Taking Holidays to Turkey - With a Difference

Having spent the last 15 years taking holidays in Turkey my wife and I are always looking for a nice place to relax and escape the hordes that descend on Turkey's beach resorts during the summer months. Both of us are in the service industry so we are always desperate to "get away from it all". Why Holidays to Turkey all the time I hear you say? Well, my wife is Turkish and she wants to go there at least once a year so I do not really have much choice in the matter.

She always has an excuse to go whether it is for visiting family or friends; there is always someone whom she has not seen for a while. This year we decided on a cheap family holiday and chose to visit a friend who runs a camp site in a secluded valley about 20 miles away from the nearest major holiday town of Fethiye. Due to the fact that we were traveling with our 1 year old son, we decided to go on a schedule flight from London Gatwick to Dalaman in Turkey. The airline we chose for this occasion was an obscure schedule airline called Cyprus Turkish airlines which I had never flown with or heard of anytime in the past. The reason we chose to fly with them is that they offer a whooping 25 kilograms of luggage per person; whereas a lot of the other cheap holiday charters to Turkey offer a tiny allowance of only 15 kilograms.

Due to the fact that we were well and truly stung the previous year, when we thought we had purchased a cheap flight to Turkey only to find out that we had to pay £90 pounds worth of excess luggage (the flight only cost £123) - not a pleasant start to our first family holiday! This time we did our research and I must admit it paid off even though we paid a lot more for the fare; we received free food and drink on board, which a lot of the other cheap holiday airlines do not offer. In fact we were 10 kilos over our allowance as my wife likes to take most of our fixtures and fittings from our family home to our family holiday.

The flight was pleasant enough, no in-flight entertainment, but who needs that with a 1 year old baby in tow. On arrival to Dalaman we were picked up by a Turkish gentleman called Ahmed in a massive jeep type vehicle which looked like something like a monster trucks. It was a very pleasant drive! We drove through beautiful Turkish holiday resorts such as Gocek, Calis beach, Fethiye and Olu-Deniz.

After crossing the holiday resort of Oludeniz and going past the huge Resort of Lykia World, the road turns into a dust track. The road between Olu-deniz and Kabak (the campsite) is carved into the side of huge cliffs, 300 meters above sea level with no barriers to stop vehicles from plunging in to the azure sea below. Thankfully our driver could see the terror in our eyes and drove very calmly and carefully. On arrival to Kabak bay our driver let the 4x4 kick in and we started to descend using a road very similar to a donkey track, in the pitch black.

Once we arrived we were shown our accommodation which consisted of a wooden hut built around a tree, with a balcony and also the added bonus of a shower and toilet! Turan camp consists of 16 bungalows, 6 of which have shower and toilet facilities.

My first night was spent eradicating our mosquito problem with my bare hands. I finally managed to sleep and I was greeted by the most magnificent view in the morning, there in front of me I was presented with the beach and the towering mountains all around us; it was truly awe inspiring. Unfortunately this place really does not know the meaning of health and safety. We were constantly chasing our baby boy all around, who always seemed to find the most dangerous areas to play in. To top things he came out with chicken pox on our second day of the visit.

Kabak bay is on the ancient Lycian way which is a path along the southwestern coast line of Turkey. My plan was to walk some of it, but I did not get any chance since my days were spent looking after baby and keeping him out the sun and away from dangers. Although we were in a truly amazing place, it was not what I had in mind for a cheap family holiday. After 6 days the chicken spots had started to fade and my wife and I thought that enough was enough and decided to check in to an all-Inclusive family holiday resort nearby Fethiye.