Ancient Ephesus

Today was another early

Family shot infront of the ancient library in Ephesus.

wake up day!   We wanted to arrive at Ephesus before it got too hot as I read that there is very little shade.  With a little resistance we all got up and went for breakfast.  The breakfast they serve at our accommodation seems to be a bit of a mix of what they typically serve in Turkey and a little like what we would normally have at home.  This made the girls happy.  We met some fellow English speaking guests during breakfast and got some good tips on what to do in the area and how to save some money (always welcomed advice).  One of the owners of the hostel’s brother provided us with a free shuttle to Ephesus as we ate at his restaurant the night before. 

 We started our visit to Ephesus from the top so we would be closer to Selcuk when we exited the site as our plan was to walk back to our accommodation.  I felt somewhat overwhelmed to be in one of the world’s most amazing archaeological sites and a world heritage site.  Ephesus is an ancient city that was nestled in a very fertile valley and was the Mediterranean’s main commercial center for many years.  The ruins represent centuries of history including the ancient Greek and Roman Empires (first built in the 10^th century BC!).  What they accomplished here was amazing including digging a channel from the ocean so boats could access the city.  I suppose being the world’s largest center of the slave trade at the time probably helped. It was a very well thought out and organized city.  They also had an amazing water and sewer system.  In some houses they even had hot and cold water available to them.  Believe it or not they also had a library and medical school.  I overhead a tour guide at the site say that what we could see at the site (which was a lot) was only one tenth of what is actually there.  Apparently a lot of the city is still buried and it would take years to fully uncover it all.   In its prime Ephesus had about a quarter of a million people living within its walls.

Our strong girl!

The theatre in Ephesus.

After an amazing time of discovery

Amazing the detail in the stone.

at the site we headed through the lower part of Ephesus along a shaded path to the exit.  Upon leaving we entered a crazy parking lot full of tour busses coming and going which made it a little tricky getting to the road without getting hit.  Once we were out of the parking area we walked along the road for awhile before finding another promenade where we could walk the rest of the way into town.  This too was shaded so it made for a very pleasant walk.  Along the way Alyssa discovered a bunch of exercise machines so she and Kevin tried them out.  Alyssa thought they were a lot of fun and could have spent some time playing on them but the rest of us were ready to head back for a nap.

Once at our hostel we all climbed into bed for a little nap.  Actually, we had at least a 2 hour nap and a 4 hour one for Jenna.  After feeling like we caught up on some sleep I went to find a store

Strange statues we found in Ephesus.

to buy some food since we slept

through lunch.  I asked our host where I could find a market and he said to go across the main road and behind the bus station; so off I went.  When he said market I thought he meant a grocery store but it actually turned out to be blocks and blocks of an open air market selling everything from fresh produce to clothes and hardware supplies.  Not wanting to take too long I found some food and headed back to the hostel with the plan to bring everyone back for a look. 

After some relaxing time reading, researching some things for Africa and updating our blog we all made the trek to the market.  As I am a browser I enjoyed just looking at everything as did Alyssa.  Kevin and Jenna hung out while we looked.  Jenna figured that since she doesn’t have a lot of money left it was better not to look and well... Kevin is not that big on shopping.  Alyssa on the other hand still has some money to spend and found a few treasures.   Unfortunately the fan she bought lasted all but 5 minutes before it broke.  After we had a bite to eat Kevin and Jenna headed to the hostel while Alyssa and I browsed some more.

The local market on Saturdays.

The hostel has a very nice roof top area where you can hang out so we spent most of the evening there.   Alyssa and Kevin played chess and Jenna and I played crib while we drank apple tea.  Alyssa took pictures as the sun set and we watched storks fly by.  We met some more guests from the states and had some great conversations.  It was a really nice way to end a good day.

The sun set from our hostel roof top.

Overland in Turkey

Today is one of our last overland

Hanging out at the hotel, waiting for train time.

travel days in Turkey.  Doing the research it looks like the best way to head toward Izmir and Selcuk, which is where Ephesus is, is by train.  Once we were packed up and checked out of the hotel I headed down to find the train station and get our tickets.  I was stunned when the guy informed me the cost was 55 Lira for all four of us for a 3 hour train ride, that’s less than $25 Canadian!  We had a little bit of down time until our train left so we hung out at the hotel until we were close then headed down the long 5 minute walk to the station.

As we waited for the train, Jenna was complaining about the heat, something we were all thinking but just trying to tolerate, when I looked up at the thermometer in the station..... 44C!  Not sure if I’ve ever been in that hot but at least its a dry heat, I’m not completely dripping sweat like I was in Istanbul but wow, we’re not moving too fast, that’s for sure.  We managed to find good seats and throw our packs above us and we were off.  We stopped at all the little towns along the way but it was a great way to see things as we headed for the western coast of Turkey.  At some point during the trip the air conditioning shut off and the train just kept on getting more packed with every stop, people in the isles, squishing onto seats, you name it.  I now know why the tickets were so cheap!

Stork nest.

Our hostel for three nights.

We showed up in Selcuk and took a bit of a roundabout route to the hostel but it does seems cooler here with a nice breeze (I was still dripping sweat by the time we got there).  The hostel is really cool with the whole upper floor a terrace where we eat breakfast and hang out playing chess.  Alyssa and I got back into the chess routine again but she’s a bit rusty after learning all Rich’s tricks from Wales.  The other neat thing about Selcuk is there are stork nests everywhere.  We were welcomed by a flock of storks soaring over the terrace.  The hostels are definitely the way to meet other travellers around here and get all the tips and suggestions.  Turns out tomorrow we can get a free lift up to Ephesus and walk down along a shady walkway back to the hostel.  We were also told to go early as it really heats up.  Selcuk is a pretty little town that’s going to be our last home in Turkey for the next few days.

Not sure what these are?!?

We Swam in Cleopatra’s Pools!

It was hot and dry and lots of graves.  Jenna loved it!

Yes, today we were off to Pamukkale, which is a short 30 minute bus ride north of Denizli.  So back to the bus stop for the mini bus to Pamukkale where we got dropped off at the “terrace” which we found out is the upper entrance way.  We got to check out some crazy old tombs that were between 200 BC and into the 3^rd century.  Amazing how you can still read the writing, well.... you can see some kind of Greek or Roman letters but who know what they say.  Many graves were toppled probably by grave robbers but many are intact and quite a few are put back together.  I went on a bit of a photo shoot while Jenna was ducking from shade patch to shade patch.  It was cooking in the sun but tolerable in the shade with a nice breeze blowing.  It helped that we got going a little earlier today!

Incredible the 2000+ year old graves and you can still read the inscriptions.

On through the graves and crypts where I was trying to get the kids to lay down so I could get a picture but there was no way that was happening.  I thought I could get Alyssa to crawl into one but she didn’t want to get her white shirt dirty! 

Around the corner and we saw the crazy pools well known in Pamukkale.   It is Turkey’s foremost mineral-bath spa where hot calcium-laden waters spring from the earth and cascade over a cliff right above the town.  As the water cools, they form dramatic travertines of hard, brilliantly white calcium that form pools.  It has been a spa since the Romans built the spa city of Hierapolis around a sacred warm-water spring.  The Antique Pool is still there which is where Cleopatra swam and we did the touristy thing and jumped in.  We didn’t see Cleopatra there but there were a couple of scantily clad Russian women that were walking all around the pools in a quasi photo shoot!  It was pretty funny watching the posing and then you see the guy shooting with his phone!  We all had a pretty good laugh.  It was pretty cool as you slide over 2000 year old pillars in the water in the 23 degree water.  It wasn’t exactly refreshing but it was cooler than the air temp so everyone was happy.

Imagine the massive puzzle project trying to put this back together!

I also hiked up above the pools to this amphitheatre that was completely stunning.  The majority of the seats seem in pretty good shape and they have reconstructed most of the stage area.  As you look past the stage area there is a huge field of partially constructed pieces all over the place.  What a crazy puzzle that would be trying to put multiple tonnes of marble back together again as they uncover all the pieces.  There are remnants everywhere you look.  You can see with much of the stage they had to make new pieces where the old pieces were either lost or unsalvageable.  They did an incredible job and have a sign showing what it looked like in 1958, then in 2005 to 2007 they did most of the reconstruction of the stage until 2013 where it is how it looks now.

The theatre was incredible. Some of the missing or non-salvageable pieces are replaced with new ones.

On our way down to the city of Pamukkale, we were

The town of Pamukkale behind.

able to walk down through the pools.  At first it was pretty crazy with people as there were a tonne of tour buses up top but as you work your way down the crowd thins out and we had some time to take photos and I thought I had the photo of a lifetime with this Muslim woman soaking her feet in a pool all by herself.  I took the shot and once we got home I downloaded it thinking, Banff Photo Contest here I come.... well, it’s definitely not going to win any awards and I’ve got way better pictures of my kids around the cool formations.

We had a quick walk through the city and I think it would be worth staying in Pamukkale if any of you ever decide to come check it out.  They have lights on the pools and cliffs so in the evening you could be having dinner in one of the restaurants with this stunning view of everything.  Staying in Denizli worked really well for us too but you’d get to see everything in the mellow times without the crazy tour buses around.  All in all, a great day and sure glad we stopped to check them out... Thanks Geoff for the tip.

The walk down around the shallow pools.

Crazy formations from the calcium rich water.

On the Road Again....

It was with heavy hearts that we packed up again to hit the road.  Our place was so nice and our routine pretty well developed that it was feeling a lot like a home away from home.  It was nice for everyone to have a little separation when they wanted it and my favourite place was sitting on the deck in the mornings and evenings taking it all in.  It was great to just walk down the stairs and find your favourite bike to head into town or down to the beach.  Everything felt really safe with so few people that the girls even had a little more freedom then they’ve seen since coming to Turkey!

Another bus station.

Our host, Ramazan even came up to say goodbye and make sure we got on our way alright.  He called the shuttle that picked us up from the pension and delivered us to the highway, 7 km away, back up the crazy twisting road.  From there the other bus stopped and backed up to our packs to load us in.  Once again there was great discussion amoung the bus drivers as there were eight of us and he could only jam on six!  We made the cut as we were travelling the furthest and I think they take the highest fares!  So with Shannon jammed between three guys in the back, Alyssa got one of the stools in the middle and Jenna and I got the half seat looking backwards behind the passenger’s seat, we started the hour and a half trek back to the bus station.  Eventually we got seats but Jenna and I barely had hand holds so I got to hug my daughter in the sticky, sweaty bus for half an hour!  She was really impressed by all the affection and stickiness.

Once at the Ottogar in Antalya, we were directed back through the metal detectors and instantly the friendly guys were back to direct us onto the correct bus.  It’s pretty funny as a number of the guys are looking out for eachother’s companies and get you to the right place instantly.  Sure they’re getting some kind of cut but it works quite well.  Half an hour later and we’re sitting on the bus headed for Denizli (near Pamukkale), not bad for connections!  The crazy part is as we’re leaving I looked up at the temperature gauge in the bus that reads 40C!  Wow, it is hot!

The landscape is pretty interesting travelling across the country.  You start out with smaller mountain peaks that remind me of the Rockies but not nearly as high although similar with the trees to a certain level then nothing but dry, jagged peaks.  As we climbed higher we got into some forestry where they are growing some kind of pine tree but it doesn’t look the greatest for lumber, pretty twisted and branched.  Further inland and it really feels like Kamloops again with some agriculture in the valley bottoms but dry and rocky with scrub on the hills.  The bus window is a pretty good way to see the country side.  This bus even has water and snack service as they have two drivers and one serves while the other drives.  Definitely a hell of a lot better service than we get on the grey dog back home!

Bus window shot. 

We got into Denizli and had a whole 100 meters to walk to our hotel.  We picked that hotel on purpose as we’re only here two days and will be using the Ottogar (bus station) quite a bit.  Everyone had a little mellow out and I decided to check out “what to do in Denizli”.  Of course there’s the museums, statues and the like but 14^th was go to the movie, yeh, Denizli isn’t the biggest  tourist area around, so I hit that link to find out the movies here are either Turkish subtitles or dubbed.  The Ant Man had subtitles so I asked the kids if they were interested.  They jumped at the chance so we awoke Shannon from her deep slumber (she had a Gravol and gets totally knocked out) and ran out to find a taxi as we had half an hour to find the place.  Turns out its huge mall so luckily we were short of time or the girls would have had to look around!  We finally found the Cinemaximum and grabbed our tickets to walk into the theatre as the previews were starting!  It was a great show and fun to chill out to an English movie and snack on popcorn.  Here they actually have an intermission half way through so you can get up and grab more snacks or pee.  They cut it off in a really weird place right in the middle of an action scene but it was pretty funny when the movie cut off and the lights came on.  We all thought they were having technical difficulties and thought, oh great, what a time to cut the movie off but I obviously it was planned.  After the movie we hit the mall food court for good old Mcy D’s or Don’s as the new kids are calling it, and off to see if we could find another taxi or it would’ve been a long walk home.  All good, and time for bed...

Bye Bye Beach

We had a late start to the day as mom and dad let me sleep until 12.  Since its our last day here, we didn’t have much food in the fridge so I got stuck with a piece of bread while dad made his gross sausage and eggs in a wrap.  Mom and dad kept yelling at me to do this and do that and get ready and on and on and on.  By 2:30 we left the cabin to head to the beach. 

Hanging out together Day 50...

It wasn’t quite as hot today which was nice and we actually got good spots under the umbrellas this time.  Dad has decided that we need to learn how to swim but I keep telling him I can already.  Sis seems to love to swim so she let dad try to teach her.  Me and mom hung out on the beach for a while and tanned while she finished my book.  I told her it was a good book since I got through it in a week and normally I take months to read a book.  So she started reading it and ended up finishing it in a week too.

I’m gonna miss the hot weather and warm water since we’re going to be in Africa soon and its supposed to be a high of 20C there.  The beach was so pretty and with hardly any people and you could float in the water for hours...  I wouldn’t suggest it though since sis burnt her back so bad she had to sleep on her stomach after the first day.  After sis was finally done swimming we packed up and headed to look at Olympus that was a five minute bike ride down the beach.

The entrance into the Theatre.

Olympos used to

Walking the ruins.

be a huge stone city that was built through the first to third century.  Its amazing some of it is still there and was cool to explore around.  The city was on both sides of the river where there were Roman baths and a cool rock amphitheatre that was falling apart.  Even though it was like 7 at night sis still “needed” to go swimming.  By the time we got home, it was just after 8 and we all wanted dinner but dad FaceTimed Ryan instead.  Around 10 we finally got to eat while watching TV.  Everyone slowly went to bed after that, I guess its goodbye Cirali....

Try carving that!

Or that!

One last swim in the Mediterranean.

Searching for the Sunken City

The water was crazy blue!

We got up early and a shuttle came to pick us up for a boat tour which went to the island of Kekora.  The bus ride was a very long two hours of twisty roads that wound along the ocean in places and through the mountains in others.  When we got there the boat was waiting for us and we set off right away. However, me and mom found out a bit of false advertising. One they said only 20 people could go on the boat (there were atleast 40-60 people on the boat) and they said they had a glass bottom (LIE it only had like 3 squares that you could see through a table thingy mabober). Well I was kinda mad about the ‘glass bottom’ because we were going over the sunken city and we were going to look for sea turtles. Anyway we headed off to the sunken city.

When we got there, they explained how it sunk and whatnot. Well after the sunken city we headed to an island across from the sunken city. This island

The Sunken City of Dolchiste, an ancient town which was destroyed by an earthquake during the 2nd century. Rebuilt and still flourishing during the Byzantine Empire period, it was finally abandoned because of Arab incursions

One of the old walls submerged.

had an ancient castle that was on top of the island. Well the 45 minutes we had there went really quick and before we knew it we were back on the boat and it was already lunch. For lunch it was an assortment of rice, chicken, salad, and something else that was white, mushy and had something purple in it (you can probably tell I didn’t try it). Well I ate a bit of chicken and rice then we jumped into the water to go swimming. Holy cow it was neon blue!! It might have been bluer than the blue cave. Well I saw Jenna and dad jump of the top but I didn’t want to. See I’m not afraid of heights but I’m afraid of jumping of off heights. Anyway when we got to this bay we had about 30 min. to swim and jump off the boat. However when they dropped the anchor when they just started to serve lunch (You can imagine that with 40-60 people it took a bit to actually get food on your plate). By the time we got in the water after eating lunch we had downgraded to about 5-10 min. Well after getting back in they had nice cold fresh water to rinse off with. Sadly because everyone came back on cause the boat was leaving soon I only got a 3 second rinse.

It was a bit of a climb but worth the views.

On our way to the next bay we laid on the front of the boat in the shade enjoying the nice mix of the warm sun and the wind. When we got to the 2^nd bay me and dad jumped off the back of the boat on our way to snorkel around some rocks that went into the water. We wanted to get away from the area that everyone parked their boats. If we didn’t stay near the rocks we were worried we might get hit by a boat. We saw a few neat things but not much for color or really anything but rocks. On our way back to the boat we saw what they call a trumpet fish. It was really neat. It was quit long and had a mouth that looked like the end of a trumpet along with a pair of tiny little fins that kept its self still. It was also a bit clear along with a greenish tint.

We stormed the castle.

When we got back I wanted to try to jump off of the top of the boat. Well I got up to the top and looked down, major mistake. I got scared, it was so high! Well a kid that we met on the shuttle jumped off 4 times before I got the guts to jump off. Jenna also went 2 times. When I jumped off I plunged into the water but made the mistake of not pointing my foot. Well it felt a lot like doing a belly flop (but on my foot). It was a lot of fun and I did it like 4 more times and convinced mom to do it.

When we got back on we headed to our final bay. On this bay we had an hour on which only me and dad went in the water. We went snorkelling by the little islands in the middle of the bay. We saw fish, scallops, coral and other things, sadly no turtles. We headed back onto the boat and had a nice long rinse off with the refreshing water. Sometimes at home or at the beach in other places you may say “I wish the water was warmer.” Well I’ll tell you one thing, not here. Its sometimes so hot you need to dive down deep to get nice cold water. Well after the nice refreshing rinse off we headed back to where we sat and I had a bit of a nap. When I woke up we were back at the dock and our shuttle was waiting for us.

The view from the castle.

We were told that we were going to stop of at a few places before being dropped off at our place. Our first stop was at a church. We didn’t know at the time so we just looked at shops. I bought a mini turtle made out of the rock onyx. It was litterly 10 times cheaper then at the onyx factory we went to when we were on the green tour in Cappedocia. If the factory doesn’t sound familier (Well it won’t unless you went on the tour with us) it’s because dad didn’t mention it in the blog that day. Well after me buying the turtle and looking at a few different stores our time was up and we headed back to the shuttle. Ugh more windy roads. This route home was making me sick!

Our second stop was for a old ruiny place. This time we knew what we came here for but also knew we would see stuff like this in Ephesus. So we didn’t go. However we also got ice cream bars and it was double the price at Cirali. Whenever me and Jenna watched TV we saw this one add that had ice cream, that looked like caramel and peanuts. I was convinced it was caramel until I tried it. It was peanut butter. Anyway we sat down and me and mom looked at shops. These two shops we went to there was this one girl who followed us around not even a meter away. We started to wonder what the word ‘stalker’ in Turkish was. I wish I knew.

One of our swimming spots.

Well back onto the road still feeling sick but gladfully no more twisty roads. I fell asleep until we got home (back into Cirali). We said goodbye to the people we met and went to drop other people off. Dad found entertainment with a little kid ahead of him. He taught him how to fist bump and high five. He also held his arms and for that the little kid tried to bite him. Well when the family got off the little boy didn’t stop waving until we left the driveway. After we went home, ate dinner, wachted TV, and went to bed.      

The Eternal Flame

After travelling for almost a couple of months

our cozy little cabin feels a little like a home.  I am not sure whether it’s the fact that we can cook our own meals or that the cabin is independent of other guests, or that we have a couch and washing machine but it is nice to have a place to call home for a week.  I have to say I am starting to miss ours a little.  Speaking of washing machines, I was so happy to have one available to us.  Surprisingly it hasn’t been all that bad doing laundry in the sink but it is nice to get a lot done in a short period of time without the need to scrub,  With it being so hot here it takes no time at all to dry anything we put out which has been nice.  As I am normally a morning person who likes to get a lot done I sometimes find the leisurely mornings a bit of a challenge. .There is not much to do around the cabin itself so I find myself at times thinking of the projects I want to get done around our house when we get home.    I am sure this will change once we actually get there.

Being in Cirali is wonderful.  It is nice to get away from the crowds of people which we have seen in many of the places we’ve been to. It has been so nice to get on the old bikes and go for a leisurely ride into town passing by orchards and various pensions.  It feels quaint and like something out of a movie.  As part of our normal routine we spent some time at the beach today floating in the water.  The water is so warm that you could spend hours in there without getting cold.  The only unfortunate thing about this is, us fair skinned Canadians tend to get burnt during this process. 

Perhaps the highlight of our day was the trip we took up to Chimera to see the eternal flame.  We headed out in the early evening with the camera, water and headlamps in our bike baskets.  The ride there was a little up and down and somewhat dusty as vehicles drove by.  The ride did not take long and we were at the trailhead.  We parked the bikes hoping they would be there when we returned otherwise we would have a bit of a walk in the dark to get home.  After paying our entrance fee we were told it was only about 1 km to the flames. 

We proceeded to walk up the trail while thinking it was still crazy hot out even though it was almost 9 pm.  It was a nice walk through a pine forest that eventually led to a rocky field with some ruins and what looked like a number of campfires burning.  Of course these were not campfires but methane gas emerging out of the rock that was burning.

Apparently these gases have been venting and burning for over a thousand years!  So I guess this is where it gets its name as the eternal flame.  Some people actually bring

marshmallows up and try to roast them.  Not sure that would taste too good.  A few ruins were at the site although there was really nothing there to tell you what they were.  We enjoyed watching the flames and just looking out into the night while Kevin spent some time playing with the camera.  After having a nice rest at the top it was time to head back down.  As we were leaving someone spotted a scorpion which was not a welcome discovery to Jenna.  A little further down Kevin spotted another one, then a cricket and then some other crazy bugs.  Now Jenna really wanted to get back down!  Since Kevin and Alyssa were interested in finding more bugs I kept hiking back with Jenna. 

The ride back was a bit of adventure and perhaps not Jenna’s fondest memory.  By this time she is tired, done with bugs and we end up taking a different route back.  We ended up on some back roads and in spots it was basically sand.  With it being pitch black even with headlamps it was hard to really see and Jenna went for a tumble off her bike not once but twice. Thankfully there were no major injuries! Needless to say Jenna could not wait for us to find the road to the beach which ultimately led us to our cabin.  In the end it all worked out okay and we were pretty much ready for bed after a fun adventure.  

The glow of the flames up the hillside.

Our little friend on one of the rocks people were sitting on.