Week 22, Ephesus, Turkey

Dear Ethel, Family and Friends,

Last Monday we had been out of Australia for 5 months, wow how time flies. We took off on another local journey this week to Ephesus and Pamukkale. We took the local busses again as it is the cheapest way to get around. It was about a 4 hour bus trip to the village of Selcuk the town out side of the Ancient city of Ephesus. We went to Ephesus as early as we could, but the tour busses were already there before us. It was crowded but we could still find spots that we found ourselves alone. The temperature has also been favourable as well, cooling down a couple of degrees.

The site is as spectacular as it is made out. We hired an audio guide and followed along behind some English speaking guides as well, so we got a good feel for the place. We visited Pompeii in 1989 and felt that Ephesus is well on par with that and the Library facade makes it that much better. We spent about four hours wandering around ending up at the25,000 seat amphitheatre. Outside the theatre a troop of actors acted out a small routine doing a gladiator battle and some juggling. Fun to watch.

The town of Selcuk is a small friendly town of 8,000 people mainly to service the tourist industry around Ephesus. We found an average hotel to stay in and the meals were reasonably priced around town. At the top end of town sits the ruins of St. Johns Basilica which is worth a look itself and it looks toward the top of the hill where a huge Citadel Fortress sits overlooking the town. No one could tell us what was in the citadel or why it was not open to the public, but is a very impressive site.

The following day we visited the museum where most of the statues from Ephesus, or what was left of them, were located. After that we went to a locomotive museum, billed as the biggest in Europe. There was 50 or more old steam trains from all over the world. It was a great attraction and no crowds, we were the only people there.

The next day it was Pamukkale, bus again and we meet a few Australians as well. Pamukkale was hotter and crowded as the narrow bit of rock that everybody traipses up and down to the calcium pool is very narrow. The pools themselves seem to be artificially built up, but it does give a good idea of how it may have once looked. The site that the pools lye in is the ancient city of Hierapolis amongst a lot of ruins. The water comes from a natural spring that come out of the ground warm and runs down the side of the mountain and the calcium in the water leaves a white calcium deposit on the rocks. There is also an amphitheatre here as well.

We travelled back to Orhaniye that evening. Friday night was another musical recital at the Greek church in the marina. This time a harpist, violin, cello and accordion player serenaded us. This week end is our last here in the flat, so we are busy packing up and getting ready to move on to Cappadocia on Monday.

All the best for now

Ric & Louise