Calis Beach and Fethiye Turkey Discussion Forum
Calis Beach Forum => Calis Beach Questions and Information => Topic started by: Menthol on July 22, 2013, 14:00:22 PM
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I'm sure again, this is something that has probably been discussed before, but not at all sure how to search for such a subject.
Anyway this is essentially me being nosy and genuinely interested in your answers :D
For those living in Turkey permanently or indeed those that spend maybe 6 months in their home country and 6 months in Turkey:
How long have you lived in Turkey?
Which area do you live in?
How is life there?
And then there are those that did live in Turkey that no longer do, I'd be interested to hear your replies too please.
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We have lived ın Koca Çalıs / Çıftlık area for 6 years. Its quıet and peaceful ,local bars,frıendly neıghbours and we love lıvıng here. Glad we made the move.
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Sounds lovely quackers. :)
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We lived there for 5 years more or less, up till 2008. We moved back mainly because we wanted the kids to get a UK education, and also to spend the second half of their childhood growing up in the UK - it's not easy to be a parent in a foreign land, we used to come to Scotland on holiday and I remember showing them little things like those helicopters you get from trees, and how to find conkers (they'd never seen either) - it's hard to be a parent abroad because I never grew up there, so I had less to offer my kids in terms of guidance, if that makes any sense at all.
I also found the summers were just too long and too hot (seemed longer and hotter as time went on/the novelty wore off) and the same for the frustrations like not being able to get things done, or the red tape, or the utility cuts etc. What was once quaint "this is Turkey" just became an irritation in time. Waiting in the post office for over an hour to sort out something that takes 30 seconds when it is your turn is no fun. Also not knowing what was going on right in front of you, and not knowing how to put right something that was quite obviously wrong, was also frustrating. You know your rights in the UK but it's not quite as clear over there on many matters.
There's also very little for kids to do - apart from the swings, and swimming. In winter there was nothing to do really, whereas here there are clubs, groups and countless options.
As I said many times before, we had a great 5 years out there, met some amazing friends (and some freaks) along the way - glad we were there for those five years in particular. We were glad to move to Calis, and we were equally glad to move to Scotland - both moves were equally scary and exciting :)
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Good response there, Keith.
I definitely get the 'not so quaint' thing. Lived in Kashmir for a short while and 'stuff' gets very tiresome over there too.
I do think it would be harder to do the big move with young children - credit to you and your wife that you gave them that adventure. They'll be enriched because of it. We sent our eldest son for a long 3 month holiday to Kashmir when he was 8 yrs old with an Uncle. He didn't speak any of the language. He still to this day 20 years later, talks about the experience and how it did wonders for his confidence.
I hope to hear from the rest of you young Turks! ;)
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We bought our place in Calis in 2005 with the express idea to have holidays there to rent it out and then hopefully for my husband to get early retirement and to move there permanently.
Well, to start with we could not bear to rent it out as we loved the place too much, so we go over for 5 weeks each year and our family also have holiday's there. However, much as we love being there, over the years we have changed our minds about living in Calis permanently. When my husband gets his retirement next year we have decided we will spend a lot more time at our place in Calis, but we will not be making the move a permanent one.
We think we will have the best of both worlds by being in Scotland part of the year and Turkey for some months, of the year, but not July and August. So, inshallah, this is our plan.
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Yes - I think that may just end up being our plan too, Jacqui. Getting my husband to retire or even take it easy is pretty difficult.
However, I suppose the more time we spend in Turkey the more we'll understand what will suit us best. And like you Jacqui, I'm not really up for renting whatever we buy out to someone else.
Are you near the front in Calis, Jacqui?
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No, we are at the back of Calis. We have farmers fields next to us and a lovely view, as we are at the end of a cul-de-sac it's very quiet, bonus for us is we save scraps for the lady farmer's sheep and goats (she comes and sits in the field every day) and she gives us eggs, tomatoes,figs etc., However, the best thing is, we are so peaceful and quiet, but it's about 15 minutes walk or 5 minutes in the car to Calis Prom... It's absolute heaven for us.
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We were the same as Jacqui bought six years ago and were going to rent the apartment out, when it was all finished and furnished we did not want strangers in our "home from home"... six years ago I wanted to sell up and move to Calis hubby was not so keen and now I am so glad he was sensible a lot of things have changed over those six years not all for the better....We like having the best of both worlds and we too for the last few summers have found it just ridiculously hot out there (July and August)for me six years on the novelty has worn off slightly and I do wonder where we will be finding ourselves in another three years :)re the quaitness thing some of the things that six years ago would possibly have omitted a chuckle from me now I just find it down right irrating, like wanting to get to your destination after waiting around at the airport and your driver pulls over somewhere and is waiting for his mate to bring him a kebab to the bus!
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Oh Jacqui that sounds really lovely. :)
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Interesting, we are thinking entirely the opposite! With the cost of living so High in the UK, and
the Pensions hit so hard by the Wunch, (collective term for Bankers, a Wunch of Bankers!) creating such a mess, together with the housing Market being so sluggish but the rental market so Bouyant, a different idea! Current thinking is that we will rent the large Property in the UK, rent in Turkey thus avoiding any UK taxes and no TAX on our UK Pensions in Turkey -- far from eating into our equity and spending all our pensions actually showing a
profit and investing that for one day returning to UK and selling up when the market is high.
Well, lets see what happens!
Meldrew
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We first started taking holidays in Calis in 1998 and after six years of weighing up alternatives we decided to buy in Tuzla.
In 2004 there was already a Turkish community established, although we had views on (3 sides)to mountains including long distance
over to Tashika.Year on year the fields behind us have been built on (goats and hens replaced by houses and even a fire station)and
this year our bedroom balcony is redundant.
In 1998 the population of Fethiye was approx. 20th-now nearer 90? this has been reflected on the pace of life, and the value of para(money)
However we are treated with respect and among other niceties we receive food parcels from our wonderful Turkish neighbours and over the nine years, we have not been the only ones ageing! this has its benefits-frequent wedding invitations etc.
As previous posts we also give late June-July-Aug and even early Sept a wide berth!! and generally spend approx. 5months in total there. 8)
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We are similar to others . We bought in 2004 after visiting calis for 15 years. We fully intended on renting it , in fact we didn't really intend to stay in it as we always stayed on the prom and couldn't imagine not walking to a sea view! Naturally we couldn't bear , to be fair , bothered is more apt, to rent it out! We managed 2x 2 weeks for a few years and now do less as we tend to go other places now for our other hols. This year we'll be there for 10 days. We have long term plans to do 3 months there early or late season but we could've done that in a rental property really. We also have plans to rent in Spain over winter . I'm glad we bought as I think it was a sensible investment( a first for us). Don't think the return would have been as good in the bank!