Ephesus

Selcuk is the nearest town to Ephesus. The bus from Istanbul arrives at about 8 am. We were two of only five people to get off the bus. We went and checked into our hostel. There were only two other people there. It took time to check in because HostelBookers lost our reservation. We had to track down the receipt in an email. Despite the empty nature of the hostel, it was not time to check in yet. We had to leave our bags and go explore the town. The very sleepy town. There were only a few chai shops and food stalls open.

We found a place making phyllo roles with meat, cheese, spinach and egg inside. Fresh ones were coming out of the oven as we watched. So we stopped and had some for breakfast. After, we wandered a bit more. All along the streets were trees with oranges in them. The oranges were bitter, more like lemons, but they were free.

After we went to check in. I took the time to upload my photos. We had a bit of a nap after not sleeping well on the bus. Then we were off. The man at the hostel gave us a ride to the north gate of Ephesus for ten Lira. Then we were able to spend the day wandering around the sight.

The Ruins

Ephesus was amazing. It was once a large and important city and the ruins cover a large area. I think it is sad to see once great cities in ruin. Withing the general ruins are a few large structures that remain standing. It amazes me that these structures have lasted thousands of years for us to see today. Very little of what we create today has the same permanence.

We went to see the Library and to see the amphitheatre. Both we awe inspiring and beyond description. There was just a presence there. I loved it. We wandered trying to see the full site and all the ruins. But there were ruins (that were not fenced off) that were out of bounds. They must have been unstable or something, but we were chased off by a soldier. There was no arguing with him. He followed us until we were back in bounds. We walked back through the ruins and went back to town.

Library of Celsus

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Theatre

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Misc Images

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I was angered by one thing at Ephesus. They had a section fenced off that you had to pay (again) to get into. This area was in the hillside and was house sites. I had already paid once to get in. It is stupid to have to pay again. We decided not to go into the section, though it would have been interesting.

Seven Sleepers

It was only 3km back to town so we decided to walk. We decided to find the seven sleepers caves. The sarcophagi of seven children were found at the site. The walk was interesting. We passed a field of orange trees. All the trees are ripe and ready to pick. There were women in a few of the fields. The oranges are sold at the market in the village.

We found a few places we thought could be the sleeper caves, but they were all just goat paths. At the top of one path was a nice view. There were random bags tied in the trees. We did not look in. They could have been anything. We were better off not knowing.

It was easy to tell when we found the real caves around a corner. There were shops and restaurants at the bottom of the hill. We walked up the hill and came to the seven sleepers, all gated off. It was very obvious that people have been in, one section of fence was completely down.

The site was interesting. The tombs have been raided though. The sarcophagi are in the museum. Very little left to see. There was a small section of mosaic and a burn fresco. There were also holes in the ground and unstable walkways.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The restaurants at the bottom of the hill were expensive. We were quick to leave and go back to the hostel. But we had an adventure getting back to the hostel. The main road wound up and around a hill. The walk uphill was not something we wanted to do. The other option was to cut across some fields and get to the high way. We started across on orange field, then it was broccoli, there was a field of thorny trees, and a ditch to cross. There was also a man watching us as we crossed the fields. He was making sure we did not take anything. What we did take was a broccoli stem. The broccoli had been harvested but the stalks had been left. We cut off a stalk to take with us.

New Years Eve

We made it to the road and went back to the hostel. There is was time for a shower and a nap. There had been little to no sleep on the bus and if we wanted to be awake to ring in the new year there had to be some sleep.

When we awoke it was time to leave the hostel and find somewhere to go for New Years. There was almost nowhere open. We found only two open restaurants. We had dinner, then backtracked to a bar where there were some other people celebrating New Years in the tiny town. While waiting for the New Years countdown we played a few games of backgammon. It was shortly after midnight when we returned to the hostel to sleep.

Next Steps

At 9 am I woke up. Adam had already been up and out. He left a note that he was at a Chai bar across the road. In Turkey, there are two types of bars. Ones that serve alcohol and ones that serve tea. The tea bars are more common and important. People go to chai bars to socialize. Adam was easy to find. Then we talked about what our plans should be.

Basilica of St. John

We went to the Basilica of St. John, this is literally in someone’s back yard. The site is in the center of town and I wish I had one in my backyard. The complex is huge. There are three increasingly large churches built around the tomb of St. John. St. John was the youngest of Christ’s disciples. He fled with the Virgin Mary to Selcuk. From the Basilica we could see the Temple of Artemis.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Byzantine fortress

Temple of Artemis

The temple of Artemis is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Like many of the other wonders, it has been decimated by time, people, and museums. There was almost nothing left of the structure at all. It was very sad to see, not that there was much to see. We quickly went to the Archaeological Museum. There were many things from Ephesus there. The museum is small but had many wonderful pieces. We spent all our time in the museum until we had to head to the hostel to pick up our bags and go to the bus station.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Adam had found a temple in the Rough Guide that was not in the Lonely Planet. The Temple of Aphrodisias is just as large as Ephesus and more well preserved in many ways. It is also more out of the way and much quieter. This sounded really good so we made the decision to travel to the nearby village of Geyre.