Monday November 4
Cycled: 41.33km//2hr25min//17.01km/hr
If you get a chance, visit Ephesus, also written Efes, also the name of the only beer in this country. Simply spectacular. How you imagine Rome might be, until you visit Rome, and realize its now just a modern city. The site of Ephesus is actually an entire ancient city preserved (granted, in a state of ruin). In the roman period Ephesus had a population >56,000, some say over 200,000. The gospel of John was believed to have been written. Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus, spent here final years here. There is the library of Celsus, two coliseums, multiple temples, gyms, agoras, public baths and latrines, terrace houses, and ornate fountains. The city was abandoned due to an unfortunate issue with the harbour (trade was essential for its livelihood). The harbor kept getting silted out, and in the end, was useless. Surprisingly (or not so surprising if you're familiar with Turkey), only about 15% of the site has been excavated. If you're lucky, you too will be accosted by Turkish school kids set loose in Ephesus to prey upon unsuspecting tourists to practice their conversational English. Be prepared with your best Dutch 'I don't understand you'.
After touring Ephesus for four hours, we road back to Kusadashi, gathered our belongings, and made our way to the bus station. It would be the overnight bus to Istanbul for us!
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| Touring Ephesus begins! |
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| Madalene looks down on the main amphitheater in Ephesus. |
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| Korean tourist doing 'the wave' in their colourful jackets and shoes. |
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| The road leading to the harbour. Now the road leads to flat agricultural land, what used to be the bottom of the harbour, now filled with till thanks to erosion. |
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| With a little imagination, you can see ghosts walking up and down Ephesus's main drag, bustling here and there. |
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| Library entrance on your left, agora entrance on your right. Amazingly preserved. |
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| Jenn swankers out of the library. |
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| I can see her wrapped in a toga, can you? |
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| One of the virtues keeping watch outside the library entrance. |
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| Jenn testing out one of the public latrines once used in Ephesus. Sadly, she didn't have anyone to talk politics or current events with. I'm sure this put a damper on the experience. |
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| The road up the hill in Ephesus. |
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| The amphitheatra from a distance, very cleverly built into the hillside. |
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| Only 15% of the site is properly excavated. Work is still very clearly in progress. |
