Traveling through Turkey
I am so behind on blogging about our sightseeing, due of course to Steve's WTF #8 ( which he believes is the only reason people read the blog) that only very quickly will I share our last day in Istanbul:
Topkapi Palace- huge, incredible, more decadence and tiles than we have ever seen and getting to touch where the Black Eunuchs lived!
A Bazaar - bought nothing but beautiful to look at, more upscale.
The Cistern - beautifully lit underground cisterns dating back to who knows when, I have lost track. ( 6 th Century - SS)
Nar Restaurant- upscale modern dinner, cool place, on terrace.
THEN....
A quick flight to Izmir on Tuesday and a roomy white Hyundai Accent from Thrifty was all we needed to leave the big city and head to the countryside. After a very quick 50 minute drive, off the main road, down some dusty alley and around a corner, we arrived at the Ephesus Suites Hotel, on a street named 1053. ( no, really...the streets names are numbers - SS)
The owner was out for lunch but would be back soon, we were told, after a quick cell call. As we waited, we met Claire and Qing from Shanghai, who also just arrived from four days in Istanbul and two in Cappodocia. They had flown into Izmir and taken the train to Selcuk where we were staying, the closest town to Efes, otherwise known to all of our American readers as Ephesus. Of course, we (Steve and I) immediately, after exchanging furtive glances and being in agreement, offered to give the Yangs a ride with us to Efes, to which they, not even needing to exchange furtive glances, said Yes!
Off we went, armed only with advice from the Internet- 'the audio guide stinks and hire an official guide'. Less than a ten minute ride and we were parked, buying tickets and hiring an 'official guide' , Dervish (handsome not whirling), to share for a two hour tour. Dervish was charming (like a snake) with the longest, thickest eyelashes and he was filled with facts and stories and eventually sales pitches, as that is simply a part of the Turkish tourism; everyone knows a carpet dealer.
Nonetheless, Efes was amazing. It was perfect that we made it a late afternoon stop when almost all the cruisers and tour buses were gone. I think this is the oldest place we have ever seen, started in 300 BC and lived in until 600 AD, with only 20% excavated to date. Although much of the restoration is patched pieces and it is impossible to be positive about what was where, it is undisputed that an incredibly vital and intelligent civilization lived here.
If you have been to Pompei, this is quite different, not so many perfectly preserved houses and temples, gymnasiums and agoras, since it was toppled by earthquakes and not covered by volcanic ash. But the current excavations of the terraces houses were filled with room after room of perfect mosaic carpets and walls so frescoed as to look like French wallpaper. They had fountains and sewers in every house. Most remarkable was seeing the archeologists work in progress, with table after table of marble pieces laid out like jigsaw puzzles being worked on to complete the marble puzzle.
After a great visit, we made a quick stop to freshen up, and the four of us drive to Sirince, a small Greek-Turkish village high on the mountaintop, for a lovely typical Turkish dinner with a bottle of bad Turkish wine. But the view of the almost full moon and the white hillside houses from the restaurant terrace was a perfect setting for getting to know new friends. After all, if we ever get to Shanghai, why not have a tour guide? And Clair, who works for an American car company, is stateside a few times a year and now has a standing invite to visit Philadelphia for a personal tour of the Barnes.
Waking up in our Turkish King luxury suite the next day, we headed down for what was our freshest,most delicious Turkish breakfast ever with homemade chili pepper and walnut pesto, fresh goat cheese with spices and olive oil, peeled tomatoes, and hot off the presses pancakes with pomegranate molasses.
We hugged and kissed our wonderful chef goodbye and walked to the ancient sites of Selcuk.
First a 12th century partially renovated mosque, older than the Haghia Sofia, where the Imam gave us a quick impromptu personal tour. Then, St. Jean cathedral, another impressive ruin, built in the 6th Century AD to honor St. John, an apostle, who traveled and made his home in Selcuk, with the Virgin Mary, after Christ died...that would be year 0, which I am not sure if you say BC or AD. John and Mary lived here until Mary died and John went off elsewhere but returned when he was quite old to die here at 100. This is one of those places where you can walk on the ruins, columns laying all over the place, like they just don't even know what to do with all the pieces.
The last site was amazing. We went to, visited, and touched one of only two surviving Ancient Wonders of the World, a column in situ of the Temple of Artemis (the other being the Pyramid of Giza). This was built over 3,500 years ago. All of the other ancient wonders are gone, vanished, but this one column, cut and pasted back together from fragments, stands simply in a field, next to a free parking lot, with no admission ticket except getting past a few old men trying to sell saffron.
Checking out and saying goodbye to our fleeting travel companions, we began our three hour drive to Pamukkale to the Travertines and Terraces. We had read about this place and its unique other worldly beauty and added it to our must see list a while ago. It is a unique formation, natural, hot thermal springs carving out land into terraces deposited with calcium- as white as White Sands. What none of the reading or brochures mentioned though, was it was part of the site with Hierapolis, another ancient ruins. So we had an added bonus, though just the travertines would have sufficed.
I know Steve will add some amazing photos since words can't describe the beauty. The pools of thermal waters of the highest terrace are knee high and a beautiful blue green. As the pools terrace down, shallow and shallower, the color pales to an eerie ice blue, the waters cooling, and everyone walking precipitously close to the edge of this space like place.
The terraces are the most spectacular and jaw dropping but the cliffs of calcium deposits are astounding too, looking a bit like the ice cascades on the cliffs off the Schuylkill near Gladwyne in the winter, but brilliantly white and covered from top to bottom.
Back at our small hotel, having dinner, writing the blog, we finish quickly, as we decide to head back to the Travertines and take in one last look, all lit up in the full moon tonight and then head to bed to rest up for tomorrow's adventure. But not before we share a photo or two of our room at one of the nicer places in town, a total of 75 Euro for a Junior suite, a glass of wine, a beer, a buffet breakfast AND 2 pretty decent fresh whole fish dinners with three cold meze and two sides. Now the fact that it is a Turkish version of the most extreme South Philly house crossed with a Romanian Bach-e-lor pad....well, we're hoping for a bit better tomorrow, stay tuned.
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