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Published: August 5th 2006
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I arrived in Selcuk, only 3 hours on the bus. And I was immediately approached by someone working for the Australia and New Zealand Pension. Top choice in LP, so off I went with this stranger to his hotel. But I had my choice of hotels in Selcuk: Kiwi Pension, Outback Hotel, Wallabies, Canberra, Boomerang. My place for a mere 32 Canadian Dollars per night was decorated for an Ottoman Sultan. And they also serve a delicious dinner. Breakfast was included in the price, dinner was an extra 10 dollars. And as part of their services, a free ride to Ephesus.
The next morning a few of us were taken to Ephesus, only about 3 km away. Ephesus is probably the best preserved ancient classical city anywhere. It is about a kilometer long, from the southern entrance at the top of the hill to the northern entrance. They dropped us of at the top so we could walk down. The sun is behind us also making for better photos. And that is the usual flow of people so it is easıer to walk with the crowds rather than agaınst the crowd.
And was it ever crowded with tour groups.
Ephesus is only about 20 km inland, and a favorite stop for the cruise ships. Hundreds and hundreds of people were there. It can spoil the atmosphere, but on my travels I have become used to and I expect large crowds. Besides the people watching can be quite entertaining.
There is the main street which leads to the Celsus Library, the most famous image from Ephesus. Along the way are the terraced houses. They charge another entrance fee for this. These houses were where the elite lived. Walls with frescos, bathrooms, meetimg rooms and many floors with mosaics. We walked on elevated glass floors. The entire section for the terraced houses was covered so an escape from the near 40 degree heat. And no tour groups, so I had the near acre site to myself.
Then off to the amphitheatre that seats over 10 000. One of the members of an Italian tour group loved the sound of his own voice. So we were entertained with two Italian opera arias, one was Nesum Dorma. A good voice with lots of vibrato. Like I say, the crowds can be entertaing too. The English boy having a tantrum and his mother explaining they were too far away from home or their hotel to do anything. The smokers who ignored all the no smoking signs and threw their butts onto the 2000 year old road. And the professional photographers who were following one Italian tour group. I don't know if they were newlyweds, famous or just typical good looking Italians.
We were picked up by our driver from the hotel three hours later. He drove us to the Temple of Artemis. One column is left, the rest is rubble. Then back to the hotel. I then walked to the Basilica of St John. It was on this site that St John wrote his gospel, and Emperor Justinian built a church on that site 500 years later. Mostly in ruins now.
The guide books say that Turkey has more ancient sites than Italy and Greece. I can believe it. I really enjoyed my day yesterday. After it was over, I was able to relax in my Ottoman apartment with air conditıoning and drift off to sleep.
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