Ten Years Ago Today

[KKOB]

Nothing like a bit of racism and tarring an entire nation with the same brush Alan. I do think that many I met had more tricks than a Paul Daniels magic box but some of the people I trust the most are Turkish. I could give everything I own to Cenk (for example) and collect it in ten years time.

I could be a lot better off from my time in Turkey than I am. Sadly for your theory the biggest thieves I encountered in Turkey were British.

Hence the wink mate. I'd still rather be in Turkey with my many Turkish friends, than in the UK.

[LisaRob]

Lucky for us too Keith as if we hadnt met you in 2005 we may not have had the confidence to purchase our little piece of Calis..so we thank you!! Agree totally with your comment about Cenk and Olga - lovely people as are many we have met in Turkey..There are good and not so good people everywhere and you just hope to encounter more of the good than the not so good. Our motto is though never to have regrets and if you want to do something and you can then to go for it..We have been ripped off over the years specifically over a property in France and on another occasion by so called friends in the UK. We too could be better off financially with hindsight ( as I guess a lot of others would be too ) but we are rich in experiences and as you say it makes you the person you are! :-)

[Scunner]

Is there anything you miss Keith? 

Not much that a few days visit can't sort out to be honest. I look on it as entirely "been there and done it" now, and so happy we did - hence although I don't imagine living there again (or abroad full stop) I warmly encourage those who are thinking about moving to do so. I love the UK now and I love it as much as I do partly due to having been away from it for five years.

I miss some of the best people I ever met (Turkish and British) mainly. Also the beautiful teacher/child relationship of the schools, something that is impossible in the UK now. The things I miss and can sort out in a visit are mainly kebaps (Iskender and Adana), a day on Jerry Boat, and dining under the stars in the Fish market.

[bewva]

I have just looked and to my surprise we signed our contract to purchase on 7th May 2003.
If I was a betting man I would have lost money on that as I thought it was about 7 years ago not 10.
Time certainly flies when you are enjoying yourself.

[Scunner]

It is incredible Paul - it certainly doesn't seem like 10 years to us either. I looked at some lovely houses but decided on Telmessos - a complex I soon learned as an agent is the Marmite of Calis - you either love it or hate it. We loved it but I had customers more than once who suggested I kept on driving when we approached the gates!!!

We paid substantially less than 30k and at that time it was like Heaven on Earth - we used to sit on our terrace with our tiny kids eating breakfast, listening to the goat bells from the hill behind. The other owners we met were brilliant too - even those who didn't speak English and we certainly didn't speak their language - in some cases we couldn't even work out what their language was. But we communicated in some way or other and these people who didn't understand a word we said were good friends.

[Highlander]

I have been trying to remember what Calis was like in 2003. I certainly cannot image arriving there on the second of February,

I don't have many from back then but here's three. As you can see it's approximately three stone ago

 

[Scunner]

There was nothing going on at all in Calis in February 2003 - I was dropped off at a house in Denliz sitesi (others I know were too - Coronation Street as we knew it in English) in freezing temperatures with an aircon unit I simply couldn't make do warm - even at 30c setting it blew out cold air into the cold air. The agent said he would pick me up at 10 and I was up at 7 - and he didn't actually turn up till 12.

The next day was pretty much the same, but I figured he had my mobile number and could call me, so I headed out. The sun was lovely and warm, especially for February, but once you walked into shade it was like entering a freezer. I walked from Coronation Street (not far from Nevada Su hotel) to the prom and walked from there to the bridge turn - and didn't see a single person. I saw leaves chasing round in circles where I imagined tables and chairs would be outside restaurants in summer. It was dull as dull can be - yet I stood on the prom and looked out to sea and thought that this was one of the greatest views I had ever seen. Behind me a patchwork of houses and scrubby land with cows tethered - separated by stony tracks (in posh areas) or just dirt tracks - but the prom and the bay just seemed like the sort of place people should be told about. 

In February 2003 you could walk from the bridge to Gunlukbasi and not see a single car go past   

[bewva]

Memories of yesteryear
Mrs B went over to view our property just before completion in March 2004 and could only find 1 place open to eat and drink at night in Ovacik.

I remember walking through Hisaronu about 9 years ago on the last day of our holiday in October right at the end of the season. There was a big storm the night before and the place was closed. It was like a ghost town following a hurricane with shop signs and stuff blowing up the sreet.

When we used to arrive at the villa the first day used to be a trip to Fethiye to Migros  for the big shop as there were no supermarkets in Ovacik or Hisaronu other than the corner shop type.

[daveG]

Could not imagine in 2004 when we bought ,we would have a fire station next door but one!!!!