Ephesus or Efes

Left Cannakle and headed to Selcuk where we stayed (3) nights Akay Hotel (good location, great mgmt).

On our way to Selcuk we stopped off in Bergama where the main attraction is the Pergamum Acropolis, a 10,000 seat theatre. The site is very well preserved and the theatre provided for a great stair master workout! Throughout our journey we have really tried to make a considered effort to avoid the hordes of tourists, which normally means going to the sites during the hottest part of the day. However, this time it was not the heat that we were battling but a severe wind storm - maybe it was natures way of reminding us of Hurricane Florence's approach towards Bermuda!!

Selcuk is a nice town that serves as the main stop over for Ephesus, the best preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean. We made the most of Selcuk and enjoyed the generousity and politeness of the locals. The food in Selcuk wasn't that bad, however our (3) month Dukoral dosage has finished, meaning that the taps are now back on for the diarrhea to start flowing again. As a side note........Dukoral is the be-all-end-all to travellers diarahea - after just (3) doses your diarahea free for an entire year. Unfortunately, we had begun this journey before the time permitted us to get our 3rd dosage, coupled with the fact that it is not widely available, and Mom was not able to bring it to us - we believe that we can pick up some in London - Egypt should be fun without it!!!!

Day (1) we headed out to Ephesus. Ephesus definitely lives up to the hype. Although still under excavation, and probably will be for the next 70-100 years, the site is awesome. The Great theatre which was built during AD41 - AD117 is spectactular. In addition, the infrastructure of the city has been very well preserved allowing you to walk Harbour St, Sacred Way and Curetes Way. There are many more structures withýn the site, but one could not go without mentioning the sight of the communal men's toilets. We find it absolutely amazing that 1,000's of years ago there were Western Style toilets - what the hell is wrong with Italy and such countries in Asia and the rest of the world that insist on using the squat - hole in the ground method. Come on, it's not like these are a new invention that occured in the 18th century.

After spending several hours in the relentless heat and having Esphesus to ourselves, we spent the next day paying a visit to the Basilica of St. John and relaxing at the pool side. On our last night, I came through with my promise to the owner of the hotel and spent an hour or two smoking his Shisha (water pipe) and downýng a few Efes's. It must be said that Mom and Dad took a few drags, but nothing could be done to get Isabel to enjoy the inhaling of the beautiful smell and taste of the apple tobacco! By the end of the night, we had our own Shisha that wýll be carrýed around as a seperate pýece of hand luggage - lucky us!!

The next day we drove (3) hours down south to Bodrum where Mom & Dad dropped us off and they continued to Marmaris to catch a ferry to Rhodes. The drive to Bodrum was beautiful as we went up and down mountains and in spots hugged the coastline of the Bodrum Peninsula. Bodrum is a party town and is really the beginning of the resort towns that are home to the British invasion during the summer. Having only had (2) hours of sleep the night before, due to some Religious Group from Seattle yapping and playing in the pool all night - religious our ass - we were in no shape for a late night of partying. What a great excuse for us to take in the experience of a Turkish bath.

Wow, for those that have not experienced or had a Turkish bath let us notify - you are DIRTY. No amount of Dove, Irish Spring, Lever 2000 or any Body Shop shit cleans you like the man or women at the bath with the exfoliation glove!! The entire experience lasted 1 1/2 hours, and went like this - get naked and wrap a cloth around your waste (only if you don't want to bare the it all), spend time dosing yourself with buckets of warm water, then head to the sauna, then off to lie on the big huge heated slabs of marble, back to the buckets of water and then he/she appears.....

They scrub you up and down leaving no possibility of dirty or dead skin the chance to remain on your body - no you don't loose your tan!! After a thorough scrub down it's time to shower off, then go back for the soap down and shower. After feeling the cleaniest in your life, you are wrapped in towels and wait for the masseuse. The hot oil massage is nice but certaintly my deep tissue massage by the 250lb dude had no resemblance of our past Thai versions...........It must be said that I was glad to see my calfs attached to my legs this morning, as I was convinced that he had detached them......

Relaxed, rested, and feeling cleaner that ever he are off to Dubai today to visit an old University Buddy.........

---

---

---