Buying a House in Turkey Part 4

My main criteria for a house was a view: and this house delivered. Of course, in order to get the view, we had to drive up a steep hill, and then climb a bunch of steps -- but I fell in love. We really liked he style of these houses, and inside, they were split level - Roof Deck, down half a flight, bedroom, down, living room, kitchen, balcony, bathroom, down, front door and dividing door, bedroom, down, living room, kitchen, balcony, bathroom, down, basement bedroom.
Straight away we could see the possibilities. 2 Apartments, and plenty of opportunity for revamping. It definitely needed some love, but the basics were there. It seemed like the house went on forever, and I just loved the marble floors throughout.

Tried not to get too excited... if my heart was in charge, I'd have stopped my search now. But logic won out as this was only our 4th house we'd viewed. Plus there was a house in Yalikavak that I really wanted to see, that I'd built lots of plans around.

We drove up the coast to to Yalikavak - about 7km, and stopped off for lunch in a local restaurant in the middle of town.

Now Bodrum was great, and it is a great place to be situated for a vacation. But Yalikavak. This was the type of town I'd imagined having as my local town. The old town part, had restaurants along the beach side, and local houses and shops on the opposite side of the street. Not massively touristy, more local oriented. The as you drive further into Yalikavak, past a new Marina, you reach the main part of town. Again, lot's of restaurants, and a bunch of side streets, full of restaurants and shops. It looked like a great balance between local and tourist living. Both Red and I fell in love with Yalikavak.

Lunch was appetizing. Evren was great company. He'd been a tour guide in a former life, so his English and local knowledge were great. It was the type of cafe, that you could have spent 3 hours meandering through lunch. No rush, just easing into the Aegean lifestyle. I think my jet lag finally subsided, and I started to feel like I was finally on holiday.

I also had my first taste of Elma çayı - apple tea. Really it's hot apple juice made from dried apples, ground into a powder, and then added to hot water. A refreshing drink for a hot summer day.

After a quick scout about the harbour, we drove off to our next house viewing in Gundogan. Nice enough house, albeit a little on the small side. But only a short walk to the beach, and a mature olive tree in the garden. There wasn't a lot in the local area, and we weren't fully sold on the location.... next stop.... our Yalikavak property, that I'd spent hours pouring over on the web.

It was a hillside complex, and the house we viewed was at the bottom of the hill, with unobstructed views of the ocean. A multi-tiered house. With a separate granny-flat on the ground floor. I loved the view from this house. By far the best we'd see. There wasn't really a local beach... more of a jetty.

The only problem with having a house at the bottom of the hill, is the water drainage from the top of the hill. The kitchen in the granny flat had warped kitchen cabinets from the damp. This was the house I'd been having dreams about - it was an emotional bond with the view. The area wasn't as developed as the other houses we'd seen earlier in the day, and it seemed a little out of the way. Really nothing around except a few complexes. This one did have a nice pool though - but Red didn't want to deal with the damp, so we called it a day and headed back to Bodrum.

That night we walked along Bar Street again and found a fabulous local fish restaurant - Berk Balik. The waiters didn't speak much English, and most of the Clientele was Cigarette Smoking, Raki Drinking Turks. No menu's here -- just pop to the kitchen - choose your mezze, choose your fish and sit and wait. This is one of my favourite restaurants we've visited in all the trips we've had to Turkey.