My wife and I were married on skis on Peak 7, Breckenridge, Colorado and as a result our witnesses Charlie Bentley and his wife Glynis asked, as a wedding present, if we would like to join them and their family in their new villa for a holiday. This was our reluctant first trip to Dalyan and, after acceptance, I was secretly not looking forward to the holiday, thinking it was going to be more like Tenerife, which held nothing for me. How wrong I was though, as Dalyan was a beautiful little place, having history, culture and wildlife all rolled into one.
 
Cows and goats wander in the street and storks fly overhead as you amble though the adjacent ancient city of Kaunos. You even get the occasional tortoise racing, such is the pace of life. We found Dalyan to be home to lovely people and restaurants and stunning mountains and lakes. It has everything I could wish for in a holiday home destination and is also only 25 minutes from Dalaman airport, where flights land from almost every UK airport. We wanted more than just a holiday and decided it was there that we wanted to build our holiday home. After first securing the land we then went about putting ideas on paper and after discussions with the architect, he came up with a number of drawings of four-bedroom villas for our approval.

We bought our land in May 2003, but as no building in Dalyan is permitted until the end of October each year we had to be patient. These building regulations prevent any vibrations that may disturb the loggerhead turtles but it's also very good for visitors to Dalyan who want peace and quietduring their vacation. Although Dalyan is not in an earthquake area, the foundations on the Villa were built strong enough to go six stories high. However, you will not find any high-rise hotels or any other high buildings in Dalyan. An English lady, Captain June, solicited the help of David Bellamy, Sting, Dustin Hoffman and others to fight and secure the area as a nature reserve for the protection of the turtles. The buildings' lights would apparently have an affect on the turtles homing instincts; therefore, more regulations building is more that two stories high. Dalyan will always keep its village feel.

Letting out our villa – which has doubled in value – proved so easy that our second villa was started and now the prospects of living in one whilst renting the other is a real possibility. Until then I've found cheap flights and visited 11 times last year and five so far this year.

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Article published in November 2007