Skiing in Fethiye

Finally on Sunday we managed to get up to the ski slope at Erendağ.  This project was planned and talked about for so long that when it actually opened I think we hardly believed it.  On Sunday it was raining stair rods in Fethiye and, hoping that we might see snow, we set off with a couple of friends.

The site is about 80km from Fethiye, in the mountains above Kemer and Saklıkent gorge.  The road is good as far as Seki and the last 9km, though dirt road, is wide and not too steep, though we did manage to miss a sign and nearly ended up in someone’s garden.  At the turn off the tarmac road there was no snow but gradually as we climbed up there were patches beside the road.  The rain turned to sleet and then snow and suddenly we arrived at the restaurant and ski slope of Eren Mountain.

view from the restaurnat at Eren Mountain

The boys and I got fitted with boots and skis straight away – amazingly they had a pair of ski boots to fit Emre’s size 48 feet!  Kaan had never been on a drag lift before and it was a pretty bumpy ride up.  He fell off once on the way up, but managed it well the second time – even negotiating the numerous other people who had fallen off and were littering the way!

At the top of the slope it was a case of find a way down, the new snow having covered everything.  Emre, being kamikaze, headed down the steepest place he could find; Kaan and I were a bit more wary and took some time (and a few tumbles) to find our ‘ski feet’.  It’s three years since we last skied and that was on the beautifully snow-ploughed slopes of Sarıkamuş (in the northeast of Turkey).

ready to go!

In the end, we all made it down and the kids skied a bit more while we went for a hot drink by the fire.  The overall verdict is there is still quite a lot that needs doing up there, but it’s great to be able to pop up for an afternoon on the ‘piste’ and I really enjoyed just being in the snow again.

The journey home – not so much though!  We were, as usual, the last to leave.  It was dark, snowing and the car was so full of wet bodies that the windows were completely steamed up.  Suffice it to say that I was quite relieved to be back in rainy Fethiye.  And it’s still raining now.

The Prime Minister comes to town

The big news in Fethiye this week was the Prime Minister coming to town.  He was here for a couple of hours on Saturday but the visit caused quite a commotion!  All the roads in the centre of town were closed and all cars were removed.  A stage was erected in the park just off the seafront so all the boats moored on the harbour front were also moved a short way out.  The father of a boy who came for an English lesson on Saturday morning reported that ‘a hundred’ buses filled with police had arrived (possibly slight exaggeration!) and Emre reported that from the roof of Burger King he saw several snipers on nearby roofs.  There were also helicopters buzzing overhead, panzers (armoured vehicles) ready on the ground and ‘jammers’ – which I have never even heard of – to block remotely operated gadgets, particularly bombs.

I wondered if the Prime Minister at home has as much security when he goes ‘on location’?  I really don’t know, having never been present at such an occasion but I rather think that it is probably a bit more low-key.  Cem says that is because there are not so many people in the UK who hate the PM.  I think there are probably just as many, but they are less likely to act on it.  Fiery Turkish tempers make for more of a direct threat; they were even taking loose change from anyone who wanted to go into the reserved area – in case they threw coins at the PM!

Anyway, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was driven through town waving (Emre claims he waved right at him) and distributing diaries (Cem claims he threw one directly at him) before appearing on the specially-built stage to give an hour-long speech.  Like all politicians, he spent much of the time praising his party and what they have achieved in the 8 years they have been in office – roads built, hospitals opened etc.….

The one question that many people wanted to hear the answer to was whether there are plans to promote Fethiye to province status.  The answer – which he luckily waited until the end to provide – was a resounding ‘no’. I say luckily because as soon as he said that, at least half the crowd listening got up and walked out!  It is an issue near that everyone has a strong opinion on, since province status would confer prestige and financial benefits.  At the moment, we are a department of Muğla province – Muğla being a town about two hour’s drive away, now smaller than Fethiye (population 61,000 at last count, compared to Fethiye’s 70,000) but to which we have to go for a whole load of official business.  Seems silly – but that probably just shows how much Fethiye has grown recently in relation to the other towns in the area.

At Poppy we have been fighting our own little political battle – threatening to tear up our contract with one of the agencies if they didn’t pay the outstanding money from last year.  The result was a hasty visit from a sympathetic guy, a long phone-call from the boss…and a bottle of Jack Daniels for Cem (how does everyone know his favourite drink?).  Still, happy as Cem was with the gift, we are still waiting to see if the boss comes good on his promise to pay most of the money next week and the remainder in February.  I won’t be holding my breath!

How to stop time...

I was doing a bit of painting at home this week.  Being bored I put on the television – and then had to keep stopping painting to listen to the Doctor Oz show.  I don’t know if you have seen this guy.  He is very famous in America thanks to his appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show and now on his own series.  His popularity stems partly from his willingness to discuss even the most embarrassing problems, but also I think from his realistic expectations – he knows we are not going to give up all our bad habits!  In Turkey his popularity also, of course, stems from the fact that he is Turkish (at least in origin)!

So why did I have to listen to yesterday’s programme?  The subject was the effects of ageing – what they are and what we can do to minimise them in our 30’s, 40’s and 50’s.  He EVEN suggested things we can do to REVERSE the effects of time!  What a great guy – no wonder he’s so popular!  Being a bit late to be trying the 30’s stuff, I listened carefully to what women in their 40’s should be doing.  Apparently we should watch out for an increase in cellulite and age spots, we should be ensuring we get enough sleep and looking for face creams containing hydroquinones.  We shouldn’t be drinking more than one cup of coffee a day (I’ll need to work a bit on that one!) but we can smother a home-made honey and coffee grounds skin ‘tightener’ on our faces.

I was certainly feeling the passing of time this week when we celebrated Kaan’s ELEVENTH birthday.  I remember – and some of you will remember – the panic of his premature birth, shortly after the millennium New Year and the weeks spent at St Thomas’s Hospital in London.  Once we did get him home he was such a happy and easy-going baby.  He still is really.  After the excitement of Christmas and New Year, it’s hard to make a big thing of his birthday and this year he got an odd selection of presents including some books, a jigsaw puzzle and some goldfish.  Unlike the little boy on You-Tube, Kaan is very happy with his books – and even happier with his fish.  Here he is blowing out the candles on his fishy cake!

Kaan's eleventh birthday

Now Christmas and New Year are out of the way, I hope people will be starting to think of summer holidays.  For Turkey, booking flights and holidays early is the best way to get good prices; nearer the time flights are usually more expensive or actually full.  It also gives people something to look forward to during the bad weather of January.  Just to make you jealous, here is Çalış Beach in January!

Çalış Beach last week

A wish for 2011

Welcome 2011!  I hope it will be a great year for all of you and bring you health, happiness and ‘huzur’ – a lovely Turkish word that means something like ‘peace of mind’.

At Poppy, I hope it brings us plenty of new guests as well as old friends and that we are once again able to help people enjoy their holiday.  The nicest thing about running a hotel is when people tell us what a special time they had with us and there were more than ever of those last year.

But today I also made a more general wish for tourism in Turkey. It started when I saw a home-made poster in a car, saying ‘this car is running on the most expensive petrol in the world’.  Yes – it’s true!  You might think petrol is expensive in your country but I can promise you it is more expensive here.

Besides fuel, there are many things which are now more expensive in Turkey than in the UK.  We pay more for meat and cheese, alcoholic drinks, all electrical goods from mobile phones to washing machines and way more for cars.  In addition our phone bills are higher, car tax is often more (it varies by car type) and electricity costs as much as it does in the UK.  The rise in the cost of living over the last few years has caused a number of Brits who were living here to leave.

And yet the biggest selling-point for Turkey is still that it is ‘cheap’.  Where’s the catch?  The catch is that at unrealistically low prices, everyone loses out.  When a tour operator pays rock bottom prices for hotel rooms, hoteliers are making little or no profit.  But guests are also suffering as the standard of service and accommodation falls.  If restaurants are obliged to keep prices down to attract business, they will look for ways to make savings – and the food will suffer!

If we want standards to be maintained and improved in Turkey the prices are going to have to be more realistic.  It will still be cheaper than many European holiday destinations but the low cost will no longer be the USP…so this is my wish:

Let 2011 be the year when Turkey begins to be promoted by tour operators and travel agents for its REAL qualities; take your pick – and add your own – to the list below:

Beautiful scenery

Fantastic climate

Warm sea and unspoiled beaches

Friendly people

Culture and history

Great food

Adventure sports (paragliding, diving, white water rafting)

Shopping (where else can you find so many designer brands at 

 affordable prices?!)