Advertisement
Published: February 26th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Ephesus, described as the best-preserved classical city in the Eastern Mediterranean. I had high expectations, and I wasn’t disappointed.
Ephesus was an ancient trading city, which feels like it’s been there since time began. It’s so old that it is referred to in the Bible many times, and is one of the seven churches of Asia referred to in the book of Revelations. So, a reputation not to be sneezed at.
We walked through the old streets, where people would sell their wares, past the public toilets - which were very public indeed! , The temple of Hadrian, and down to the amazing Celsus Library. Past the gates of Augustus, the old Roman theatre still stands, big enough to told 44,000 people, possibly the largest outdoor theatre of the ancient world.
This is the best example that you’re going to get of what it’s like to be in an ancient Roman city.
Next we headed to a nearby leather tannery, where we were not only showing the differences between types of leather etc, but were able to shop in the place that supplies Harrods and other boutique stores around London.
I got rather carried away, and was
escorted around the shop by the head designer and shopped up large hehe 😊
Back on the road, we drove through a little township that had empty glass bottles on the roof tops, Husnu explained to us that it signifies there’s a girl in the house that is at the age of marriage, and that once a boy gets the girl, he breaks the bottle. I guess some traditions never change around here?
We headed inland to Pamukkale, renowned for its brilliant white calcium terraces with little pools that you could once swim in.
Photos don’t do this place justice. Upon arrival, a magnificently large rock face seems to appear from nowhere, kinda like Ayers Rock, but completely stark white.
From the top we were able to dip our bare feet in the one remain section of the pools that were open to the public to walk through. The many pools and terraces were formed from mineral rich water seeping out of the ground at a spring and forming calcium deposits over many, many years.
After looking around the pools, some of us went for a nice relaxing swim in the natural thermal pools, also located
Ephesus High Street
Where the Bazzar shops etc would sell there stuff at the top of the hill. They were so deep none of us could touch the rocky bottom and were resting on old fallen marble columns, but the water was so clear, you could see all the way down!
We checked into our Hotel for the night and were entertained by some belly dancers who also dragged a few of the boys up to give it ago one by one, including Brent, Matt and Chris. Haha - good on ya boys!
The next day was the big drive back to Istanbul, just in time to watch the Australia vs Sira Lanka Cricket World Cup final, and one last party night before we all headed back to our respective homes, no doubt mostly in London!
Check out more
Photos
Advertisement
Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 8; qc: 26; dbt: 0.041s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb