Mehmet Temel
Mehmet Temel – Andifli Pansiyon – Sardunya Hotel – Sardunya Paşabahçe Restaurantby Rita Schumann. Rita Schumann is from Germany and now living in Kaş. Rita’s daughter Simone is married to BT Paragliding Captain Veske. Rita speaks German, Turkish and English. This is an account of her meeting with Mehmet Temel, proprietor of Sardunya Hotel and Sardunya Paşabahçe Restaurant.
Rita: I met Mehmet Bey at the Sardunya Paşabahçe Restaurant and asked him to tell me something about his hotel. I knew that his father, Hüseyin Temel, had received a “Kaş Award” at the Lycian Festival in 2008 given by the Mayor because their family opened the first tourist pension in Kaş in 1968.
Award from Kaş Mayor
Mehmet Bey likes to tell about former times in Kaş and what they did when they were young.
The narrative in quotes is that of Mehmet Temel:
“My grandfather told me that our family were nomads (yörükler) and about 300 years ago they came with their animals and camels to the place that today is known as Dereköy. At that time this place did not have any name. They stayed in their tents and the next day they discovered that three camels were lost. They could not find them and looked for them everywhere. After ten days they found them lying down and they were fine. This meant that the camels must have found water. The Yörükler looked for the water and found three or four different places where there was spring water (kaynak su). Some of these people decided to stay there and over the years it developed into Dereköy. The name of the place where my grandfather lived is Çökrencik Mahallesi, (çökmek) means to fall down or collapse and this was the place that the camels stopped or collapsed.”
“My mother was born in Dereköy. My father is from Çukurbağ. His family also were nomads. In a former time they came from the region of Konya where there also was a Çukurbağ village.”
Temel Family 1957
“In the 1940’s my father came to Kaş to work at Ziraat Bank. At that time my parents got married. “I came with two and a half Lira” he told us. “I had nothing, but every month I got my wage and started to save money.” First my parents lived in a small room. They saved their money and then bought a house near the seaside with a big plot of land. In 1963 or 1965 they started to build a big house, maybe for themselves maybe for renting it. Between the time they came to Kaş and bought their house was when my brothers and sister and I were born.”
“In the early 60’s the first tourists from Europe came to Kaş. They were backpackers and we called them “Hippies”. First we did not understand why they came. What are tourists? They looked for a pension? What was that? We only knew “han”. A “han” was where the people came with their donkeys, they tied them, laid down and the next day they travelled on.”
“The young foreigners told us and we decided to make a pension of our house. At that time I was 13 years old. We started with six beds. The beds were made of wood and the quilts were made of cotton. We took the cotton from a factory in Ovaköy and had them sewed in Kaş. We did not have rooms. We only had our living room and a guest room without doors. We divided the rooms with a curtain.”
 Andifli Motel 1975 |
 Andifli Hotel 2011 |
“In Kaş we opened the first official tourist pension on July 29,1969 and named it the Andilfi Motel. Our first guests were from Belgium. After that several pension’s opened; Mini Pension, Kismet, Ali Baba and Koza.”
“One day, our guests were on tour and we made a surprise for them. When they came back in the evening there were walls made of stones and doors. They wondered how we could do this so quickly but we did it. Later we built the second and the third floor and on the roof there was a terrace, without a rail (korkuluk). We did not have enough beds and so we asked them to lie down on the terrace. I drew some lines with chalk (tebeşir) and showed them which were their ‘rooms.’ Sometimes we sent them to the antique theatre, gave them some blankets and they slept in a ‘1000 stars hotel'”.
“First when we asked our neighbours if they also wanted to open a pension or to take some guests but at first they were afraid.”
Hüseyin and Emine Temel
“In the beginning we did not give breakfast but later we offered bread, olives, eggs, cheese and so on. We prepared it in our home which was opposite the Andifli and served it on a tray. The first two teas were included but after that they had to pay, also for Nescafé.”
Rita: At that time in Kaş there were no restaurants or cafés. Most of the working people were civil servants. In summertime they took their families to Gömbe. In Gömbe most of them had a second home and it was good to spend the hot summers in the cold mountains.
So most of the men were left alone at home and in the morning they came to the public square to have breakfast. One brought cheese, one grapes, one olives and so on. Tea was ordered from the tea house. One of them paid for the tea and the other day another one. Everybody came: the doctor, the judge, the public prosecutor; everyone!
After founding the pensions not only foreign tourists stayed but also Turks came; people from Ankara or Istanbul. It was hard to come to Kaş then. At night they went by bus to Antalya and then eight hours by bus from Antalya to Kaş. There was only one bus from Antalya every day. There also was one bus from Fethiye to Finike and one from Finike to Fethiye.
Mehmet Temel 1971
There also was a ship. Every 15 days it came from Istanbul on its way to Iskenderun. In Kaş there was no harbour and so the ship had to drop the anchor.
Mehmet Temel remembers…
“One day, I went to the high school in Antalya, the sea was so rough that they could not stop at Kaş. I had to go until Fethiye. There I did not know anyone and I did not have any money. So I decided to sleep on the roof of the hamam, because there it was warm and the next morning I took the bus to Kaş. First of all the driver did not want to take me, because I had no money, but then he believed me. In Kaş, the bus station was at Emine Erdem’s Place, I ran home, took the money and gave it to the driver. Nowadays nobody will do this for a child.”
“Many of our guests came every year and we became friends. Some of our very good friends were Mario and his wife. I remember their first visit very well because Mario`s wife was a mathematics teacher and she helped me study. At night time we did not wait for our guests. We did not lock the doors. At that time there was never theft or robberies (hırsızlık). We did not have electricity at night. After cutting the current at 12 pm the tourists and us sat together at the seaside, around a fire and sometimes talked the whole night. During the day the tourists made tours together and during every holiday people became friends. Nobody left without taking the telephone number or address of the others.”
“We were four brothers and one sister and we all worked in the Andifli. We cleaned the rooms, washed the dishes and took care of everything. My father wanted us to learn a good job. My brothers went to Eskişehir, Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya. I wanted to become a civil servant and worked for seven years, but I did not like it and gave up and decided to concentrate on tourism.”
Again Mehmet Temel remembers…
“When I was a child we did not go to Gömbe, we spent the summertime in Dereköy or in Çukurbağ at our grandparents. Sometimes I helped to bring fruits and vegetables from Dereköy to Kaş. My grandfather woke me up when the first cock (rooster) called, at that time we did not have a watch, and we started with our donkey to Kaş. Our way took about five hours. We sold our stuff at the Meydan and everybody wanted to buy fresh things, because in Kaş there was nothing. Then we went back and the next day we did the same. It was not easy, but I liked it.”
 Temel Family Old House |
 Sardunya Hotel today |
Rita: In the 1990’s Mehmet and his family decided to build a hotel and so their old house was pulled down. They opened the Sardunya Hotel in 1994 with 18 rooms.
Sardunya Paşabahçe Garden
Some years later they bought their neighbour’s house and the garden at the seaside to open a restaurant with beach. This is a very nice, hidden and silent garden. People like to stay there because it is one of the few authentic gardens on the Mediterranean. The trees are 60 or 70 years old and you can find a lot typical flowers, especially “Sardunya” (geraniums).
In the restaurant they offer very good meals especially smoked sea Bream and a wedding meal from this region.
Mehmet Bey says that it is not necessary to make publicity because so many guests have known them for a long time and most of them have come 3, 4 or 5 times to his hotel. If they are satisfied they tell it to others and so you can find the Sardunya Hotel for example on Lonely Planet Turkey and the Paşabahçe Restaurant by the German writer Michael Müller “Lykische Küste”(Lycian Coast).
Sardunya Hotel Staff
Mehmet Temel sums up, “We are glad and lucky that people from all over the world and from Turkey come to visit us and to stay. We have friends and learned from other cultures. We, the Temel family will do our services for you in future times like we have up to today.”
Rita: I think that it is a big advantage for Kaş that there is this hotel with its garden restaurant because this place is very special and I am glad that I found it. Thanks very much to Mehmet Bey for telling us his story and I hope in the future he will tell us more stories and memories of old Kaş.
Sardunya Hotel: http://www.sardunyaotel.com/
Hastane Caddesi or Necip Bey Caddesi, both names are used
Tel 0242 836 30 80 Fax 0242 836 30 82
Tel Restaurant 0242 836 31 80
Mehmet Temel – Andifli Pansiyon– Sardunya Hotel – Sardunya Paşabahçe Restoran
Mehmet Temel, Kaş, Turkey
Mehmet Temel ile Sardunya Paşabahçesi’nde buluştuk. Kaş’ın ilk pansiyonu olan Andifli Pansiyon hakkında bize biraz anlattı.
„Annemin babasının anlattığına göre: Atalarımız bundan yaklaşık üç yüz yıl önce hayvanlarıyla birlikte göç ederken bugünkü Dereköy yakınlarında konaklamışlar. Bu sırada develerden bir kaçı kaybolmuş. 10 – 15 gün aradıktan sonra şimdiki Dereköy’de Çökerencik mevkinde bulmuşlar. Kafile başı: develer bu kadar süre burada yaşayabildiğine göre: burada su vardır diye düşünmüş. Ve yaptıkları araştırma sonunda gerçekten de 3 – 4 yerde küçük pınar (kaynak suyu) tesbit etmişler. Ve aldıkları karar sonunda devamlı alarak yaşamak üzere der Dereköy’üne yerleşmişler. Hatta yerleştikleri mahallenin adı Çökerencik mahallesidir. Adı devenin çökmesinden gelir.
Babamın ataları ise: Konya tarafından gelerek Çukurbağ köyüne yerleşen başka yörükler dir.
Temel ailesi 1957, Kaş, Turkey
Babam ve annem evlendikten sonra, babam 40 lı yillarda Ziraat Bankasında çalışmak üzere Kaş’a gelmişler. Babamın anlattığına göre, Kaş’a geldiğinde cebinde sadece 2.5 TL (ikibuçuk Lira) parası varmış.
Babam bir müddet çalıştıktan sonra biraz para biriktirip şimdiki Sardunya Otel’in bulunduğu yerdeki eski bir ev satınalmış. Bu arada biz 5 kardeş doğmuşuz.
Pansiyonculuğa başlamadan önce biz küçük çocukken yazın genel olarak Dere ve Cukurbağ köylerine dedemlerin yanına giderdik, çünkü Kaş çok sıcak olurdu. Ayrıca su, meyve sebze de yoktu. Kaşın meyve sebze ihtiyacı dereköy’ünden karşılanır. Eşek ve atlarla taşınırdı. Hatta ben bir kaç kere büyüklerle beraber Dere’den Kaş’a sebze ve meyve getirdim. Yürüyerek gelirdik. Gece yola çıkar 4 – 5 saat sonra güneş doğmadan Kaş’a gelirdik.
Daha sonra babam evinin karşısında satılan bir arsayıda satın aldı ve bu arsa üzerine bir ev yaptı. Bu sırada Kaş’a yabancı turistler gelmeye başladı. Ben o zaman 12 yaşındaydım ve bazı kimseler babama: turistlerin gelmeye başladığını yaptığı evi pansiyon yapmasını söylediler. Biz 2 Temmuz 1968 tarihinde 6 yataklı ilk tursitik resmi pansiyon ile turizme başladık.
Huseyin ve Emine Temel
Pansiyon ev olarak yapıldıği ve fazla oda olmadığı için salonu perde ile bölüp iki oda yapmıştık. O zaman pansiyonun terasında da turistler yatardı. Hatta ben tebeşirle herkesin sınırını çizerek belirlerdim. Böylece kimse, kimsenin sınırına geçmezdi ve orası miliyonlarca yıldızlı bir oteldi. Sabaha kadar yıldızların kayışını seyrederlerdi.
Daha sonraki yıllarda pansiyonun 2. ve 3. katını yaptık.
|
Andifli Motel 1975 |
Andifli Otel 2011 |
O günlerde elektrik jeneratör ile temin edildiği için gece saat 24’te elektrikler kesilirdi. Turistler erkenden uyuyamadığı için herkes pansiyonun karşısındaki ağacın altında toplanır ve bir biriyle tanışır. Sohbet ederdi ve çok güzel dostluklar kurulurdu.
|
Temel Eski Ev |
Sardunya Otel 2011, Kaş, Turkey |
İlk önce kahvaltı vermezdik. Sonra kahvaltı vermeye başladık. Evimizde herseyi hazırlayıp. Ekmek, bal, zeytin, peynir, domates, çay, kahve vs. tepsiyle getirirdik, – ama 2. çaydan sonrasi ve Nescafé extra idi.
O yıllarda Kaş’ın yerlileri yazın Gömbe yaylasına giderdi. Hatta bazı memurlar da ailelerini Gömbe’ye gönderirdi. O zamanlar her sabah ramazan pidesi çıkardı. Simdiki Kas meydanındaki kahvehane bir cok kişi bir araya gelerek sabahları sıcak pide ile üzümlü, deri peynirli, domates ve çaylı kahvaltı yapılırdı. Bu da çok güzel bir hatıradır.
1960 yıllarda Antalya’ya direkt olarak otobüs yoktu. Antalya’ya gitmek için Elmalı’ya gidilir. Oradan ikinci bir otobüse binmek gerekirdi. Sadece Fethiye ile Finike arasında karşılıklı hergün bir otobüs vardı.
İstanbul´dan gelen turistler tam bir günde gelirdi. İstanbul’dan Antalya’ya bir gecede gelirdi. Sabah saat 8’de Antalya’dan Kaş otobüsü binerdi. Geldiklerinde karanlık olurdu.
Mehmet Temel 1971
Ayrıca İskenderun – İstanbul arasında çalışan ve 15 günde bir Kaş’a uğrayan büyük yolcu ve yük gemileri vardı. Hatta ben Antalya’da lisede okurken Kaş’a gelmek için gemiye bindim. Ancak deniz dalgalı olduğu için Kaş’ta durmadan Fethiye’ye geçtik. Ve bir gece Fethiye’de kaldık. Ertesi gün Kaş’a gelebildik. (Şu anda Fethiye – Kaş arasında her yarım saatte bir otobüs var).
1990 yıllarına kadar Andifli Pansiyon ile turizme devam ettikten sonra, biz yeni bir otel yapmaya planladık ve Andifli’nin karşısındaki eski evimiz yıkarak Sardunya Otel’i inşa ettik ve 1994 yılında hizmete açtık.
Daha sonra komşu binayı ve bahçesini satın alıp, Sardunya Paşabahçesi Restoran’ı hizmete sunduk.
Şu anda Andifli Pansiyon – Sardunya Otel ve Sardunya Paşabahçe Restorant ile turizm faaliyetimizi devam ettiriyoruz.
Andifli Kaş’ın eski isimdir. Sardunya ise Akdeniz iklimini seven bir çiçektir. Şu andaki toplam oda sayımız otuz adettir.
Sardunya Otel Personel 2009
Çok eski yıllardan beri hizmet verdiğimiz için müşterilerimiz genelde daha önce en az 3 – 5 defa gelen Türk ve yabancı turistlerdir. Ayrıca internet üzerinde de uluşmak mümkün olmaktadır.
Sardunya Plaj 2011
Bizim en büyük avantajımız, önünde plaj da olan (kayalık) çok sakin adeta gizlenmiş içirisinde 60 – 70 yıllık ağaçlar bulunan bahçemizdir.
Elbette amaç para kazanarak hayatı devam ettirmek olsada, dünyanın birçok yerinden gelen insanlarla tanışmak, onların kültürleri hakkında bilgi sahibi olmak ve kaynaşarak dost olmak başka bir haz veriyor.
Bundan böyle de: Temel ailesi olarak uzun yıllardır yaptığımız bu hizmeti devam ettireceğiz“
Sardunya Paşabahçe
Gelen müşteriler bahçe için özgür bırakılmış, samimi, otantik bir Akdeniz bahçesi diyorlar.
Yemekleri de güzel, ayrıca Kaş’ta ilk Füme Balığı yapan lokanta.
Mehmet Bey fazla reklam yapmıyor. Tanıyanlar, bilenler geliyorlar.
Böyle bir yerin olmasının Kaş için büyük bir şans olduğunu düşünüyorum. Bu yeri keşfettiğim için çok mutluyum.
Mehmet Bey’e anlattıkları için teşekkür ederim. Umarım ilerde kendisinden daha eski Kaş hikayeleri dinleriz.
Hastane Caddesi veya Necip Bey Caddesi
Tel 0242 836 30 80 Fax 0242 836 30 82
Tel Restaurant 0242 836 31 80
