CHAPTER 4: A Day Out With An Agent
TA was unable to come with me on the next trip out. Very inconsiderate of him. The trip became a me, my Mum, my daughter and my youngest son trip. I was very keen to see what they thought of the region. My eldest son had already become a 'fan of Turkey' after one visit.
It was May. It was hot. The Calis Plaji mosquitos emanating from the Kus Cenetti area next to our apartment, were ruthless and fierce. Sinkov, lemon cologne, Repel, 80% Deet, applied several times a day and filled the bedrooms with choking fumes. Still my daughter and I resembled twitching paintball victims with huge glowing pink blotches.
The day I met with the Agent for our pre-arranged tour, was 42C and I was a spotty, sweaty, squelching mess concerned that my Mum would be able to withstand the heat. Kids were packed off to Fethiye for the day, me and my Mum enjoyed window seats in a leather upholstered, fully air conditioned Nissan Qashquai.
We toured Calis, Fethiye, Ovacik, Ciftlik/Koca Calis and Uzumlu. I have no idea how many properties we saw. It was a lot. I know I made the Agent stop several times to buy water for us and never once did I need to wee. We lunched in a lokanta in Fethiye and had the best meal I had had all the time I had been to Turkey.
We saw properties that looked as though they had been designed by a coke-addled architect and thrown together by a pi$$ed off builder. Bedroom you cant actually stand up in? Tick. Balcony designed to withstand the weight of 2 mosquitos and a plastic chair? Tick. Black kitchens with red tiles and disco lighting? Tick.
We saw properties so beautifully cared for and obviously loved that I wondered how the owners could possibly bear to leave them. Vine shaded and expansive terraces with fridges full of water and Efes to hand. Gardens full of carefully nurtured fruit and nut trees and heavy with glorious, multi coloured bougainvillea. Turquoise pools shining in full sun and beckoning you in. Portraits of shy, smiling grandchildren watching as you climb Gran's stairs. Spotless bedrooms with bespoke, handmade pine furniture. Bedside table with a Tupperware box full of prescribed medicines. A walking stick adorned with a blue eye amulet. A pair of BHS slippers peeping from under the bed.
My Mum and I caught our breath stood on Jean's terrace in Uzumlu. Despite the heat haze, we could see for miles. Mountains, forests and a wide valley dotted with houses and patchworked with fields. A priceless view that no-one would believe until they stood there and saw it themselves. And silence. Real silence. Not even a murmur of breeze. The kind of silence that erases cares and stress and fills you instead with an unreal peace. I had a real moment stood there.
It scared me.
