September 27, 2004
Exploring Ephesus & A Farewell To Turkey
Today our Blue Cruise crew dwindled to four (j, me, and Kiwis John-O and Suzanne). The Quartet journeyed via overnight bus (our third in 1.5 weeks...not ideal for sleep, but a good way to save precious days and precious dollars) from Fethiye 6 hours north to visit the ancient ruins of Ephesus, a remarkably preserved city halfway up Turkey's West Coast.
The city was founded by the Hitities more than 4,000 years ago and had six subsequent incarnations, the most recent and most intact being the Roman version, whose period lasted from 300 BC to 300 AD. While only 25% of ruins have been excavated those that now see the light of day are numerous and impressive:
Avenue of the Politicians
The centerpiece of Ephesus is the two-story library which had a convenient underground passage which connected it to the brothel across the way so that "studious" husbands could read up on anatomy without irking their wives:
I was accompanied to the red light district
The clever Romans also signposted their den of iniquity with a non-so-subtle pictorial that still survives centuries of gawkers:
The left-foot indicates that the house of the rising sun is located on the left, the cross that one should turn at the intersection, the circular hole that coin is required and the beauty on the right is self evident...or as our tour guide quipped, "No Money, No Honey". Ain't that the truth ;-)
The city also featured an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of over 20,000 whose marble-paved street was graced with the footfalls of Marc Antony a couple thousand years prior.
Tragedy or Comedy? Perhaps Tragicomedy
And, what tour would be complete without a potty run, especially given my bladder-challenged wife ;-).
On the throne
Post tour we are heading to Greece via ferry. While our tour through Turkey was a bit of a whirlwind (see below) we thoroughly enjoyed it.
And, keeping w/ tradition, our likes/dislikes are as follows:
Stuff we found endearing about Turkey:
Today our Blue Cruise crew dwindled to four (j, me, and Kiwis John-O and Suzanne). The Quartet journeyed via overnight bus (our third in 1.5 weeks...not ideal for sleep, but a good way to save precious days and precious dollars) from Fethiye 6 hours north to visit the ancient ruins of Ephesus, a remarkably preserved city halfway up Turkey's West Coast.
The city was founded by the Hitities more than 4,000 years ago and had six subsequent incarnations, the most recent and most intact being the Roman version, whose period lasted from 300 BC to 300 AD. While only 25% of ruins have been excavated those that now see the light of day are numerous and impressive:
Avenue of the Politicians
The centerpiece of Ephesus is the two-story library which had a convenient underground passage which connected it to the brothel across the way so that "studious" husbands could read up on anatomy without irking their wives:
I was accompanied to the red light district
The clever Romans also signposted their den of iniquity with a non-so-subtle pictorial that still survives centuries of gawkers:
The left-foot indicates that the house of the rising sun is located on the left, the cross that one should turn at the intersection, the circular hole that coin is required and the beauty on the right is self evident...or as our tour guide quipped, "No Money, No Honey". Ain't that the truth ;-)
The city also featured an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of over 20,000 whose marble-paved street was graced with the footfalls of Marc Antony a couple thousand years prior.
Tragedy or Comedy? Perhaps Tragicomedy
And, what tour would be complete without a potty run, especially given my bladder-challenged wife ;-).
On the throne
Post tour we are heading to Greece via ferry. While our tour through Turkey was a bit of a whirlwind (see below) we thoroughly enjoyed it.
And, keeping w/ tradition, our likes/dislikes are as follows:
Stuff we found endearing about Turkey:
- The food: Between the kebaabs, pida (Turkish pizza), baklava, Turkish coffee, apple tea, lamb casserole, and more we found Turk Cuisine to be more than yummy
- The People: Friendly, genuine and generous
- Istanbul: The charming cobblestone streets and tree-lined boulevards could be any quaint European city, but the slender minnarettes, the hypnotic calls to prayer and the exotic food tell a more Asian story
- The Mediterranean Coast: in a word, lovely
- Cappadoccia: last but certainly not least...should be one of the seven natural wonders of the world if it ain't already
- The Shopping: this one is all Janet!
Stuff falling somewhere on the amusing/annoying/disturbing scale:
- Ubiqitous ashtray: one survey pegs smoking levels of males 18 & older at 80% and females at 60%. I could have sworn it was 100%.
- Rug salesmen: tenacious and predictably annoying. Other vendors where less so, but if I heard one more "G'day Mate!" (many Aussies travel here, it's more or less assumed) I'm not sure I should have been held accountable for my actions
- The Lira: If we thought the exchange rate was ludicrous in Mozambique, Turkey raised the bar to astronomical heights. At the time of writing the exchange rate was $1 to 1,500,000 TL. The largest bill is a 20 million lira note! The novelty ends in January though when TK mercifully drops 6 zeros.
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