Expats: Kaş Transforms

Alex Smith

This month he writes about what April and May bring in Kaş.

For the expat community the advent of the months of April and May prompt many noticeable changes in Kaş and its environs. Kaş awakens from its winter slumber and businesses and people who have seemingly hibernated with the tortoises since the beginning of November appear once again blinking in the sunlight. The town is quickly transformed from the quiet, sleepy little village it becomes in the winter time to one fully geared up for the arrival of the tourist visitors, both foreign and Turkish, it receives in the summer months. This is particularly noticeable in the evenings when the choice of bars and cafes available to the visitor is quickly multiplied from the few trusty year round haunts to a plethora of eateries and watering holes which invite the visitor.

Outside life, although never completely rejected in the winter months with the addition of braziers and wind screens, becomes the order of the day and night and quickly the very thought of sitting inside to eat or drink becomes an unpleasant memory. Each season new businesses appear, old friends return and life returns to the streets until well past midnight. From the perspective of those of us living here, watching the cycle is of real interest as many of us first came here as tourists in the first place and were captivated by the place.

The first foreign tourists usually begin to arrive around about Easter time and many of us who have now grown more accustomed to the climate have a quiet smile to ourselves when we see people dressed in their sandals, shorts and vests in early April despite the temperatures not really being warm enough for this to be a sensible option. The point, I think, is they are here and they are on their holiday, they’ve had a miserably cold winter in northern Europe and they’re jolly well going to wear their holiday clothes come rain or shine.

As May approaches things begin to warm up considerably and the winter wardrobe is properly discarded not to be seen again until some time in November. It is comfortable to sit outside in the evenings without the benefit of a fleece or pullover and it is then that we get the feeling that “yaz geliyor” (summer is coming).

There are a few haunts in Kaş which have over the years proved quite popular with the foreign community. None of them are by any means populated exclusively by foreign customers but have, for various reasons (habit being amongst them) proved to be attractive places to while away balmy summer evenings. Amongst them are numbered Café Corner, Bar Celona, Kirsten’s, Efendi (now renamed Giorgio’s) and Evy’s. It is also a sad loss to the town that Alper in the Meydan is no longer with us. One factor that regular drinkers in these watering holes have to take into account now is the price of their favourite tipple, recent tax increases on alcohol have further emphasised the fact that Turkey is no longer a cheap option for a night’s drinking. The current going rate for a bottle of Efes beer is 6TL although it can occasionally be found for 5 in some establishments and the price of a glass of wine may also vary  anywhere between 6TL and 9TL.

One thing is certain though, the centre of Kaş does not lose its charm, it remains a remarkable place to spend a summer’s evening rubbing shoulders with friends old and new, many different nationalities and families promenading all against the background of the older atmospheric streets and still being spared the over indulgencies of mass foreign tourism. It is on summer evenings that those of us living here are reminded, if a reminder is necessary, why we are here in the first place.