Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Turkey Related Subjects => Turkey Discussion Forum (Not Calis specifically) => Topic started by: Colwyn on June 21, 2017, 15:51:57 PM
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We had been to this area some 15 years ago. A CBF member living in TRNC had warned me it would find it had changed considerably. So it had. We stayed in Karaolanoglu a couple of miles along the coast from Kyrenia. 15 years ago it was a village clearly separate from Kyrenia: today the road along the north coast is lined, both sides, the whole way - lined with glass-plated shops, car salesrooms, banks, Burger Worlds and Chicken Planets - and you cannot tell where one place finishes and the next place starts. Cars, vans, lorries and dolmuses thunder by, in a near continuous stream all day long. So much so that that pedestrian find it difficult to cross the road. But there aren't any pedestrians, except for us, since everyone is in a vehicle - even for a short journey of a couple of hundred yards. Fortunately, once you are off this drag and onto sidestreets towards the coast (a hundred yards away) you enter a different and far more pleasant world. Quiet and beautiful, but only 15 minutes by dolmus to Kyrenia.
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Kyrenia Harbour
Kyrenia Harbour is quite simply splendid. I haven't been seen a better Venetian harbour on my travels. The harbour has a castle on one side and is lined with flat-top building many of which have restaurants on the roof. In front of these buildings is a promenade which, on the Sunday we first visited, was thronged with promenaders - mostly Turkish Cypriots I believe. We sat in comfortable cane chairs and sipped our drinks whilst enjoying the parade.
Harbour
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kyrenia1_zpst7zpm8f5.jpg)
Castle
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kyrenia2_zpsdlo2f7ff.jpg)
Promenade
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kyrenia3_zps2cnqpwan.jpg)
In the background you can see the Five Finger Mountain Range (Besparnak/Pentadaktylos). More of this later.
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Really interesting Colwyn, lovely to see the photographs.
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That looks nice. I think I could try there.
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Beautiful Colwyn, thanks for sharing. Brings back lovely memories. I think that was the Hotel we stayed in on the right of your promenade picture. A beautiful boutique hotel.
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How much is an Efes?
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How much is an Efes?
Cheaper than Calis..... :)
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How much is an Efes?
As it happens my next topic was to be "Food & Drink". Efes = 8/10/12 TL and one shack offering it at 5TL. Of course we avoid the cheaper places due to the Brit riff-raff you tend to find there.
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As I am sure you know Colwyn, most of the buildings around the harbour are the old carob warehouses. Good to read your reviews. Thanks.
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Food & Drink
From what we saw, the restaurant meals were traditionally Turkish: humus and halloumi, kebabs and koftes. There was also a Turkish version of the Greek meze presentation for which I was unprepared. Once, many years ago, we had had a Greek meze in a village in the mountains above Paphos. It was 24 courses delivered 4 dishes at a time starting with delicacies such as quail egg with spinach on a tiny saucer and increasing in size every course until the conclusion included a near full stifado and a full kleftico. I hadn't realized the Turks had their rival version.
The first evening I ordered a meze at a place where no English was spoken and my limited Turkish was extremely rusty. I thought I had negotiated a meal of mixed meze and a bottle of raki to go with it. Sure enough, the raki turned up with six little dishes of meze - humus, halloumi, some stuff that looked like ezme by wasn't, and so on. Then ... a huge plate arrived with chips, salad, and a couple of lamb chops ... and lamb sis, and lamb stuffed vine leaves, and chicken sis, and fried liver. It was enormous. I no longer have a huge appetitite but I had thought that when the menu said it was 40TL it wouldn't be too big. Wrong. I did my best.
For beer - Efes was, of course, ubiquitous and the occasional Tuborg or other. And for wine - there was Turkish ... And French, and Spanish, and Italian, and so on internationally. Splendid. "We'll have a bottle of Chilean Malbec please. 50TL? Fine."
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As I am sure you know Colwyn, most of the buildings around the harbour are the old carob warehouses. Good to read your reviews. Thanks.
I didn't know that, Laura, thanks. We did see some carob trees in the area. I hope you don't find my comments on your country too harsh.
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Karaolanoglu
Our accommodation was in bungalows set in beautiful gardens alongside the rocky northern coast of Cyprus with the Five Finger Mountains as the backdrop. It displays how beautiful northern Cyprus can be.
Location
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara1_zps4homeszk.jpg)
Gardens
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara2_zpsuzyhjsij.jpg)
Agaves
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara3_zpsohwk37jq.jpg)
Lantanas
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara4_zpswrinhmcl.jpg)
One of the great pleasures of the north coast is the ability to find restaurants right on the sea.
Restaurant at Sunset
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara5_zpsaygoidzv.jpg)
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara6_zpssqymw5dv.jpg)
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Hi Colwyn thanks for sharing we are thinking this might be our next holiday destination and looking at your post its looking more likely I assume you have hired a car what's it like driving over there
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Trainer, I didn't hire a car this time but I did in 2002 when we drove right out to the end of the Karpas (the panhandle) which was fantastic. Back then driving was very good but I can't tell you what it would be like today except the north coast road around Kyrenia is very busy and, of course, driving is on the left if that helps.
The last photo should have been the one below not the rather drunken version I actually posted.
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara6b_zpso8ml1g3g.jpg)
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Both look good to me :) (are you still drunk) ;)
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An Unfortunate Incident
(http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a138/ColwynJones/Kara7_zpsmwch1syg.jpg)
This is the side street leading from our bungalows to the main road with the Five Finger Mts. in the background. We were intending to walk up here quite frequently to catch dolmus of taxi about and about in TRNC.
On the the day we arrived at our bungalow I was hanging my clothes in the wardrobe and failes to notice the wardrobe door slowly swinging closed. It took a leaf of skin off my arm some 2x3 cm in area. The were blood and curses. But it was soon covered with a plaster. A couple of days later it was getting uncomfortable, the next day it was nastily swollen and I went to a local GP, and the day after that it was hugely swollen, my hand was like a boxing glove and it hurt like hell. So I went to a hospital to see a infectious diseases specialist. I was put on super-strength anti-biotics (1000 mg) and a collar sling and sent back to the bungalows to rest up. This rather limited what we able to do for the rest of the week.
In case I had given you false expectations of having a rather longer travelogue than this, in the nest topic I'll fill in some of the gaps by using photographs from our previous trip in 2002.
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No Colwyn, I don't consider your comments harsh at all. In fact very fair. As with all places there are the downsides but I think if one has chosen to live in a place then it is probably better to try to ignore the bits that are not good!
Your comment re Karmi did make me smile. It really would not be a place I would choose to live......
Trainer, driving here is no problem at all. If you have negotiated Turkish traffic you will notice how polite most drivers here are and giving way is, mostly, the norm. As Colwyn says, parts are busy but again one can get away from that as it is mostly in and around Kyrenia.
Looking forward to hearing about the rest of your holiday Colwyn and hope you will be returning.
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Colwyn - this looks idyllic. Thanks for posting.
All best wishes for a speedy recovery from your injury.
Sorely tempted to explore there in 2018.
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Lovely pics Colwyn. May I ask if you can work out there if you are a resident? Can you be granted residency?
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Hey Bernie, I only went on two week's holiday - I'm not an expert on the place!
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All best wishes for a speedy recovery from your injury.
Thanks Stuart. Bit better today but still not properly operational. Which is why I am piddling about sorting my photos and posting some of them on here instead of being out and about in this fine weather.
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There is information on northen cyprus residency here. Please note that the procedures for residency are currently under review...
http://cyprusscene.com/2015/04/13/northern-cyprus-residency-permit-update-april-2015/
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Yes sorry to hear about your injury Colwyn, I hope recovery is swift.
Bernie. No you cannot work here without a work permit although there are many Brits working. Whether they are all legal I don't know but there are many with their own companies so I assume it is not so difficult as in Turkey. English is also very widely spoken and although it is useful to have a bit of Turkish one never needs translators or translations of documents etc. With regard to residency, there is a 'gentleman's agreement' that people over the age o 60 do not need residency and can come and go as they wish. We have residency as although we are well over 60 we decided that 'gentlemen's agreements' could end arbitrarily so we feel better having the stamp and book. Freedom of choice. Very easy to obtain and few hoops to jump through. Having lived in Turkey for 12 years we now feel very much at home here.
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Thank you. My dear Colwyn I do hope your recovery is Swift and you stop trying to compete with me injury wise ????
Get well soon x
Thanks all for info and links. Your photos are really nice x