After leaving the small Mediterranean fishing village of Datca, we took a tourist bus to the much bigger Mediterranean City of Kusadasi. We stayed at the Hotel Stella, which has great views of the harbor. This tourist hub has tons of bars, restaurants, shops, and cafes and it was easy to get lost in all of the hubbub. It is a main destination for cruise ships and we saw one docking on our first morning in Kusadasi.
Our main reason for visiting this coast was not for the beaches, though we were told the beaches are very nice. We came to this region of Turkey to see the ancient city of Ephesus. Ephesus was originally a Greek city founded around the 10th century BC and was later taken over by the Romans. At its peak, this was a major city in the world, as well as an intellectual, economic, and spiritual hub.
From the port town of Kusadasi, Ephesus is a short thirty-minute drive away, so we took a local bus to the small town of Selcuk where our first stop was to see the museum for some education and to hopefully get a better idea of what we would see when we visited the ruins. I am very glad that we made this stop first because it had a tremendous collection of artifacts and provided terrific explanations of the amazing ancient cities that stood here in centuries past. We saw many statues (many headless), painted vases, intricately carved stone pieces, and sarcophagus.
Our second stop was to the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, built in 550 BC. Descriptions suggest, and I am quite sure that in ancient times this was a gigantic and magnificent temple, yet sadly all that is left now are some remaining ruins of the columns strewn across the ground. They have tried to put a few of the broken columns together in a stack to provide some scale of the magnitude of this ancient building, but it unfortunately looks a little haphazard. Either way, it was pretty amazing to be standing on the site of an Ancient Wonder of the World.
Our final stop was the ancient city of Ephesus itself. We were quite tired of fighting Turkish taxi drivers over ridiculous fairs so we instead chose to walk the few kilometers, and I am so glad that we did. Our walk led us through orange fields where we came upon some friendly orange pickers who asked where we were from and graciously gave us some free oranges! What a pleasant surprise and wonderful way to reach this Ancient City and Turkish national treasure.
When entering this ancient city the first thing that stands out are the stone streets with pillars lining the way. It really brings you back in time. In much of the city there has been great efforts made to restore the buildings and structures to their former glory. There is a beautiful small theater, as well as a huge theater built for a capacity of 24,000 spectators. The terraced houses show how the elite lived overlooking the city, however in normal Turkish government fashion they charge an additional fee to go inside the excavated residential area. We were particularly impressed with the beautiful mosaics that covered the floors of several large rooms here.
One popular building amongst tourists, that I found both amusing and interesting was the public latrines. I found the engineering quite genius in the way they were set up where there was clean water that swept underneath each seat to take the waste away. It was very innovative though I think I would have been shy to use a toilet on a bench in such a public way. In general, we just got lost in the awe of the old buildings and market square.
The most famous building in Ephesus, which has been beautifully put back together and restored, is the Library of Celsus built in 110 A.D. This library is one of the only remaining examples of a Roman library and is believed to have been the third-largest library of the Roman Empire. As you walk through the city this building catches your attention right away due to both its size and its intricate decorations. It was hard to get a picture with the building due to the hordes of people, but patience paid off and we were able to grab a quick photo when the crowds momentarily disbursed.
After a wonderful afternoon of exploring we walked out of the ancient city from a different entrance and back to the main road, and in quick order, we were able to catch a bus back to Kusadasi. That evening we again explored this cool port city and enjoyed some great food on the Mediterranean Coast. The following morning we had to wake up before sunrise and take an airport bus to the nearby city of Izmir from where we took a short domestic flight to the great city of Istanbul.
I was really excited to go to Istanbul because two of my friends from Kuala Lumpur, Alexis and Tori, had arranged flights to meet us there for a long weekend. It had been six months since we last connected before departing Malaysia, and I was so excited for a reunion. We flew in and took three different subway lines in order to get to the apartment that we rented for the long weekend in the city. Alexis was already there waiting for us, and after a short catchup, we went on a walkabout through the local neighborhood and found a cute cafe for a cup of coffee.
That evening we just explored the Taksim area of Istanbul and all of the shops, restaurants, and bars that it had to offer. We stopped for a drink and then found a cute place to get some local Turkish Kebab for dinner. On the way home we walked along the main walking street and found that a historic little red trolley makes its way along the boulevard every couple of minutes. We also found the joy and humor of a professionally served Turkish ice cream where they tease you and play tricks with your ice cream cone before finally passing you your overpriced dessert. The humor and talent of the server in this show are well worth the high price.
Late that evening, Tori arrived and the following morning we headed out for a nice brunch overlooking the river. Tori had been to Istanbul before and was quite the expert on the city. We wandered down and took a tram to the famous Galata Bridge. Underneath the road and train tracks of the upper level of the bridge, there is a lower level of restaurants that all overlook the water. There must be several dozen restaurants on each side of the bridge and the pressure for our business from the hosts at nearly every one we passed was very intense. The sidewalks on the upper level of the bridge was lined with literally hundreds of fishermen casting over the railing trying to pull in small fish for the locally famous whitebait sandwich.
On the other side of the bridge we found ourselves on a popular walking street just outside of the famous and incredibly vibrant spice market. Tori knew of a popular deli restaurant and we enjoyed a delicious lunch. They seemed to have every spice imaginable as well as countless cured meats, salads, and other tasty treats. On this day the actual spice market was not that crowded, however, for some reason, there were huge crowds in the walking streets just outside. We found a coffee store with just takeaway windows that only sold grounds, and must have literally been selling a bag every ten seconds. The workers inside were so impressive as they quickly stuffed bags with freshly cut ground to try to keep pace with the huge queue of customers.
In the afternoon, we wandered up to the famous Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque. The Hagia Sophia is a famous and huge Catholic church from Roman times that has been controversially converted into a mosque by the pro-Muslim Erdogan regime. This building is beautiful both outside and inside and can hold hundreds if not thousands of people. An interesting feature is that some of the original Christian artwork still exists on the ceiling and on the upper levels of this now mosque even though it appears that there has been an effort to attempt to cover up the centuries-old paintings.
The Blue Mosque is right next to the Hagia Sophia, but unfortunately it was closed to tourists for prayer when we tried to go. We also looked at going to the palace, but we all felt it was overpriced and instead just walked through the nearby gardens. That evening we returned to the same area of the city as the night before and had a wonderful dinner followed by drinks, and even some hookah!
The next day my friends sadly had to leave. After one last morning walkabout for some coffee and a stroll along the port harbor, they were flying back to their jobs teaching that they had to resume on Monday morning. Lucky for us, Nate and I still had a couple of days left in Istanbul and continued exploring the city and enjoying the great eateries of this giant city.
We headed to the Grand Bazaar where we shopped for Christmas presents for the friends we would soon see on our next stop in Australia, and enjoyed the diverse plethora of shops. Nate of course enjoyed haggling and negotiating for all of our purchases, and we left very happy and proud of what we managed to find. It was very crowded, but I think that added to the fun. From the Bazaar we tried to return to the Blue Mosque a second time, but again, it was closed for prayer and we were once again locked out and left frustrated.
For our final dinner in Istanbul, we found a restaurant owned by Saltbae. I didn’t really know who this was, but evidently, he is a Turkish chef who became famous on YouTube. The restaurant looked very popular so we gave it a try. I am not going to lie, I had higher hopes, and really the only choices were burgers or ridiculously priced steaks. We both went with the trademark burger and were very disappointed when they came out way undercooked. An ingesting and touristy experience nonetheless. The following morning we returned to the airport and headed back across Asia to Kuala Lumpur to catch up with friends before the Christmas holiday and to repack our bags for Australia and New Zealand.
Teri and Nate's World Adventures 