Sunday: Ephesus and Kusadai, Turkey (Part One)

Sunday, October 21^st 2012: Ephesus and Kusadasi, Turkey (and Tales of the Dragon’s Hoard)

(Written by Allan) We awoke today to find ourselves docked in the beautiful but arid resort port city of Kusadasi, Turkey. The sun was very bright here and it looked to be another beautiful sunny day. We breakfasted quickly in the buffet and met Michael and Shaun in our usual spot near the guest services desk and made our way down to level two to head out to meet our guide for the day. Steve had found a local tour company that had several positive recommendations on Trip Advisor, and we were to meet Oskgur (a very handsome thirty-something Turkish man, with a soft spoken silky voice and a bitter chip on his shoulder for Istanbul) outside the little shopping area at the entrance to the port terminal.

We found Oskgur waiting for us as promised and only had to wait a very brief period for our driver to show up. He drove up in a minivan fit for eight or so people (handicapped accessible, no less). We all piled in and Oskgur explained that we would be driving to Ephesus which is about 18 miles from the port. He told us a little bit of local history and some interesting facts about Ephesus as we drove. There were actually three different settlements at Ephesus, in different time periods. The earliest was Mesopotamian, the next Greek, and the last (ancient) settlement was by the Romans. The romans apparently just took over the existing Greek city and “made over” a lot of the major buildings and of course added their own touches to the city to make it more Roman and comfortable for its inhabitants. These were primarily the elite of Rome: Senators, nobility, and the Caesars of course.

Just as in Pompeii, the settlements of Ephesus were successively abandoned as the sea receded and the shoreline moved further away. The site that is currently open to the public and under constant excavation (there are many recently discovered ruins under the rubble of the centuries of seismic upheaval that this place has undergone) is several miles from the current shoreline of the Aegean Sea.

We arrived at the site at about 9AM and there were already several large tours getting out of their busses, but Oskgur – bless his heart! – had us move along quickly so we could get in as many quick photos as we could of the main monuments before the throngs of other “tourons” (tourist + moron, my own term) descended on the place.

As we wound our way through the ruins Özgür was explaining the history of each section to Michael and Steve. Shaun and I were to absorbed in taking photos to spend much time listening, but I really did enjoy the timber of Özgür's voice.

The sun overhead was very bright and hot. It felt wonderful, unlike the hot humidity we had on Santorini - oppressive and draining.

We were very fortunate to be able to visit the recently excavated "Terrace Houses" section, for a separate entry fee, which was opened to the public in 2006. Ongoing restoration work was in evidence all over this incredible place. Scaffolding had been erected and stairs led from the entry at the bottom, wound through the central section, and ended at the top at the turnstile exit. The walls and especially the floors were covered with amazingly ornate and intricate patterned mosaics. Most of these were wonderful geometric designs, but some were depictions of people, animals, or mythological figures.

Özgür continued with his history while Shaun and I darted about like the ever present flies taking snaps of the mosaics and frescoes.

After leaving out the top and the backside, then wending our way down a long set of deep stairs designed for service animals almost two thousand years ago, we came back out into the main area of the ruins. We had opted for just the "highlights" of Ephesus' history during the tour, so when we made our way down to the portico of the great library - the most fully intact of all the ruins. Özgür told us where to go for the best photos and left us on our own for about fifteen minutes to wander and snap. Our timing here was excellent. The sun was high but hitting the library nearly full on the front and we all got some amazing photos.

The sun was really beating down on us at this point. I think it was about 12:30PM. Özgür wanted us to meet him outside the back entrance of the site in the parking area where we’d meet our driver and then go on to lunch in a little village not far away in a hilly area that is another attraction for tourists. I don’t remember the name of the village, but Steve knows and can interject here when I ask him.

Before we left the ruins though we were treated to a small “spectacle”. With no warning music started blaring from some hidden speakers and a Roman procession of senators and gladiators started marching down the hill toward a little tent with a podium that had been erected in the middle of the wide road that led toward what used to be the shoreline. Cleopatra herself even made an appearance.

A small contest between two of the gladiators ensued (hot hot HOT!), and after the contest was over and the hunky little band of Turkish actors broke up we made our way toward the exit.

This post will be continued later tonight if possible - I know, I know... behind as usual. :-) - afk.