Hayat Güzel
by Donna Dunlop
I recently heard this Turkish phrase, and realized how fitting it is for just about every expat in Kaş. For whatever reasons we’ve chosen to live here, it’s because at one point or another, we all want to say “life is good”. For my husband, Clay and I, such was the obvious case, but who would’ve imagined, we’d be calling this small fishing town our home? Imagine 2 international airline flight attendants working for a US carrier, based in Hong Kong for 17 years, and commuting back and forth from Seattle, Washington. I suppose the next natural step was to move to another country and immerse ourselves in a culture and language completely foreign to us.
Our journey to Kaş started 10 years ago, after we embarked on a semi-failed 30-day cruise from Bangkok to Rome. The cruise was somewhat doomed from the beginning, but in the end it was a blessing in disguise. SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) was hitting hard in Hong Kong, China and Southeast Asia. The US were invading Iraq, causing a slump in the economy, and my airline just announced it was filing for Chapter 11 (bankruptcy protection).
Ramazan, Turtles, Litter and Turkish Commentary
by Alex Smith
Since I last wrote in this place Ramadan (or Ramazan as the Turks call it) has come and gone. This year the monthly fast has coincided with some of the hottest and longest daylight hours, so for anyone working and observing the fast it was surely no easy task. In my experience the period of Ramazan has coincided with a falling off of the numbers of Turkish tourists in town because, for even those not observing, it has not been seen as the done thing to be obviously enjoying oneself. I made confident predictions to guests we had staying with us the week before Ramazan began that they would certainly see numbers thinning out in the following week. I got that one wrong, this year the town appears to have been ever more populated with tourists during the period of denial. Whether this has anything to do with the recent events here which have served to polarise the Turkish people I really don’t know but for sure the masses did not dissipate and fun was still very 
much being had. Anyway Şeker Bayram (the celebration at the end of Ramazan) came and went and we were inundated by local children coming to our door here in Gökseki to be given sweets (a good stash is always advisable at this time of year).
Kas4Kids Busy Bees – ‘Shoes4Kids’ Project 2013
What is Kas4Kids?
Not much time left!
Kas4Kids Busy Bees is a registered charity (as of 1 March 2013)that works together to hold social and sales events, and other money generating activities, in order to help and assist in promoting the health and general well-being of children in need, under the age of 18, who live in Kaş, Turkey and its surrounding villages.
What is the ‘Shoes4Kids’ Project 2013?
Kas4Kids wants to raise money to buy at least 1,000 pairs of ‘Shoes4Kids’ returning to school in September this year who would otherwise not be able to afford them. To buy 1,000 pairs of shoes will cost 20,000TL and we are asking for your help to raise these funds.
We have less than two months until 15 September 2013 to raise this money.
On the Road
Every now and again I try and get out of the office to lead one of our long tours. It’s good for me to see what’s changed and to look at new hotels as well as meet up with old colleagues and friends.
This year I led a group of 4 New Zealanders on an 18 day trip starting and ending in Istanbul.
By co-incidence the day we all met up at Istanbul Airport was the first day of the recent protests. I joked that the Kiwis’ arrival had caused a riot in Turkey’s biggest city. But as we flew to Kayseri I was already writing e-mails to concerned foreign partner agencies.
Boats, Wineries and Unrest
by Alex Smith
The longest day of the year has come and gone and it’s now seriously hot. Every time I take a look at the weather forecast on BBC World or Al Jazeera I might see the odd disturbance over central Europe and the familiar lows over more northern parts but from here on down to Cyprus, in the immortal phrase of the Fast Show, all is “scorchio”. Scorchio suits me well enough, it’s normally the high humidity that makes things unpleasant here, inducing it’s twenty four hour clammyness and covering us all in blanket of sweat. We’re expecting it any time soon as it’s been with us consistently over the last few years. So the onset of real summer has seen our first boat trip of the season last week a jaunt around the coves and islands of the Eastern Mediterranean for the day stopping for swimming breaks in the beautiful clear sea, having Pimms and Champagne in celebration of a friend’s milestone birthday and barbecuing the afternoon away. You can’t really beat that on a sultry, calm summer’s day and I think we all know there’s not much point trying.
9th Megisti – Kaş Swimming Competition 2013
The 9th Annual “Meis to Kaş Swimming Race” took place on June 23rd.
Bougainville started the race in 2004 and still run it for the council as part of the Kaş Lycia Culture & Art Festival.
The swimmers that successfully register attend a briefing on the day before the main event and then are taken over by boat early on Sunday morning.
200 participants swam 7.4 km from the Greek Island of Castellorizo (known in Greek as Megisti and in Turkish as Meis).
The race ends at the swimming platforms of Kaş Hotel to the right of the old Kaş harbour.
Kas4Kids.org June News
By Barbara Smith
This month I am very pleased to report that we have a new logo, as you can see above and website, Kas4Kids.org is up and running. It is still being worked on and eventually you will be able to read about our current projects and donate towards them on pay pal. So please make a visit to our site now and again to catch up on our news.
Guiding and Dodgy Internet
by Alex Smith
Having just completed a week’s guiding working with a walking group I have some observations I would like to share.
1) Working full time is not for me, seven days on the trot although extremely pleasurable and good for my fitness levels need not necessarily be repeated week in week out as temperatures rise and there are other distractions.
2) People coming here from the UK on a walking trip towards the end of May take a little time to acclimatise and certainly need to ease themselves into the activity gently.
3) People living in the UK have literally been sun-starved for far too long now and are genuinely deprived of even half-decent weather. SAD syndrome abounds, it is real and present and I have witnessed it at first hand.
4) This area of Turkey lends itself so well to the kind of tour I have just led and there are more than enough trails, ancient sites, shops, beaches, bars and restaurants to keep everyone happy for a lot longer than the seven days allocated. Guiding in this environment is made all the more easy by the stage that is already set.
5) Women like to buy handbags.
On second thoughts, Kaş is still one of my favorite places in the world
by Roger Wade
I notice that most visitors who keep returning to Kaş are a well-traveled bunch, and it occurs to me that there are several reasons for that. This is a town that almost no one first visits by accident. We’ve been to many larger resort areas in different parts of the world, and a friend tells us that Kaş is really a place we should visit. For most of us, leaving the town becomes much more challenging than coming back again.
Yoga in between the chorus of the ocean and the silence of the stone!
NB a bad link in the July Newsletter leads here from the article about the Meis-Kaş 20213 Race. Click here for the 9th Megisti – Kaş Swimming Competition 2013
So where do you plan to take your next holiday?
When you take a holiday, is it because are you attempting to escape the “rat race” for a while? Is your life exhausting? Do you think you have more things to do, but yet not enough time to deal with them? Are you running against the current of your life and there is nothing to help you hold on to the safety of its banks? The more you want to hold, does it not get more slippery? Do you frequently feel that you are hopelessly trying to go by day by day, without really achieving your life’s goals, your desires?
Skype us
-
-
Tursab (Turkish Travel Agents) member #2784
