the sunset, although to be honest, the photos don’t even do it justice. Sitting on the beach alone listening to the waves lapping on the shore and literally seeing the sun go down behind the mountains in front of your eyes isn’t something that is able to be fully captured by a photograph!

Oh how lucky I am to live by the sea. ❤

Calis changes, dog walks & the canal..

Posted on March 2, 2014 by livingtheturkishdream

On his day off Berkay likes to go walking through Calis.

He took Boncuk with him and went for a long walk up a hill with a beautiful view from the top (click here to see my old post with photos of the view!) We used to take her for a walk everyday and more often than not ended up walking to the top of this hill, we always had it to ourselves which meant Boncuk could run free off the lead safely, with no cars, people or other animals nearby. She loves to sit up there and have cuddles, look down over Calis or just play fetch. It’s so peaceful there.

On the way back to the hotel they stay in, they took the road that goes past our old apartment (the top floor)… This apartment is nothing special, in fact it was pretty poor, and only 350tl a month, the equivalent of around £100 (which was still half of Berkay’s entire income!) .. but it was ours. It still makes me sad imagining other people in our house, cooking in our kitchen, sleeping in our room, sitting on our balcony… I try not to think about it too much, because when I do it just upsets me.
Click here for an old post with more photos of inside the apartment.

Anyway, after they got back to the hotel, Berkay left Boncuk and carried on walking to the investigate the new-look canal. I’ve mentioned in a previous post about the changes they are doing, but I really can’t believe how different it looks.
Here’s a photo of the canal (left) taken a year ago, and the new, wider, cleaner canal with no plants (right) taken last week, both photos taken in the exact same place.

The changes they’re making are all for the better, it’s going to look like a different place when I go back!

Walkies with a difference..

Aside

We take our dog, Boncuk for walkies everyday, usually always in the same, boring place. Yesterday we had a little change up and found a place with a great view.

She is still a pup and full of energy, so she needs to be let off the lead and have a run around everyday. Normally we walk through a field so we can ‘let her loose’ without the danger of cars, but today while chasing her ball she decided to run up a hill and stopped to look back at us as if to say ‘come this way’… Of course we followed her and we weren’t disappointed by the view at the top, Boncuk obviously knows best!

She has two favourite toys, a yellow ball and a rabbit-shaped rope. She decided to chew the latter while laying on my lap at the top of the hill, waiting for the sun to go down. I was covered in dog hairs, slobber and grass afterwards, but who cares, I won’t complain about doggy cuddles!

Berkay & I had some fun with the camera too! Cheese.

We sat at the top of the hill until sunset, it was rather beautiful! This is definitely going to be Boncuk’s new walkies route, it’s right opposite our house and there are no animals, cars or piles of rubbish for her to find, perfect.

Winter in Fethiye..

Posted on September 10, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

It’s starting to get dark at 7.30pm, it doesn’t get light until gone 6.30am and I no longer need the fan on to sleep at night! Winter is on it’s way.

As I mentioned in my worst things about living in Turkey post, winter is cold. Very cold. It always surprises people when I say that, some people assume the resorts are warm and sunny all year…Wrong! But I do love winter, it’s a totally different atmosphere.

When the scores of tourists have gone home and only the locals stay in resort, Calis Beach is like a ghost town. We get full reign of the beach and can let Boncuk off her lead for a big run around. Everyone wears layers, the rain pours down and its not unusual to be guided to the toilet by candlelight during a storm. These are some photos from last winter.

My grandparents bought me and Berkay onesies for Christmas, they were well used and well loved throughout January and February, the coldest months here in Fethiye. We often ate dinner inside wearing coats AND our onesies, no insulated walls or double glazing in my house!

5-6 months of bright, clear blue skies and then this happens.. rain and black clouds. It doesn’t rain here like it rains in England, it never just spits a little, when it rains, it rains, full on thunderstorms that shake the building. I LOVE it!

It gets icy too…

The weather may be colder, but the views are still as beautiful. I love seeing the snowy mountains in the distance, so pretty. When Babadağ (the mountain on the left, the one closest to Fethiye and where all the paragliders jump off during summer) gets dusted with snow, you know its really cold!

We drove through the mountains on the right in December to travel to Antalya airport…

The best thing about winter? The silent, peaceful, tourist free beaches. The perfect spot to watch the sunset. Winter sunsets are the best.

Cake, wonky buildings & parks..

Posted on September 8, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

We went to Fethiye today, mainly to pay the internet, electric and phone bills since it was pay day yesterday, but of course we took a few little detours.

First we went to Mercan Pastanesi, our favourite dessert place. They have amazing cakes, pastries and baklava. Today I went for the strawberry cheesecake and Berkay had baklava and icecream. So yummy!

Next, after paying bills, we went for a little wander along Fethiye harbour and through the ‘new’ square and park. It’s a year old now, where did that time go?!

Everytime we walk past, this sight never fails to amaze me. How it is safe or practical to live there I really have no idea, imagine sitting inside with a glass of drink or bowl of soup resting on the table.. it would all tip out, everything must be so crooked inside. The building has become more and more slanted over the years, I think it got significantly worse after last year’s earthquake too. It just sits wedged in by the surrounding apartments now, it’s only a matter of time though, I don’t think it’s safe at all.

Then we just carried on walking through the park, but stopped when we got to the playground as we had to catch the last bus that goes past our house at 18.30. It is beautiful with the fountains turned on and is really clean. I love the statues too.

Sometimes I wish I was a kid again so I could take full advantage !

Best things about living in Turkey..

Posted on September 2, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

I may complain a lot, but I do love living in Turkey too, and going back to the UK soon has made me realise just how much I do love it. I thought I’d share a list of the best things about living in Turkey, in my opinion. Don’t worry, I’m not wearing rose tinted glasses.. I’ll be posting the worst things about living in Turkey soon.

Weather
This is actually on both my best and worst lists.. The good is the constant, guaranteed sunshine for 4-5 months of the year, sunny days cheer everyone up, and when the rain and storms do come in the winter, we welcome them with open arms.

Scenery
Nobody can deny the views and scenery in Turkey are amazing. I am so lucky to live near the sea, something that I really take for granted, the sunsets are amazing over the sea in winter. The natural beauty of the beaches and the mountains, the contrast between the holiday resorts on the turquoise coast, the fancy hotels and office buildings and landmarks in big cities like Istanbul and Izmir, and the typical Turkish villages in the rural countryside, they are all beautiful in their own way.

Public transport
I can’t comment about other cities, but the public transport in Fethiye is brilliant, especially the dolmuses between Calis and Fethiye, they run every few minutes and are reliable, cheap, and there’s hardly ever any traffic. There are bus links to and from all the main cities in the country via main bus/coach stations, and with car and petrol prices so high, these buses are very popular. The coaches go all over the country and are relatively cheap, often a lot cheaper than flying domestically (people think nothing of hopping on a coach for 12-24 hours to visit somewhere, rather than flying). In other main cities they have trains and trams, but I haven’t experienced either so cannot comment.

Turkish pride.
Anyone who has visited Turkey will know how proud of their history and background Turkish people are, as a whole. They are very patriotic, and you’ll find paintings, posters, monuments and statues in every town commemorating the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Many people have his signature tattooed on their arms, others have stickers of him in their cars, jewellery with his name on, posters in their homes. In Fethiye there is a giant neon light up in the mountain of the shape of Atatürk’s head (It is surprisingly much less cheesy than it sounds). The Turkish flag is also very highly respected, you will see it everywhere, I very much doubt you’ll find any home, village, town or city without a flag somewhere around. It isn’t something that appears once a year (lets face it, the only time you really see English flags is when they’re playing in the world cup or it’s St Georges day) it’s a permanent thing, a permanent reminder of how proud Turks are. If you ever say bad word about Atatürk, Turkey or deface a Turkish flag, it is a great insult ~~and you’ll know about it.~~

Food.
Turkish food is delicious, and often homemade and fresh. It is very difficult to find ready meals in shops, even the big supermarkets, it is becoming more common though- I found fish fingers in the frozen section and nearly peed myself with excitement (small things amuse small minds..) Another thing I love is how cheap fresh fruit and vegetables are, at least here in Fethiye (You all know how much I love market day), in fact that is the only thing I do find cheap here (in comparison to wages) but that will be discussed in another post.

Way of life.
We live a very simple life. We don’t have a lot of luxuries but we enjoy this simple life. We basically live on a farm, surrounded by cows, camels, goats, chickens and sheep, fruit trees and vegetables growing in the garden. I love it. We don’t go out to bars or restaurants, we don’t go to shopping centres or the cinema, we don’t drive, we don’t even have a TV, we really don’t do a lot of things that require money, but we don’t need those things to have fun. From my experience, a lot of people living here are the same, they love nothing better than going for a family picnic on a Sunday, taking a long walk or having the whole family gather for tea. We go for a walk every day with our dog, it’s honestly the highlight of my day, I love just walking in the hills with Berkay and Boncuk, I love being outside (never thought i’d say that..) and taking photos of our surroundings. Sometimes, it really is the small things and when my family visit they really struggle to see how we live such a simple life but still manage to enjoy ourselves and be happy. When you have no choice, you realise you don’t need money to have fun, sometimes just going for walks outside, a little picnic on the beach or dinner and a game on the balcony is enough to make you smile.

People.
I’m sure some people will disagree with me, but a lot of Turkish people are very friendly and will do anything to help you when in trouble. Of course there are bad everywhere, and some people want nothing more than your money, but on the whole, I have found people very kind. Everyone says ‘günaydın’ and ‘Iyi akşamlar’ to each other, we often go to the corner shop and come out with a bag full of food on a ‘pay later’ promise, when on the bus Berkay always stands up to let the older people sit down (in London on the tube last April, he stood up to let an older lady sit down, her face was priceless – pure shock), people really respect and look after their elders, everyone knows everyone (Berkay can’t walk down the street without stopping to say hi to at least 5 people..it’s something that is alien to me and is really quite frustrating actually). Last winter Berkay and I were struggling for money to pay bills and buy food, his boss didnt pay him for 2 months and someone that we’d known for less than a year helped us out, our landlord also lets us pay rent late if need be. A lot of things are very relaxed and people are laid back with a ‘no panic’ attitude.

I know, of course these traits aren’t limited to Turkish people, there are friendly people all over the world, but all you ever hear about nowadays are the bad. These are just things I have noticed from living here.

I live in Fethiye, I am commenting on my own experiences and not suggesting it is the same everywhere, I would love to hear your own experiences in different towns and cities. Turkey is a huge country, I know not everywhere and everyone is the same. Wouldn’t that be boring? (:

What is the best thing about living in Turkey for you?

Sunrise..

Posted on August 27, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

I am nocturnal. ~~Or a vampire.~~ I have adapted my boyfriend’s sleeping pattern (he works nights) and more often than not, I do not sleep until 8am, and wake up at around 3pm. People may say I’m lazy but I’m awake for the same amount of time as everyone else, I just prefer it to be at night. Cooler, quieter, more peaceful. (:

Another perk is the beautiful views of the sun rising up behind the mountains I have from my balcony.
Every morning around 0530-0600 I go out onto my balcony and just sit and enjoy the view. It is beautiful. I can see mountains from miles away, ones that cannot normally be seen from my balcony during the day. Sitting watching the sun rise above them is just perfect. Not something I’ll be able to do back in the UK.

Natural, calm beauty. What do you think?

Just a short little post today, a longer one coming tomorrow, I am determined to stick to my ‘blogging everyday’ promise.

Evim Güzel Evim…

Posted on August 21, 2013 by livingtheturkishdream

When I tell people I live in a holiday resort in Turkey, I’m 99% sure they assume I live in fancy apartment with a pool, air-con and all the other luxuries. They couldn’t be more wrong.

View from my house

We live on the 2nd floor of a typical Turkish building. Our landlord lives below us, and below him- his son, daughter in law and grandson. We live a good 20-30 minute walk from main Calis, and 10-15 mins to the nearest bus stop and corner shop. I actually enjoy being further out and more in the countryside, I have lovely views, hardly ever hear a sound (unless it’s coming from an animal) and can wander around on my balcony without worrying scores of people are going to see me.

The views from my balcony, I LOVE watching the sunrise behind the mountains in the mornings.

This is our living room, we never even use this room. In the two+ years we’ve lived here, we’ve only sat in it a handful of times. We did bring the balcony table in here last winter though, it was way too cold to eat outside! Note the lilo in the corner. Haha.

Our bedroom. Fan, bed, chest of drawers. Teddies. What more do you really need?

Spare bedroom. Also known as the ‘bed wardrobe’, it’s never normally as tidy as this, it has a tendency to get covered in clothes, hence the nickname. Note the slanted roof, I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve both hit our heads on that, d’oh!

Kitchen. I’m sure these are the standard cupboards in Turkish houses. I’m forever seeing photos of peoples kitchens and it’s always the same ones. This fridge is the most expensive and newest thing in the house. Funny story about that actually, when we first got it, all our Turkish neighbours invited themselves over to look at it, it was as if we’d had a baby and everyone wanted to get a peek. It was hilarious at the time, I’ve never known anyone get so excited over a fridge. Bless them!

Balcony. We do enjoy our BBQ’s out here.

Our bathroom is a tiny, cupboard sized wet room, tap and shower head opposite a toilet. We also have another toilet of the ‘hole in the floor’ variety.

We don’t have any luxuries, just the basics. No dishwasher, no tumble drier, no microwave, no electric hobs or oven (I do have a mini oven though), we don’t even have a TV (Thank God for laptops and internet!) Aircon is a luxury I only experience when we walk into a supermarket and we don’t have a pool. But what we do have is priceless. Lovely views, friendly neighbours, wildlife & animals everywhere and tons of fresh fruit and vegetable plants and trees in the garden. Pears, apples, grapes, lemons, peaches, plums, oranges, grapefruits, onions, potatoes, corn and pumpkin to name but a few.

Pears and grapes growing in our garden.

We practically live on a farm, surrounded by sheep, goats, chickens, horses, cows, camels..etc.

My landlord owns these chickens, sheep and goats. He sells the sheep during Bayram.

Our house is nothing special, far from it, and we only rent. But it’s been our home for the past two and a half years and I love it. I can’t imagine anyone else cooking their dinner in our kitchen, eating their dinner on our balcony, sleeping in our room.

It’s going to break my heart to leave next month.