It was all go on Thursday 14th April; I was awake at 7.30am, Captain Caveman had a friend staying at his apartment, my parents don’t have WiFi yet so I had temporarily moved back to Mark and Kate’s house. The sun was out and it was Easter weekend so things were busying up in Dalyan now. Before 10am I had booked our lodger a taxi, discussed ingredients of a recipe with Kate, borrowed a bicycle pump from Mark and walked home, while noticing that Alegria restaurant was back open. When I got home I tried to pump up Bluey2’s tyres but the pump broke meaning I would have to walk today. I was moving all my stuff that I couldn’t leave in a cupboard at Captain Caveman’s to my parents’ place so that I could stay there when I didn’t need to use a strong internet connection. I packed up lots of things, including the entire contents of the fridge freezer. I had pasta for breakfast then walked all my stuff over to my parents’ in the hot sun. The pool guy was there cleaning their pool ready to fill it up with water. By 5pm, I took the last of my stuff to my parents’ place and I was off to meet Debbie (Darling) and Sarah at Sofra bar ‘for one’. When I returned to pick up Bluey2, Mark had already stopped by while I was out and pumped up my tyres with another pump. I went to the bank to get money from my English card and there was a lot of people complaining that the bank wouldn’t let them use their foreign cards, mine wouldn’t work either. For some, the limit per day to withdraw from our Turkish banks had been reduced to only 300 lira (£16) which was pretty low and concerning. After a couple of pints of draught lager, I made it back to Mark and Kate’s. It was just before dark and I saw a dog waiting outside the gate. He looked like he wanted to be friends, possibly with the cats. There was also a stork in the garden which had recently been soaked with the hosepipe. We had some red wine and Mark prepared us a cheese platter for a late dinner.
I woke up coughing on Friday 15th April and thought I may have Corona. I did a test and waited for the result with a nice cup of Yorkshire tea. I had some strawberries with yoghurt for breakfast and got a message from Ann to say she had some symptoms but was negative. My results also came back negative and I went to go about my day, I was using the spare room as my office. For lunch I had a crisp sandwich and then helped Mark with a tree he was trimming. He was using a saw on a palm tree and making it look like hard work. I found 2 axes in the shed and suggested we used those instead. Later I sat in the garden with a beer and enjoyed the afternoon sunshine.
We had another lovely day planned on Friday 8th April. Vanessa and Matt had arranged a boat trip with their family and asked if I would like to join them. Because my friends were visiting I had added all 4 of us on and it would be a Sheffield boat trip with Turgay. I didn’t bother with breakfast but the cats had all been fed and Casha was having morning snuggles by 8am. Vanessa and family had arranged to pick up Louisa and family on the way, but I would get picked up from Mark and Kate’s jetty. I couldn’t find my sunglasses so I borrowed a pair of Kate’s (after checking it was ok to do so). All the cats were out for the day for the last time as Mark and Kate would be returning later, and I went to wait for Turgay’s boat. I managed to get some video and photos of the boat arriving before I got on board to greet everyone. It was a sunny day and I hoped the sea would be warm enough for a swim. Not only did we go to Ekincik Bay and the beach but, later in the afternoon, we went to the mud baths where we all got in the thermal swimming pool. Jason let me have a go at twirling his stick which he can do all sorts of tricks with and it took me back to my youth, when I was in the majorettes. The boat trip was a great success, the food was lovely and everyone enjoyed themselves. There’s always someone who has to overdo things and, of course, that would be me.
When we got back I fed the cats but Casha didn’t come to eat her food. I popped the dish in the microwave so that the others didn’t eat it. I waited for Mark and Kate to arrive, they had landed but were not home by the time Louisa, Linda and Alex were in Lukka, ready for the music bingo night. When they got home I was already quite sloshed, Mark had been drinking on the plane but Kate categorically stated that she did not want to go out. With their massive amount of luggage strewn all over the house, we got a taxi and went to Lukka bar. I completely forgot to eat, Louisa and her family had already had their meals, Turgay was there and the bingo had started. The music bingo was a good laugh and Linda even won a prize from Maizie Moo. We preceded to drink too much and, instead of me going home, Kate insisted I go back to their’s for more drinking. She did try to invite Louisa too but she was having none of it.
My alarm went off at 7am on Wednesday 30th March as it was time to feed the cats. By 8am I had fed all 5, completed Wordle (1&2), Quordle, Worldle, and Nerdle and got ready to go in to town. I was going to be using Kate’s electric bicycle to whizz about on and so I got it out ready. Casha, the oldest cat, came and had some snuggles while the other 4 played outside. At Turkish class we did a more chatty exercise before I went for lunch at Okyanus with Vanessa. I had a lovely chicken wrap and Vanessa had a tuna sandwich, it was good value for money. While Vanessa went to join Matt at Retro bar for pool, I caught up with Ann, Andy, Jo, Angela, Nick and a lady called Irena by the river, in the sun. After, we all ended up at Retro bar and had a good time joining the pool fellas. Chris has the same bike as Kate so was able to tell me how to work the gears. Julie and Gareth were there but, sadly, they were leaving Turkey tomorrow. I stuck to drinking Efes in moderation as I was cycling, we were also told, by the owner of the bar, that prices of drinks were increasing from April. Most people were staying out but Ann and I were sensible as we had pets to feed. I cycled home, sorted out the 5 cats, watered the plants and started watching ‘Pieces of Her’ on Netflix. I ate leftover chicken fried rice and then had cheese on toast for dinner.
I was awake early with my alarm to feed the cats on Thursday 31st March, after which Casha came back to bed with me. She slept for ages on the blanket at the end of the bed as I had buttered toast for breakfast. Unfortunately, the kettle wasn’t working so I didn’t make a cup of tea. I set up my laptop in one of the spare rooms which had a desk and chair – I was looking forward to having a day at my new home. For lunch I made egg fried rice with sucuk (Turkish sausage) and I popped a Bolognese in the slow cooker, making plenty to keep some in the fridge. I spoke to Captain Caveman and we planned for me to go to Vietnam after the end of May. My mate, Des, who I knew from him working at Momma D’s in Phong Nha, was coming to Dalyan to visit for a month at the end of April which was very exciting. I spoke to my Dad, who’s birthday it was, and I even sang. My parents thought it was hilarious that I was becoming a crazy cat lady just to help out my friends. In the afternoon I had a walk down to the jetty with a glass of wine to admire the view. That evening, after feeding the cats and watering the plants, I had pasta bolognese, a couple of glasses of red wine and some cheese and crackers. I fell asleep watching more of ‘Pieces of Her’ on Netflix.
I was surprised I was able to get anything constructive done on Monday 28th March but, surprisingly, I managed to function after last night’s drunken shenanigans. There was quite a lot of cleaning up to do which I did in stages with lots of breaks in between. I had a cheese sandwich, 2 glasses of sprite and half a packet of biscuits for breakfast before pushing on with a busy work schedule. I had Baba Ghanoush on bread for lunch and Vanessa came over that evening to finish off our Turkish homework. She managed to drink wine but I could hardly bare to pour her a glass. I managed to pack up some more stuff to take over to Mark and Kate’s tomorrow for my 10 nights of house and cat sitting. The hangover lasted all day but I had leftover curry with freshly steamed rice for dinner then went to bed super early – I was broken!
Tuesday 29th March started with a breakfast of cheese and quinoa crackers. I spent the morning on my laptop and was expecting a message from Kate to tell me what time to get to their’s to commence my house and cat sitting. It was a warm day and I’d emptied my fridge of perishables to take with me, as well as taking the leftover wine. I arrived at Mark and Kate’s just after 2.30pm by taxi, which cost just 35 lira (£1.82) for a 10 minute journey. They use Fikri, a local fella who is very nice and reliable. He was aware I was moving in and said if I needed anything to give him a call. When I arrived, I was surprised to find that the fridges and freezers were so fully stocked that I would struggle to fit anything of mine in and so I left Mark trying to cram stuff in for me. Kate ran me through a few last minute plant watering tips and presented me with a written list of tasks and helpful info. A delivery of booze came and I helped Mark carry it in to the house – there was already a lot of wine and beer for me to help myself to. They both grabbed a beer, I had a white wine and we walked down to the jetty for one last drink together before their taxi came. Mark had cleaned the barnacles from the ladders in to the river in case I wanted to swim, my room had been tidied and had a new electric bicycle in it. Kate picked some lemons as I said I would make some limoncello while they were away. She and I fed the cats together so that I could have a run through what to do; the oldest one gets fed indoors, by herself, while the other 4 eat together outside. We all said bye when Fikri arrived to go to the airport, with plans for them to return on 8th April. I had a top up of wine and saw that in Vietnam the intra-ASEAN travel restrictions had been updated. I’d be able to go between Vietnam and Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. This was good news as I had just received a response from the embassy to say they were no longer granting 90 day visas for tourist entry to Vietnam so I would only be able to get a 30 day online visa, initially anyway. Also in the news China was not looking good, as Shanghai went in to lockdown, more here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/international/20220329/shanghai-locks-down-as-covid-surges-in-china-s-financial-hub/66385.html I went outside with more wine and had to fight most of the cats for a position on the sex swing. I spoke to my parents who were back from their celebration weekend away and we chatted about that. It turned out I didn’t have to submit my passport anywhere and I could have gone back to the UK, so that was annoying. For dinner I decided to order food from China Town; prawn toast, prawn crackers, chicken fried rice and sweet and sour chicken. I only managed half of the meal due to the portion sizes being rather substantial, it was really tasty and piping hot. When bed time came I was fortunate to have all of the cats snoozing in the living room so my first night of cat sitting went well.
I woke up with 4 out of 5 cats in, or on, my bed on Wednesday 23rd March. I was hungover and vaguely remembered last night agreeing to leave my door open so the cats could get used to me, ready for the cat sitting next week. Kate brought me in a cup of Yorkshire tea in an appropriate mug and then got herself ready for art class. I went back to sleep for a bit and really did not want to get out of bed at all. I didn’t relish the thought of walking home so I was pleasantly surprised to find that Mark was still home and was happy to give me a lift in the buggy, he was going in to town anyway. I had a pain au chocolat for breakfast at home before Turkish class, then put all my cat hair covered clothes in the wash and had a shower. Turkish class was really good today and I felt like I was learning more hearty sentences that I would be able to use. The staff at Lukka are very good too at encouraging us to practice our Turkish skills. For lunch Vanessa and I went to Rehab bar where Tayfur ordered us a chicken wrap with chips from Cafe Dalyan. It was only 30 lira and was tasty so we ordered one for Kate for after her Turkish class. Penny and Phil arrived next and decided another chicken wrap was in order and I bet the delivery guy thought we were odd, as he came over for the 3rd time. Jo arrived next with her cute little dog, Charlie, and we all had a good old natter. I’d had an update that the embassy would no longer be able to process a visa for me and was waiting to speak to Captain Caveman. He called as soon as I had finished eating and I went outside to speak to him. As is often the case, Captain Caveman had a Plan B for me coming to visit. He told me to look for a flight and apply for just a 30 day e-Visa. We would then fly out of Vietnam and back after getting a 2nd e-Visa for another 30 days, if I could. This all seemed straight forward but given that I would need a negative PCR test to enter Vietnam I had to be careful I didn’t pick a flight with a long lay over. We agreed a Turkish Airlines direct flight from Istanbul would be better but they had no flights on as yet. I would continue to wait but it was going to happen, I would go to Vietnam. I also had a date in the diary to be in Saigon on the 10th June for an important event which Captain Caveman had already committed to. I went back in to the bar, a little giddy that there was an alternative plan, but then there was some bad news. Debbie (Darling), Roy and Sue were all positive for Corona and had aborted their trip to Pamukkale. They had got a taxi back to Dalyan and Debbie (Darling) was quite poorly. She asked me to let everyone know, who had been in contact with them, that we needed to do another test. I had been in close contact with all 3 of them on Monday so it was probably only a matter of time until I caught it now. I went home, via the ongoing roadworks and scenic route, and had red wine, bread, cheese and olives but didn’t do a test as I’d had alcohol. A massive thunderstorm and heavy rain was due which also meant the WiFi went off for quite a few hours.
I didn’t sleep until 3am and was awake at 7am again on Friday 18th March, I’m not sure why. I went back to sleep then didn’t wake up until 10.30am. I lost 0.5kg on the scales this week and the cycling, Zumba, and walking were definitely helping with my leg muscles – I’d put 1-2cm on thighs and calves. I had cornflakes for breakfast then I went over to my parents’ place to put the curtains back up. I found I was an inch too short while precariously standing on the step ladder and had to abandon it. I booked in a cleaner, found a yoga class that I inquired about and did a few other jobs. Ann messaged to ask if she could come to mine to do an LFT to check if she had Corona as she had felt like she had swollen glands, unfortunately I was out so we arranged for her to come tomorrow morning. A few more people that we knew in Dalyan were testing positive recently so we wanted to double check. Captain Caveman was at Karst Villas, in Phong Nha, with Caroline, her dog V and Hung and it looked really hot there. I had a delivery from Emma Cevik of some pies, of which I had a mince and onion one for lunch with mushrooms, broccoli and gravy. I snacked on dates for afters and stayed home in case I had caught Corona but didn’t have any symptoms yet. That evening I ate the last of the (never-ending) teriyaki chicken with pasta, had cheese and pickled onions then did some writing.
Saturday 19th March was a busy and challenging day for me! I had booked the cleaner in because the apartment was full of dust and the floors were still dirty from the workmen. Ann came round at 9.30am so she could do a Lateral Flow Test. I’d already done my test and was negative, then we waited for her result which was also negative. We called for Vanessa before 10am and walked to the market. I bought potatoes and onions from the first stall for 24 lira, then peppers, carrots, mushrooms and aubergines from the next stall for 60 lira. I couldn’t resist getting another punnet of strawberries for 40 lira but 124 lira (£6.39) was the most I’ve spent at the market so far. Our bags were heavy as we walked back to town with the intention of all 3 of us going to Sofra bar for a bacon sandwich. Vanessa realised she had to get back and decided not to join Ann and I but when we got to Sofra the electric was off. It was a day for rugby but the England match wasn’t on until 11pm so I wasn’t sure if I would make it. After dropping off the market produce at home, I decided to go to Star Gurme to stock up on some non-Turkish food supplies. I bought the following: 1 Pesto sauce 15.00 2 baked beans 30.00 1 box cream crackers 30.00 1 brie 45.00 1 Curry paste 60.00 2 Coconut milk 70.00 1 Lurpak butter 80.00 3 cheddar 150.00
Total spent 480 lira (£25)
I managed to do all the talking in Turkish and the lady gave me a free box of Quinoa crackers. I popped in to Rehab bar but there were only the pool fellas in, no women as yet, so I met Sarah, Rach and Ann at Jiks for a beer. Vanessa joined us and then we went back up to Rehab bar to rejoin the pool lads, meet Kate and watch the rugby. I spoke to Captain Caveman about plans for a visit to Vietnam and we concluded that I needed to send my passport to the consulate in Ankara to get the 90 day visa and that I should do this as soon as possible. Unfortunately this would mean I wouldn’t be able to go back to the UK in a couple of days time. Matt and Mark were very practical and helpful with offers of us hiring a car for a road trip to Ankara and I messaged Sonuç to get a price for if we hired a driver. Kate and Vanessa were also on board with the idea and I was super excited to be able to have a way to get a visa. Finally we had a loose plan, as long as the embassy were able to grant me a visa. After pool, most people went home, they were the sensible ones. John and Andrea decided to go to Sofra for dinner so Mark, Kate, Ann and I decided to join them. I’d only had 3 beers by this time and I was purposely trying to pace myself as Kate had already asked if I minded keeping an eye on Mark, watching the rugby and him staying at mine. She hadn’t been feeling too good and fancied a night at home so I accepted the challenge. I was extra careful on the roadworks this time and was looking forward to some food as I’d not eaten since breakfast. I ordered a chicken stir fry and a glass of red wine for my dinner and in fact all of us, except Mark, ordered a chicken stir fry which came out at various times with it being so busy. I really enjoyed my food which was fresh and piping hot but I felt bad that Ann and Kate had to wait a bit longer for their’s when they were hungrier than me. Mark’s burger seemed to take ages and had still not arrived when I took an extra stir fry to Tayfur at Rehab, as he had a foot injury and was on crutches. When I got back the mood had changed somewhat because Mark had decided he no longer wanted to wait for his food, which was taking longer than expected. Kate had phoned a taxi to go home as planned, John and Andrea were also going home but Ann and I had ordered another wine. Unfortunately due to too much wine things didn’t quite work out as I’d imagined. Ann went home while Mark and I left Sofra to go back to Rehab bar, as arranged, to watch the rugby with Tayfur. We had some red wine, a disappointing result for England and a pretty late night. It was my turn to navigate us through the roadworks this time, we got back to mine without any injuries and, for some reason, thought it would be a good idea to stay up ridiculously late.
Rain stopped the work on my parents’ apartment on Monday 7th March and the pool at Captain Caveman’s Turkish apartment overflowed. I struggled to guess my wordle games this morning but eventually managed it. I tried a new one called Nerdle, which Kate had recommended to me, then I suggested it to Captain Caveman. He was now on his way back to Phong Nha, having been to visit Raj at Curry King in Tam Coc.
After being on my laptop until lunch time, I popped to Migros supermarket for some shopping, here’s what was in my basket:
Back home I had a simit with cheese spread and crisps for lunch, then strawberries with yoghurt and honey for afters.
As I had leftover Sunday dinner, I ate that and really enjoyed it for my evening meal, with a bit of broccoli from the freezer. Before I went out that night, I called to check my parents’ place was locked and I noticed that the gardener had been round. This was unusual as the weather had been awful and they don’t usual start cutting the grass until April. I took some photos so I could let Ma & Pa know about it and went to join Penny, Phil, John, Mark and Kate for more Monday Mayhem.
The specialist section of the Wonky’s quiz this week was James Bond, of which I knew very little about. Lucky for Penny and I, Kate had taken control of the whole thing. While Phil and John got bossed about, I just drank my wine and let them get on with it, until it got to the music round. By the end of the night, though, some of our team was a little inebriated and I had to resort to some cheering up tactics. I had to pull out the only thing I knew couldn’t fail to take one’s mind away from one’s problems! My secret skill is I can flip a considerable amount of beer mats with one hand. Mark didn’t believe I could do it, so I told him to video it! It had been a while, but my Dad had taught me well and, after steadily building them up one or two at a time, and numerous failed attempts, I managed it. By this time Mark had got bored of filming and, if I remember correctly, Kate was having a Bailey’s. As soon as filming stopped, the pressure was off and I managed to flip the 20 beer mats – Dad would have been proud! Mark and Kate left by taxi, instead of cycling, and Penny kindly gave me a lift home. I had arranged to meet Kate at 2pm tomorrow as we were off to try something new.
1st attempt of the beer mat trick – video by Mark4th attempt at the beer mat trick, 12 beer mats – video by Mark7th attempt at the beer mat trick, 20 beer mats – video by Mark
Friday 25th February has got to have been one of my favourite days this year, so far! I was up very early so that I could speak to Captain Caveman and get the sausage casserole in the slow cooker before my day trip. I did my weekly weigh-in and wasn’t as disappointed as I thought I’d be. I had lost just 0.5kg and my leg measurements had increased a little bit. Zumba was definitely helping with my legs and today I would arrange with Penny when I could pick up my new bicycle. I went to the bank and the shop before coming back to pack a bag with the drinks, plus some popcorn and biscuits – I took my own Earl Grey tea bags too. I saw that Kitler, the cat who looks like Hitler, had returned to the Fire Opal complex and was following me about begging for attention. In the news there was a mention of bootleg booze in our province of Muğla, more here: https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/investigations/antiaircraft-bullet-seized-in-bootleg-alcohol-op-in-turkeys-mugla Just before I left for my day trip I got a message from Captain Caveman to say he couldn’t video call as he was out with Tatas at my favourite Phong Nha eatery, East Hill. They were already on lunch time and having BBQ chicken with sticky rice – my favourite! He sent me photos and told me that Tatas was joining him on a holiday to Hanoi next week. Then I had to go to get on the boat and I wouldn’t have WiFi so I would speak to him tomorrow perhaps. As I walked to the boat I met with Penny and Phil who were fussing some street dogs along the way and had their stash of booze with them. As we got to the boat outside Okyanus, they were resurfacing the terrace there and concreting it. It was windy and sunny but looking like we had picked a good day for the boat trip.
At 11am we were ready to start our boat trip. Penny and Phil had brought pastries and croissants for everyone’s breakfast, I just had a cup of Earl Grey tea because I didn’t want to risk a bad stomach and ruin the day. Ann had arrived and brought sparkling wine for her tipple, unfortunately Debbie (Darling) had already rocked the boat by deciding she wasn’t coming and a couple of others were unable to make it. After picking up Mark on the way we went out to sea, the water was fairly choppy and the sun was shining as we headed for Ekincik Bay. We were the only boat out that we saw and the water looked so clear and inviting. Ann and I didn’t have an alcoholic drink until after midday (we were pacing ourselves) and I started on the white wine. We sat at the front of the boat in the sun, chatting and drinking, while Turgay cooked up a delicious lunch. I’d taken a bottle of red wine which I’d be given by my aunty and uncle in England. It was a lovely Primitivo which Mark and I shared with our meal. The food was fantastic, as always, but after eating Turgay was keen to have a swim. He said he’d been swimming a few days ago and that the water temperature was cold but not too cold to swim. No one had brought their swimmers except for Turgay so he jumped in off the top of the boat. I managed to get up the ladder on to the top of the boat for the first time since my leg injury and was pleased with that. In the 5 months I’ve been here I’ve not yet been in the sea because of the cyst on my shoulder and my leg so I was keen to get in. I had suitable enough underwear on to pass for a bikini (if anything it covered more than my bikini did) so I decided to go for it. I should have realised, when only Turgay thought this was a good idea, that it was going to be freezing! I went down the steps and my legs were cold but once I was half way in I just had to go for it – there was definitely an expletive! If I had to guess I would say the water temperature was around 16°C and my legs were pretty numb. It was definitely fresh and I was pleased to find I could do the steps a lot better than I had been able to before. Ann, who looked like she was feeling the cold for me, wrapped me in the towels and I made my way to the front of the boat where there was sun and a wine waiting for me.
Before sunset I was back in my leggings as we headed to the beach to get ready to watch the sun go down. I wanted to walk on the beach to take photos and have a paddle so I dragged Ann and Mark with me. While Mark and I headed straight for the sea, Ann took herself off along the beach to sit on a wooden post and admire the view. The sea was actually quite warm and we paddled and drank our drinks while watching the sunset. We went back to the boat and topped up with more drinks as we returned to Dalyan.
It was almost 7pm when we returned to Dalyan. We discovered when we docked that we still had almost a bottle of wine left between us so we stayed on the boat to finish it off. We drank, danced and sang until gone 8pm then made our way off the boat. Ann was being sensible and decided to go straight home, Penny and Phil got a taxi home, Mark was intent on going to Sofra bar and I decided I needed a shower and bed! I remembered to turn off my sausage casserole in the slow cooker which was looking rather well cooked. I’d forgotten it was Friday night bingo at Lukka bar so I decided to go to that with Mark and Turgay. There was dancing and I threw myself in to that with Mehmet, Annie and Sara. As far as I recall we left there about 1am and I had the bright idea that a sausage casserole supper would be a good idea!
My Turkish class on Wednesday 16th February was great and I really enjoyed it. After I finished the class, I was waiting for Debbie (Darling), as arranged, to go to the doctor’s for our booster vaccines. I’d also arranged to meet Sabine and Ray who were selling citrus fruit for charity and the time slightly overlapped. Debbie (Darling) didn’t turn up and I’d already been playing lightsabers with Katrina’s child, for too long. I went without her, but at the Doctor’s they had ran out of Pfizer vaccines and told me to come back next week. I headed back along the river to meet Sabine and Ray at River Terrace for a drink in the sunshine by the river. I managed just 2 diet cokes and a really good chat with my friends. Katrina joined us and I took home a kilogram each of oranges, grapefruit and lemons for 10 lira (54p) which was an absolute bargain! That night I tackled the mystery meal which happened to be chicken chasseur so I was lucky to have it with rice. I had the carrot cake from Sara for pudding and one of the oranges I bought earlier, both were great.
I started out with good intentions on Thursday 17th February and had half a grapefruit for breakfast. It was so sweet and juicy and I was glad I’d bought them. Today the weather was looking good so I went to Migros supermarket and had planned for another evening at home. My shopping bag consisted of:
I had a macaroon for lunch and tried to crack on with some emails, only to find that an email wouldn’t send and I needed it to. I decided I would nip to Lukka bar and try to send my email from there. When I arrived some of the pool lads were having a game so I went over to say hello. I ended up having a red wine while I sorted out my admin and watched the pool match. It turned in to a late night with a few glasses of red wine and a snack of Baba Ghanoush at gone midnight!
On Friday 11th February, it was about 9.30am when I opened my eyes and remembered I had gone back to Ann’s house with her and stayed there. Bendy, her dog, was in the bed under the covers and came to give me a Good Morning kiss. As I walked home, the sun was out and I was really hot in all my winter evening layers. King Emlak sent a man round to have another look at the ceiling where the leaks had been and then I had to go to meet someone at my parents’ place for another quote for the decorating. I was quite hungover and hot, I saw Debbie (Darling) and had a chat then I went home for a shower and some cornflakes for lunch. I was needing a night in but I’d already agreed to meet at Hotel Dalyance for Louise’s birthday drinks and cake. Louise, who makes amazing birthday cakes, had made her own in the design of a turtle and it was amazing. I had just 2 cokes as I couldn’t stomach any booze today. I got chatting to quite a few people but by 10pm I needed to go home to bed. Sonuç was working there and was encouraging me to ‘borrow’ Sarah’s bicycle to get home quicker but I couldn’t even get my leg over to get on it properly. I had a booze-free, early night because tomorrow I had big plans which I didn’t want to cancel.
I didn’t have breakfast on Saturday 12th February as I got up late and needed to get to the weekly market. I met Ann there and I bought mushrooms, carrots, chestnuts, cauliflower and red cabbage for a total of 75 lira (£4). In the afternoon I was meeting a friend for lunch and had already set off to go but she messaged to cancel. I didn’t get it until I’d already walked to the other end of town. I saw Mark’s bicycle outside Rehab and went in to say hello to him and the owner. I had a cup of tea as I was trying to cut down a bit on the booze. Mark was meeting the rest of the pool lads and some of the wives were stopping by later so I had a chat with a few of them. I caved and had 1 beer but then I headed home only to realise there was a planned power outage until 5pm. I sat for a while and chatted to Abi outside Maizie Moo, in the sun, then went home for some much needed food – a cheese and salami toastie. I was meant to be going out to Sofra bar but I decided I needed a bit of a rest. The toastie had not agreed with my stomach so I cancelled going out, got some lounge wear on, then later I had a spaghetti bolognese for dinner. I stayed up until 1am because of the Jazz bar noise and I even had a midnight snack of chestnuts, which were so good.
The local Dalyan football team were playing at home on Sunday 13th February and I’d been invited by friends to join them. If Captain Caveman was here, he would be going as he loves to support Dalyanspor – I’m not a fan of football. I had arranged to spend my Sunday in a leisurely way, seeing friends and relaxing. After buttered toast for breakfast I had a wander around Dalyan as it was sunny and I needed some exercise. I bumped in to friends along the way and called in to see a couple of other friends as I passed their houses. I was meant to have been going to Sunday dinner at Lukka bar with Sarah but had cancelled when I didn’t feel too well yesterday. I walked to Ann’s and we had a glass of wine outside in her conservatory and fussed the dogs. Ann had cooked a lovely roast chicken Sunday dinner with Yorkshire puddings and my favourite cauliflower cheese. We were sensible today, limited only to one glass of wine to be healthier, then I walked home before dark. In the evening I watched something on TV, put the washing on and made popcorn, using a small bowl as a replacement for the missing lid. It was a nice relaxed weekend with a sensible amount of alcohol, less calories consumed and some exercise.
I got up quite late on Friday 14th January, we were 2 weeks in to the year now and my health kick, and being a bit more sensible on my eating and drinking, hadn’t really started out well. It was weigh-in day and I was expecting a bad result but I had lost 0.75kg and I was happy with that. I was about to have some food when Jamie messaged to say he was at Tez bar and to meet him there. As the sun was shining I decided it was a good idea but was not expecting to see someone wearing shorts – it was warm in the sun but definitely unusual to find a Turkish man wearing shorts in Dalyan at this time of year. After a couple of IPA blondes, and a spot of socialising with friends, Jamie and I left to go to the supermarket, leaving some of the others who were going to Bingo night at Lukka’s. Unfortunately Jamie and I got sidetracked and ended up in Jiks having a couple of wines and a pizza, which was really lovely and I even ate the whole thing. I did go to Migros, as intended though but only for a few bits and bobs. I got home at a reasonable hour, had tea and biscuits and finalised the invites for Sarah’s birthday party tomorrow afternoon.
Saturday 15th January started very well but finished badly; I decided to go for a walk along the river as it was another sunny day and I wanted to see how the water levels were now. Unfortunately they were still extremely high but below the flood line mostly now. I could see the snow on the mountains and the tea garden had been completed demolished.
I’d had no breakfast so decided to have lunch out at Mahir, a local Turkish restaurant in the mosque square – a place I’d been meaning to go to but had never got round to it. I ordered a chicken doner kebab and chips with a coke and it came to 50 lira (£2.74). It was big, fresh and so tasty – definitely a new favourite now. While I was eating, Peter went past and I shouted him over for a chat then we left together to walk back down the river where I went to Lukka bar and Peter carried on walking.
It was Sarah’s birthday celebrations and a few of us were meeting at 3pm at Lukka for drinks and pressie giving. There was quite a turnout, we all sat in the sun having a beverage and I chose a Turkish cider. After 2 drinks, and as planned, we walked over to Sofra bar for the next bit of celebrating and a few more people joined us there. Nanny Kay had some nachos but spilled the sauce down her white jumper and Sarah had one of the delicious bacon sandwiches. Ann and Helen had chicken stir-fry noodles, Debbie (Darling) had a burger and Jamie had a sandwich and cheesy chips. I made the mistake of being too full on kebab and didn’t have any food so it probably comes as no surprise that the night ended messy!
Peter and Selahı were drinking rakı on the next table to us and people at Sarah’s birthday started to leave so we merged the party at Sofra. Even Sarah and Debbie (Darling) had vacated Sofra bar but Jamie, Ann, Peter and Selahı remained to come up with the bright idea of going to Jazz Bar. Jamie and I are dubious about the drinks there and didn’t want to go but, before we knew it, we were watching a very talented musician play a clarinet and had ordered a glass of wine each. The last thing I remember is putting Ann in a taxi home and then having a tequila shot!
I wasn’t feeling too spritely when I woke up on Sunday 16th January and was convinced that the booze in Jazz bar was dodgy. I had 3 swollen, slightly bruised knuckles on my left hand (I had to take my ring off) and my face hurt so I messaged Jamie and Selahı to see if they knew why. They didn’t, but something wasn’t right and we vowed not to go again. We had already booked in to have Sunday lunch at Heybe’s with Ann and when I got there, in my wellies, I stunk of cat pee. What a to do, I leave my wellies outside the door so that is why they stunk from the cat spraying on them on Wednesday night. We were all hung over, cold and drinking soft drinks while waiting quite a while for our dinner. We had tomato soup for starter, beef with Yorkshire puddings for main and apple crumble for dessert. I really struggled to finish mine, due to the hangover, and took half of mine plus a bit of Jamie’s home. We were all begging for mercy and I went home and got straight back in to bed!
I had an exciting day on Monday 10th January; I woke up early, which made a nice change, but I only had a probiotic drink for breakfast because I had a lunch appointment. I had a first visit to Porta Dalya restaurant, which used to be Köşem, with Jamie and Nanny Kay. It was still raining hard and it was a lovely welcome inside the cafe where all 3 of us ordered the Chicken Alfredo for 45 lira (£2.50) and a coke. It was really lovely and tasty, served with grated parmesan too and I’d definitely go there again as the service was also great. After lunch Jamie and I went to buy butter at Alp’s Balıkcim shop and I managed to get some frozen french type for only 20 lira (£1.10). The stray dog we call Socks, had followed us and was trying to see if there were any sausages available and then we drove around the corner to Şarküteri where Jamie got some bits and I bought Lurpak at an extortionate 80 lira (£4.40) but I really prefer it and it would last me ages. I was definitely noticing the price increases more and taking note of what I was buying. I needed to make sure that any jobs I applied for were going to be able to pay in to my UK account as a Turkish monthly wage was now 4,250 lira (£234) despite a recent increase. I had the leftover Sunday dinner at home followed by chocolate and herbal tea, then had an early night seeing as I had a very busy day tomorrow.
My birthday was Tuesday 11th January and I woke up to very heavy rain, it was quite stormy out too. Captain Caveman had already been to have his 3rd vaccine this morning and said it was a bit chaotic with the paperwork resulting in the nurses not being that busy because of the bottleneck. We arranged to speak on a video call after I had been out for breakfast and I sent him a video of it hailing here in Dalyan – the pool was almost full of rain water! I opened birthday cards from my parents, Gayle, Neil, Morgan and April, which was nice. I was tempted to stay in bed because of the horrendous weather and expected my friends might cancel going out for breakfast but instead I got a message from Jamie to ask if I wanted picking up after he went to get Ann. I said yes and I even ventured as far as putting the bin out in torrential rain, prior to getting in the car to head a very short drive to Jiks. When we got there it was closed even though we had arranged to meet 30 minutes after it opens and Nanny Kay was texting from inside her car in front of us to check where our Plan B should be. Out of season on a Tuesday there are not too many places to go for an English breakfast so we went to somewhere we knew was open and easy to park outside of, Lukka Bar! We were the only ones brave enough to have ventured out in the rain and there were concerns that the nearby river was going to flood over. I got some lovely gifts which I really appreciated and it turns out my Dalyan friends know me well, already! For breakfast Nanny Kay had a bacon, sausage and egg sandwich which came with chips, Jamie and Ann had a full English breakfast while I went for full English without the fried eggs or tomato. Back home I arranged to spend some of my birthday money from my parents on purchasing the Firestick from Andy, which meant I would have access to UK TV because I mainly wanted to be able to watch The Apprentice and the news channels. That afternoon I had a video call with Ma & Pa and they even sang Happy Birthday to me which was lovely and I got to say thanks for my birthday card and present. I wasn’t going out until 6.30pm tonight for birthday celebrations so decided a relaxing afternoon was in order but, when I went upstairs to get out a facemask (which my sister got me for Christmas), I had a bit of an unwelcome surprise!
As I opened the drawer to get out my toiletries and facemask, I could hear a dripping sound so I checked in the ensuite bathroom to find the floor was full of water! The roof was leaking and the window kept blowing open so the rain was coming in at both sides of the bathroom and it took a couple of towels to mop it up with. I decided to check the rest of the upstairs and then spent the next hour mopping up, putting towels down, finding containers and taking photos to send to Leanne at King Emlak. The spare bedroom was the worst as there was a crack in the ceiling where water was running in from and it was fortunate that I was at home as it had started to dribble on to the bed. Luckily, I had an empty 50 litre container to hand and was able to move the bed across without too much trouble. The skylight in the main bathroom was also leaking but it was above the shower and not causing too much of a problem. I saw from friends on Facebook that the river had indeed flooded over and was inside the bar at River Terrace, this was quite unusual and had not happened for some years. There was also talk on Facebook that the mudbaths at Köyceğiz were about to flood too and locals were starting to worry about their homes. Leanne replied straight away to say a workman would be out on Thursday to have a look and make any repairs so that was a good thing and I could relax and get my facemask on. I picked the hydrating one out of the pack and went for that, while laying on the sofa, trying to relax a bit. It felt really nice and I think I may have left it on a bit too long because, when I took it off to get ready, my face was quite pink.
As arranged, I met up with the gang at Lukka Bar at 6.30pm to start my birthday celebrations. There were more cards and gifts which I was a bit overwhelmed about and Appo put his foot in it by asking if I wanted pasta, which is Turkish for cake. We had one drink and then decided to walk to our venue as we thought the rain had eased off a bit. At Spice Garden there was a table booked for a group of us and there was more cards and gifts which I really wasn’t expecting. Ann and I had the set meal for 2 at 250 lira (£13.71) which despite recent price increases was a good deal. We had chosen chicken pakora and poppadoms for our starter and they were lovely, we shared mains of butter chicken, chicken tikka masala, rice and garlic naan bread. Everything was so delicious and plenty of it, so much so that I took leftovers home. There was another amazing birthday surprise; a massive cake from Katrina, Mehmet and Jamie which was absolutely fantastic, and appropriately in the shape of a wine bottle! I was so surprised and everyone sang Happy Birthday to me. We dished up the cake which was beautiful and made by Louise, one of Katrina’s friends. Louise called us to wish me happy birthday and ask if I liked the cake, which I did. It had proper sponge birthday cake inside, with shaved white chocolate and icing and I loved it. Debbie (Darling) did a little speech and I felt really special and I felt a bit overwhelmed, once again. We decided to leave the half of cake at Spice Garden and go back to Lukka for more drinks for everyone who wasn’t driving so I said my farewells to Nanny Kay, Sioned, Julie and Andy then set off walking with Sarah, who was still cheesed off about her starter being cleared away while she had left the table to take a phonecall. Back at Lukka I had a birthday whisky, or Bailey’s, or both I can’t remember and we all played Killer Pool. It was a great birthday celebration though and one I would definitely remember as being the most moist one I’d had in a while! As we were giving the ball a right old kick I was totally unaware that there were people in Dalyan who’s homes were getting flooded. I put the remaining curry in the fridge and went to bed before 1am feeling incredibly lucky.
When I woke up on Friday 26th November the news was packed full of articles about Corona; a new variant had been discovered in South Africa, more here: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-59418127 I saw a Facebook post to say that the UK were banning flights from South Africa. France had announced that a 3rd vaccine booster would be required for vaccine passes to be valid. In the Vietnamese news there was reports that a total of 3 people had died after their vaccination in Vietnam, the investigation was ongoing, check it out here: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20211126/following-two-deaths-one-more-dies-after-covid19-vaccination-in-vietnam/64368.html Then later it was reported that there was a 4th death from the same batch of vaccines in Vietnam, see below: https://tuoitrenews.vn/news/society/20211126/vietnam-seals-vero-cell-covid19-vaccine-batch-following-4th-postvaccination-death/64382.html My arm was aching today, 2 days after my vaccine and I felt incredibly tired so I decided that I was going to have a day of chilling out and I was going to have a night in tonight. My delivery of meat pies and sausage rolls from Emma was delivered by her husband, Yusuf, and I put some in the freezer before I was tempted to eat them all – I did have 2 sausage rolls for my breakfast though! For lunch I made a bit of a strange concoction of köfte, rice and mushrooms which tasted really good. I went to meet a friend at the tea gardens in the afternoon and when I got there it was a mess because of the improvements the council were attempting to make. The cafe was now next to the toilets, on the grass, so no longer overlooking the river and the rock tombs. After several Turkish teas and a chat I walked back home, just as the sun was setting and I called in to the stationers to buy a notebook, I spotted they had some good 2022 diaries there too so I purchased a nice one. That night I ordered a takeaway from Spice Garden and got enough for tonight and tomorrow’s lunch. I had poppadoms, chicken tikka masala with chips and nan, I even had a couple of glasses of red wine to wash it down and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went to bed really tired but I couldn’t get to sleep.
I had a busy day at the start of the week on Monday 22nd November. The lira was at 15 to the English pound so my money was now at half the value of when I put it in the bank, which was disconcerting. I was too busy checking all the up to date rules for my forthcoming trip to England that I completely forgot to have any breakfast. I found that I was going to need all of the addresses of where I would be going in the first 10 days of my stay so that I could put them on the PLF, I also needed to decide on at least 1 address to stay at, for the first 2 days – this was going to be tricky as I didn’t really have a plan as yet, but I needed one before I left Turkey. I decided to have a bit of a clear out so that I could donate any bric-a-brac to the white elephant stall at the Christmas fayre this year and I came across a lamp without a working bulb. I had a walk to the Millennium shop to buy a replacement to see if it worked and the weather outside looked like it might rain at any time. The forecast had said to expect a lot of rain this week and so I decided to go to the new A101 supermarket on the high street and Migros to stock up on essentials. Here’s what I purchased, I will let you decide what was actually essential:
A101 Supermarket 1 packet of chicken noodles 2.20 2 bottles of soda water 2.70 1 pack of sigara böreği 6.90 2 packs of crisps 10.40
Total spent 22.20 lira (£1.48)
Migros Supermarket 1 plastic bag 0.25 1 pack of biscuits 2.50 2 simit 4.50 1 Bounty 4.95 1 packet of bechamel sauce mix 6.45 1 toastie loaf 9.95 1 jar of tomato paste 9.95 1 pack mushrooms 11.49 3 probiotic drinks 12.75 1 pack lasagne sheets 13.95 1 can baked beans 17.95 1 jar of pesto 22.95 1 pack of beetroot 24.90 1 bag of chestnuts 24.95
Total spent 167.49 lira (£11.17)
While I was packing my shopping I saw Maria from Askins estate agents and we had a little chat, then I paid and left to go home.
The lamp bulb was replaced, it worked so I decided to keep it and, after dropping off the shopping and eating a simit for a quick lunch, I decided to go for a walk to the doctor’s. I got a message from Maria to say I had left my Migros card at the supermarket but she had it at work and I could stop by to collect it, which I did – it was really kind of her to do that. My app said I could go for my 2nd Pfizer jab now so I thought I’d make sure that I was still booked in, especially as I needed to have 14 days clear before I landed in England. It was a nice walk along the river but the streets where the road was being taken up was a mess. The doctor confirmed I should come at 9.45am on Wednesday for my next Corona vaccine so that was good as it gave me 2 days spare. On my walk around town I bumped in to Viv who had just been to Alp’s Balıkcim for sausages, which made me want some. Alp has a section of English stuff so I made a few purchases as a treat:
Alp’s shop 1 bottle of HP brown sauce 1 can of baked beans 1 jar of tandoori paste 6 pork sausages 1 Cumberland sausage wheel
This came to a total of 150 lira (£10) but the beans were on offer at 12.50 lira so I couldn’t resist buying another for 5 lira cheaper than in the supermarket.
While I was out, Ann had messaged to ask if I fancied meeting at Heybe’s for an early dinner so I did. She had wine, I had tea and when she ordered her usual chicken schnitzel I decided to go with the potato skin starter. When it came it had a jacket potato with it and was gorgeous but I couldn’t eat it all so I took the jacket potato part home to have with my leftover Sunday dinner tomorrow. By the time I got home it was dark, had gone quite a bit colder and I saw that the Vietnamese Corona cases were on the rise again.
It was probably the coldest day so far on Tuesday 23rd November and I was wearing a fleece indoors as I ate my simit, cheese and olives for breakfast. I decided I still needed provisions for the massive week of rain that was forecast so I togged up and ventured out to the shops again;
Şok Supermarket 3 red onions 3.22 1 packet of roast chicken bags 4.15 4 carrots 7.16 4 probiotic drinks 19.80
I also picked up a bottle of wine from Tolga’s wine shop for 45 lira (£3), never mind the rain I was ready for a blizzard!
I had a late lunch which consisted of my leftover Sunday dinner and yesterday’s leftover jacket potato (both from Heybe’s) which was absolutely gorgeous. My next mission was to make a lasagne from the bolognese that I had bubbling away in the slow cooker and could use my new glass containers for batch freezing some of it. I got peckish while it was cooking and ate a Bounty and then some chicken pieces with BBQ sauce. When the lasagne was ready I had to taste some so I cut off the ends and ate those, it was really good and I would look forward to more of it in the next couple of days. I’d been watching a series on Netflix called Cuckoo, with comedian Greg Davies in, and was finding it quite entertaining so I watched more before bed and set the alarm so that I didn’t overlay for my important appointment tomorrow.
On Thursday 11th November it was already time for my parents to submit their PLF, a requirement to return to the UK, and from what we had been reading online it might be a bit of a chore. As none of us have a printer our initial plan was to complete it and then go to the stationers, who would print everything for a very small fee, but it would still mean Mom having access to her emails, which she didn’t always have. Our Plan B was even better, Vanessa and Matt had a printer and offered to help us which also meant if we did anything wrong we could easily rectify the situation. I went over to my parents’ so that I could do the 2 PLFs on my phone and Mom had already got all the required documents to hand. Dad was putting me off slightly by pacing up and down next to where we were sitting and my Mom had to tell him to find something to do. The only information needed on the forms are as follows; Name, uk address, email address, UK phone number, flight number, flight date, flight seat number, flight landing time, passport number and expiry date, vaccine status, dates arrived abroad and PCR test reference number (for day 2). I’d worked in insurance and Mom had worked in accounts so we weren’t bad at form filling in, I’d also had experience of completing the Turkish one when I came here, however, the UK one was pretty badly laid out and was over 4 pages when it could have been 1. It was in an illogical order with lots of repetition and took far longer than it should have, but we managed it. We checked each one 3 times before submission and then sent it to our friends ready for them to print later and bring it when we met them for drinks later on. My Mom already had all her other documents printed as we had heard that the check-in queues were sometimes long because of passengers trying to find missing docs on their phone. With that all done, I was hungry as I hadn’t had any breakfast and I suggested somewhere we hadn’t tried this visit yet, somewhere I had avoided eating in the past because of my ‘food allergies’. We took the long walk via the river and walked all the way along to Kaunos tea gardens near the turtle statue. It was lovely and sunny, Dad had coffee and we had Turkish tea which was very nice. It was already 12.45pm so we ordered food, they weren’t doing pancakes so Mom ordered calamari, Dad had a cheese, tomato and sausage toasted sandwich and I had the cheese and sausage one. It’s Turkish sausage so more like a salami but is made from beef and is delicious in a toastie. The food was great and the waitress was super keen and quite good with her English, I tried a little bit of Turkish too. The prices were really good value and Dad noted the beer was about the cheapest in Dalyan (for next time). We were meant to be meeting friends in the afternoon but I got a message from them to say they were unable to make it today. It might have been a good thing as by the time we had walked back in to town, having tried to find a shop that was open to get some Turkish Delight for my sister, I needed the toilet so urgently that I had to leave my parents and get home quickly.
After having an immediate reaction to my cheese and Turkish sausage sandwich, from the tea garden, I was at home resting up when I got a message from Selahı, asking where I was as he was at Bistro Blue and would be there until 4pm for me to go and purchase some of the lovely wine he had. I went as soon as I could as I really loved the Leona Cabernet Sauvignon which I was going to buy at a reduced price and hoped to buy a bottle of prosecco too. When I got there I was immediately offered a drink, a nice glass of red wine as I joined 3 others plus Selahı. We had a bit of a chat and then as I had almost finished my wine the Turkish men left to go to the barbers and left me with the English chap who’d come to collect some cushions. When Selahı returned he insisted on a top up and then I was almost late to meet the evening gang but had enjoyed the surprise Sunday club. After dropping off my 4 bottles of wine at home, I arrived at the 2 Charlies bar where my parents, Vanessa and Matt were already drinking and I ordered a wine. I was a bit put out that the print outs had the wrong passport expiry date on for my Mom, even though I read it back to her 3 times, and couldn’t understand how that had even happened but she didn’t seem too worried and said she would chance it. We had another drink then my parents and I said our farewells to Vanessa, Matt and Alan (who had now joined us) as we were heading off for my last Turkish meal with my parents before they left Dalyan. Dad was up for trying a place that had been one of my favourites the last time that Captain Caveman and I were here in winter, River House. There was an outdoor fire so we sat at a table near to that and ordered glasses of wine. The menu is extensive but I found it easy to decide on the chicken casserole, Dad ordered liver and onions, while Mom went with the most unexpected dish from the menu – Singapore noodles! I should have realised she was acting out of sorts at this point but it wasn’t until a couple of hours later that we noticed Mom was acting out of character. Throughout all of their month here Mom had been keeping an eye on Dad and telling him he couldn’t go mad on the drinking and he often wanted to stay out longer but tonight Mom was the one to suggest we go on for a nightcap somewhere else. We ended the night in Lukka bar giving the proverbial ball a right old kick, we even made the bar staff join in with our private party until another couple joined in. We knew we were drunk as I had 3 Bailey’s but my Dad was in utter disbelief as my Mom had twice that amount and kept complaining her’s had evaporated. At one point she started to complain it must not be real Bailey’s, but it was, and she didn’t even care when we got the rather large bill at the end of the night. It was an unexpected end to their month long holiday but it was such a laugh – I suspected both Mom and I would suffer from hangovers and leg twinges from all the dancing when we got up tomorrow!
joloyolo 