Ephesus

---

i find myself less and less motivated to do the blog as time goes on but since im mostly doing it for myself so i can have a record later i shall press on.

did some more reading last night before early sleep since it was pouring rain on and off. picked up some cheap jules verne in İzmir and have made it through journey to the centre of the earth and around the world in 80 days. i was pleasantly surprised by both being quite good.

anyways got up this morning around 8 and had a FREEZING cold shower, after a freezing cold night of sleep. i woke up two times having to pile on an extra blanket which isnt like me but it was probably 5 degrees in the room by this morning. i went up on the roof this morning and saw the solar panels and assume this is how the water is heated... or in the case of yesterday not headed due to clouds and then a cool night.

anyways managed to get myself going had a breakfast of boiled egg an orange cucumber (and by some miracle it didnt give me heartburn) apples and bread.

went out straight to ephesus. around 600BC there was a bustling city on the site of a nice harbour just a few kms from present day selçuk. over a few hundred years there were about 200 000 people there possibly making it the second biggest city in the world at the time after Rome. it changed hands a few times between Lysimachus, prussians, romans... it was in its heydey around jesus' time, hence becoming home of St. John, the virgin mary and co.

by the 5th or 6th century the harbour silted up and things wound down. today the ocean is 5 or 6 km away which i find rather crazy and interesting. now theres flat farmland in between, with mountain peaks around.

anyways i decided to walk since it was the only thing really on the agenda today and im really glad i did. nice 45 min walk to get there with fog/mist shrouding the hills and columns and ruins poking through. its kinda hard to picture what was there as its a little bit of a mishmash of rocks and columns and bricks which sometimes seem haphazardly put together.

anyways a big church with a baptistry and still the hole in the ground where the actual baptisms took place (got a pıc of myself in there) heh. a couple of gymnasiums. the most impressive things were the library and the theatre, as well as the roads themselves. oh yes and the latrines.

so the library has some big high walls restored with niches for the 12 000 scrolls it was reputed to hold. theres a double wall around it with about 3 feet in between which helped control the heat and humidity inside.
the theatre was huge. built to hold 25 000. each section had a different slope, steeper towards the top to make sure everyone could see and hear what was going on down on the stage. apparently they still have events there.
the roads had sewerage pipes running along the sides and pillars and houses lining the sides. i especially liked the stones with inscriptions on them - made it seem so real.
the latrines were pretty cool too. holes in stone about 3 feet apart lining a room. running water below to flush the waste away and perhaps a fountain or something in the centre of the room.

so when i first got there i was alone. i thought great, off season travel at its best. the moment i stepped into the theatre, the tour groups descended. it was crazy. thousands of people following their leader who held up a baton or plastic clappy hands or an umbrella. germans, americans, japanese, korean, you name it they ruined my day lol i couldnt get any good pictures and had to push them out of the way everywhere i went. ugh.

anyways finally finished there and was at the other end from where i entered. figured id just walk back that way. so off i go past 20 taxi drivers who harassed me to no end and told me it was a 3 hour walk back (which i knew was lies, hour max) and headed back twoards selçuk. halfway there i saw a sign for the grotto of the seven sleepers so i figured id saunter that way. and i was sauntering becase by this point the sun was hot and it was close to 20 degrees.

anyways the seven sleepers were early christians who were being persecuted because they were christian. they ran to the cave to hide but agents of Emperor Decius sealed them in. 200 years later someone unsealed the cave, those seven woke up and came on out! since then there was a shrine built to them there and some tombs as well. pretty low key but worth the detour. had the whole place to myself except for this really sad, scrawny dog who was following me. i had bought chocolate cookies at the supermarket (cookies called Negros!!) so i gave him some and made an instant friend. also along the road there was all orange orchards and other trees i couldnt name (i only knew the orange trees because - here are my advanced powers of deduction - there were oranges on them) so i stealthily picked a few and had fresh oranges for lunch! around that time this old geezer on a motor scooter stops and chats me up. asks me where im from and then where im going. i say back to selçuk. he says hop on, no money... riiiight. i tell him i want to walk and he goes on. i see him a little further up the road and he says Selçuk for 2 lira! hahaha

anyways that road headed back around the mountain towards where i had started the day at ephesus then the 45 min walk back to selçuk. just before i got back to ephesus i stopped to take a picture of the selçuk castle because the view was great. as i did that a car stops across from me. turns out to be some american seniors who were lost. i actually knew exactly where tehy watned to go (church of mary on top of the mountain) so i told them and also about teh grotto of seven sleepers which theyd never heard of. i even gave them teh whole story. they were impressed with me (and so was i - thank you lonely planet!).

anyways back to town slowly in the 'heat' and then for some lunch. a mixed grill of meats including chicken shish kebabs, lamb shısh kebabs, and two mystery meats. with onions, tomatoes, and bread. and fanta of course. for 7 bucks and delicious. as soon as she brought out the plate (i sat outside) this cat comes right over and starts mewing so loudly at me. i booted her away (ok i booted teh chair to scare her - i dont kick animals!) and when i was done gave her the fatty scraps i had left.

then i went to the bus station to book my ticket outta here tomorrow night. 11 hour overnight bus to İstanbul. ugh. 35 dollars. theyre pretty aggressive salesmen and even while i was buying the ticket the guy next door is over trying to lure me away. the guy i was buying from took me into the office and closed teh door. it was pretty funny. even when i was leaving he was still shouting HEY YOU İSTANBUL CHEAPER HERE!

then went to the store and bought some freshly roasted pistaschios, doritos and chocolate covered raisins for the bus ride tomorrow night. unfortunately the pıstaschios didnt last jigs time. yum.

then went about finding a motor scooter to rent. found a place and i have to be there at 9 tomorrow morning. he said hed tell me the price then. i did see another place with a sign up for scooter rental but it was closed for the day. i might try stopping there tomorrow just to see what his price is first.

anyways just had a delicious 'pizza light' for supper - cheese, hot peppers, mushrooms, tomatos, and salami. with fanta. heheh

now ready for bed for scooter fun tomorrow! hopefully to the beach to see how cold the water is and have a good look up and down the coast. apparently gas here is really expensive but i dont care i just want to go faster than walking haha

only 6 days left. sad.

---

Comments

[anonymous]

Bring me back a souvenir or 2 if you can. There are a lot of second hand stores . Gold and leather items are supposed to be inexpensive. A pendant or a broach. Apple tea is also a specialty there. Mom

[Helen Ryan]

Jason, you can't give up the blog, it is so interesting and I love reading about your adventures. Hope I get an opportunity to see your pictures. Keep safe, Helen

[Nan]

Directed to . . .?
Pity you're not thinking exclusively at those 'at home' readers who are enjoying every word of the commentary (HA HA)