Dalyan – 1st & 2nd April

Having consumed a massive amount of calories in the previous week, it was good to see the scales had been kind to me on Friday 1st April. I had lost 1kg, I still had to lose at least 3kg but I had friends and family visiting this month so I wasn’t optimistic. My legs were back to having 1cm difference in the good and bad legs again, but I wasn’t sure why.
I didn’t bother with breakfast because I needed to get the cats fed and do some work before my lunch appointment. I had said I would meet Vanessa and Matt in town. When I arrived Vanessa and Matt’s bikes were outside Rehab bar but it was closed, so I walked over to meet them at nearby Rodrigo bar. They were sat on a building site, Matt with a beer and Vanessa with a soft drink. I had a coke and a few of their nibbles before Vanessa and I decided to go for some lunch. Matt had got word from the pool fellas that they had an alternative venue and he would move my (Kate’s) bicycle for me. A couple of concrete lorries had arrived on bar street so we were concerned the bikes may get stuck in. Vanessa and I decided to eat at River House, where she had a burger and chips and I had a Turkish sausage pide. The food was nice and we enjoyed sitting in the sun before walking back to Rehab to collect our bikes, pop to Migros for a few provisions then cycle to Mark and Kate’s for a bit of relaxing. We had a lovely afternoon chatting and we had intended to have a bubble bath as Mark and Kate have 2 jacuzzi baths. We had a few wines and a sandwich but the night ended with a power cut. It was the whole area, not just the house and we were lucky that Kate had lots of strategically placed tea-lights about the place. Vanessa and I moved outside by the pool with our drinks and sat ‘romantically’ in the candlelight. It wasn’t too long before we realised we were pretty tired and were going to have an early night!

When I woke up on Saturday 2nd April, it was before my alarm to feed the cats. Vanessa was fast asleep and snoring so I crept out of bed to check on the pets. All were pleased to see me and couldn’t wait to get some food. When Vanessa got up she decided to make us some toast and because the toaster burned all of the slices she put in, I thought we might need a new toaster. I was on the phone to Captain Caveman who was out of the cave but going straight back in again and was doing a lot of tours without breaks. I had burnt toast and a croissant for my breakfast with a Yorkshire tea then we decided to sit by the pool and enjoy the sunshine. I put on factor 50 suncream and we lay on the sunbeds for quite a while. We sat chatting for hours and then decided a wine would be a good idea. When we eventually got to Rehab bar to join the pool group we were a little bit sunburned. We sat outside with Tayfur, who ordered us a pide from Pamukkale restaurant, and we met some nice Dutch people. We ate our lunch, which came with a mixed salad and pomegranate sauce – it was very nice. I cycled home at a reasonable hour, after just a couple of shandies, so that I could feed the cats and water the plants. My sunburn was really bad so I slathered moisturiser on my stomach and ordered a taxi with Fikri. I’d invited Ann, Penny, Phil, Sarah, Rach and Vanessa to River Terrace for dinner at 7.30pm with live music. Unfortunately Penny and Phil had declined, with them having plans to go to Fethiye early the next morning. Sarah was unsure if she would make it as she had to work this weekend. I got there early and was surprised to see that Penny and Phil were there, but they weren’t stopping. Vanessa arrived on time and it was filling up nicely. By 7.45pm there was still no sign of Ann or Rach and a big group had just arrived so Vanessa and I ordered food. On Penny’s recommendation we both went for the Carbonara, Ann and Rach arrived and they ordered but were told there would be a wait for food. Vanessa and I had eaten our food by the time Ann got her casserole and Rach her burger. Vanessa and I also started to feel like we may have sunstroke and my belly was very burnt. I finished off Vanessa’s carbonara and had chocolate brownie with ice-cream for afters. Rach had a lovely cheesecake which I tried a bit of. Penny and Phil were still there when we all left around 10pm and the band were still playing some good songs. It was clear that Vanessa and I had overdone the sun and the boozing so we were glad to be going home. On the way out I bumped in to friends who asked how I was getting on with the house sitting. I told them I’d enjoyed the sex swing and was pleased that all plants and cats were still alive thus far. Tonight was the 5th night of Mark and Kate being away so half way through, hopefully things would continue to go well.

Dalyan – 30th & 31st March

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.

Dalyan – 28th & 29th March

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.