Blogs from Selçuk, Aegean, Turkey, Middle East - page 7

Alexander the Great nicely used the long memories and grievances of the Greeks from the now famous battles of Marathon and Thermopylae to launch a huge Greek invasion back on the Persian King who controlled modern day Turkey. His 'adventures' took him from the Gallipoli Peninsular, all the way down the Aegean Coast towards the Mediterranean ... on very scenic route to destinations unknown (India). So it is not surprising that his passage bolstered the Helenistic Age to Turkey, and the entire coast is littered with history from this, and more so from his successors the Romans, and then their Eastern half which survived on until around 1400 AD as the Byzantine Empire. Like the great Alexander, we too came hurtling along this turquiose coast 'doing' sites much like he 'did' Persians (and Greek mercenaries). And ... read more

Well, my trip is almost over and I haven't finished my blogs! Sorry I kinda got blogged down. Travel plans made my timing very hard to get this done. Anyways, since I last posted anything I have visited several wonderful sites. I spent time at Pamukkale, Aphrodisias, Ephesus, Artemis Temple, Pergamum and now am back in Istanbul for a couple of days before returning home. I drove my rental car from Fethiye to Pamukkale and spent a day there visitng ruins in the rain. Then onto Selcuk, a lovely little village right outside of Ephesus. Ephesus is magnificent and is where the Celsius Library can be found. Being a library fan, I really enjoyed this site. The history is amazing, all of these places are far older than our country is. So much of what ... read more

Life Amongst the Dead Alihan Guesthouse, Selçuk - 20th September, Evening And so, at last, to Ephesus. The most famous city in Ionia has led such a many-splendoured past that it would be a bit silly to give a potted history; its life is best told by the story of its Temple of Artemis, the seventh of the Wonders of the World. First consecrated, in the latter shadows of the Bronze Age, to an equally shadowy Mother Goddess figure - most probably a conflation of Cybele, the magna mater of antiquity, and an early cult of Artemis - the temple is said by Pausanias to predate the Ionian migrations. The goddess worshipped here took form before the days of the clearly defined Pantheon cults, and is a slightly threatening mixture of mother goddess and huntress, with ... read more

You can take a bus to just about anywhere in Turkey – buses are to Turkey what trains are to India – it is how this nation travels. However, I learned of a rail route that would take me in a similar direction and after my mostly pleasant rail journeys in India, I decided to give this one a go. It wasn’t going to be straight forward though, but that was fine; it would just make the journey more interesting. My destination was Selcuk (pronounced Sel-chook), near the western shore of Turkey. I first needed to catch a ferry and from my map I deduced that it was easily close enough to walk to the terminal from my hotel. The ferry departed at 07:00, so I checked out at 06:10, swatted the eager taxi drivers away ... read more

Pammukale is not exactly how you see it in the post cards....a little bit disappointing I have to say. Thousands of tourists walking around and you don't see a lot of terraces full with clear water...you will hardly see one with water. But it's a nice place anyway...... read more