From Bodmin Moor to Sarıbelen

Most people associate Kaş with the coast, but there’s much more to it, as Tim and Judith have discovered. “After visiting the area for 10 years, I accepted a voluntary redundancy package back in the UK which gives us enough to live on here,” Tim notes, adding, “We then bought some land outside Sarıbelen, a village in the hills above Kalkan, and had a house built on it.”

But why did they choose to live inland? “We could never again live in a town, as we came here from a quiet, friendly village on Bodmin Moor in Cornwall,” Tim points out. “We’re very happy here because we find this area reminiscent of the moors. We feel a strong spiritual connection to the area, which appeals not just to our love of nature but also to our feelings for the Earth itself. There are many places around here where one can simply sit and listen to the wind around the hills. Our house faces southwest with views through the Kaputaş gorge and out to sea for more than 100 kilometers. It’s also less humid here than the nearby coastal resorts, which makes the heat more bearable in the summer. We called the house ‘Moonstone House’ because moonstones are Judith’s favourite stone. It’s also a play on words as we’re up in the mountains surrounded by stone and quartz crystal and the moon is especially beautiful from here, as there’s no light pollution. The night sky is astonishing from this high up. When we were thinking of names it appealed to both of us and also works well in both English and Turkish.”

Tim and Judith are keen walkers and Moonstone House is ideally situated for exploring the nearby Lycian Way on foot. “The whole of the western half of the Lycian Way, from Ovacek to Myra, can be reached by car in an hour and there are many other beautiful walks in the mountains within very easy reach,” Tim explains. “Many of the walks around the village are good circular routes. The winter months are the most popular for walking in southern Turkey and, as we’re only 200 meters off the Lycian Way, we often have walkers staying with us overnight. We built a large house so that friends and family could come and stay, so we’re always happy to provide them with a meal, a shower and a bed, as there’s no bed and breakfast in the village. A lot of those people have remained friends. We’re also very lucky because the ancient Lycian cities of Xanthos, Patara, Myra and Tlos are all within an hour’s drive and other Lycian sites, such as those at Pinara, Sidyma, Kyaneai and Antiphelos, are less than an hour away. It’s wonderful to just enjoy the ruins for what they are: unchanged for more than 1,500 years.”

Joys of not living in a foreign enclave

Unlike people who live in coastal resorts, Tim and Judith are finding out about and being included in village life. “There are many similarities in village life here and in Cornwall,” Tim underlines, explaining: “Village people have a very different outlook on life to town dwellers in Cornwall, as well as here. I find more similarities between villages in both places than between Sarıbelen and Kalkan. Above all, once you’re accepted people will go out of their way to help you. People in the village have been extremely welcoming and, of course, we have to speak Turkish. Learning Turkish has been a real, but enjoyable, challenge, as we knew hardly any before moving here. We’ve made a real effort to learn, as you cannot properly enjoy a country unless you can talk to the people who live there. We took some intensive lessons to get started and since then it’s just been practice. However, we’ve found that the Turkish spoken in the village is quite different from that taught to us! I should have expected that and Turkish friends have also said they have difficulty understanding the villagers.”

They’re now very well integrated into village life, with all that entails. “People in the village help each other and we’re always being brought gifts of oil, vegetables and other food,” he says. “We’re invited to weddings, ‘askerlik’ parties, ‘bayram’ celebrations and meals during and after ‘Ramazan.’ But it’s also important to play your part: we’re happy to take people without transport to see friends and relatives in Kalkan, Kaş or nearby villages. We also help transport olives, goats and sheep when needed.”

A lot of their friends in both Kalkan and Kaş have realized how much they’ve gained from living so close to the “real” Turkey. “They say they too would like to live in the countryside,” he notes. “Unfortunately it’s now very difficult for foreigners to buy land outside towns, which means people are missing out on a lot. We know country life isn’t for everyone. But if you are the sort of person who’s always been happier in the country, I’d recommend it unreservedly. It’s essential to be tolerant of the cultural differences between town and country, but if you’re adaptable, the rewards are immense. We love being surrounded by the wild things in the hills and just enjoying nature as it turns around us. It’s impossible to convey the excitement of seeing an imperial eagle catching a snake at the bottom of the garden or a wolf crossing the track 100 meters ahead when out walking.”

Ups and downs of building abroad

We’ve all heard how difficult it can be buying land and building abroad, so why did Tim and Judith embark on both? “We had a good idea of the sort of house we wanted but hadn’t found a suitable one to renovate; that would have been the ideal option,” Tim says. “We’d never built our own home before, although every home we’d owned had needed fairly major renovation. We hoped that by building from scratch we would avoid some of the problems we’d inherited with previous houses.”

“We had very little advice about the differences between building here and in the UK before we started,” Tim emphasizes. “Now that the house and pool are finished, if anyone were to ask me for advice on building here I’d say that, most importantly, you have to make sure you have an independent lawyer to draw up all contracts and a good architect and a reputable civil engineer to supervise the project. Plus: choose your builder with great care! We started planning the house in January 2007. Construction started in March and we expected building to take six to nine months. In fact, we moved in mid-June, after less than five months.”

So far so good. But didn’t they have any problems? “We’d known our builder for many years and didn’t expect any,” Tim explains. “I did expect that there would be long delays getting permission for different things and that there would be a number of extra costs. I was also prepared for planning regulations to be complex and very different from Western Europe and that was certainly the case! We have had some problems with the house, and are currently working to put them right, although some of these only became apparent in the first winter. On a positive note, even though our first encounters with Turkish government offices were baffling, help was always at hand: sometimes complete strangers even translated and spoke to officials on our behalf. In fact, that’s also the case with police and gendarme and in shops; the hospitality of people here is justifiably famous. I’m not sure that anyone moving to the UK could expect as much help as we’ve enjoyed.”

If they could start over, would they do things differently? “We’d do more research before building and make sure every detail of the project was agreed with builder, civil engineer and architect and put into the contract by our lawyer,” he notes. “This, of course, is equally true whether you’re thinking of building in the country or in a town.”

Neither Tim nor Judith regret deciding to settle here and they plan to stay. “We’re committed to living in Turkey and intend to apply for citizenship,” Tim stresses. “We love the land we live in and feel a strong spiritual bond to this area. We’ll be doing more walking and look forward to entertaining the people from around the world who are walking the Lycian Way. This land, with its ancient history, is a very special place.”