Monthly Archives: July 2014

Kusadasi

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Kusadasi is a small city on the coast close to Ephesus.  If you are visiting Ephesus, I advise to stay in Selcuk; it’s much nicer and cheaper.  However, if you are arriving or departing by ferry or cruise ship, you will end up in Kusadasi.

There are some very large ships in the port.  I went down to get a ferry ticket to Greece and see Pidgeon Island, which is nice for a stroll, but it’s nothing too exciting.
There are many many shops around the ferry terminal, so if you like to be harassed by shopkeepers then this is a good place to stroll around!  In all seriousness I’ve been told you can get good bargains here, but I just can’t stand shopping when some guy is trying to sell me everything in the store at a “good price”.  I’ve ran out of ways to say “No, I don’t want to buy your Turkish carpet” 🙂

Ephesus

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One of Turkey’s biggest attractions is Ephesus which is an ancient city that is still being unearthed by archaeologists.  The city was built by the Greeks, so you can see a lot of Greek architecture in the buildings.

One of the buildings that is left standing is a huge theatre.  The acustics are great inside and as you enter you often here people practicing their singing voice; some are better than others!
You can see dig sites and people working all around.  It’s a large tourist attraction, but I felt it was big enough that you didn’t feel like there was too much of a crowd.
You can see the ruins of a large library, that is said to be one of the biggest that the Greeks built.  It was supposedly connected by an underground passage to a brothal so they men could sneak across unnoticed by their wives!
You can see the brothal (at least the ruins) and a footprint and a arrow in the cement which is apparently the first advertisement in the world (I’m somewhat sceptical on that one).
The site needs 2 hours of so and it’s very hot, so bring plenty of water and sunscreen as there is little shade.
Up the road is the church of Mary.  It is said that Mary spent the last years of her life living here and died in this area.  There is a mass there that you can attend, or you can join the masses of tourists walking through the small church taking pictures!  It’s a unique site and worth a look.
Between the two sights is a large statue of Mary beside the road.

  

Pamukkale

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Pamukkale is one of Turkey’s famous sights and attracts a lot of tourists, although most of them on day trips.

There are a series of travertines, or ledges, that have been formed by water running down the side of a hill that is high in minerals.  The water is said to have healing properties and so an ancient city was build on the top of the hill where they built baths (very similar to Roman baths).  The baths are still there, and if you can go swimming, as long as you pay the enterance fee!
The pools are not very deep, and at the bottom there are still large marble pillars that were once part of the building.  It’s a nice place to swim, but it’s very crowded with tourists and quite expensive at 36 Lira; and that is on top of the 25 Lira you must pay to enter the site.
After you have seen the ancient city, you can climb down the ledges and walk through the water.  In most places it is not deep enough to swim in, but you can wade through it.  Most hotels in the area have taken the water to fill pools that their guests can swim in.
The town itself is very small with just a handful of hotels and restaurants.  A lot of people either come here on a day trip, or just stay one night.  I was hoping that there would be other attractions in the area, but there is nothing else around.
Today I will continue across to Ephesus by train. So far I have only taken buses in Turkey, so the train should be a nice change of pace.