Arrival in Turkey and Visiting Ephesus

Ephesus, Turkey, March 28

I’m sitting on the steps of the Library of Celsus in the ancient city, taking a break about halfway through our visit to this enormous and impressive site. Just wanted to say that we made it to Turkey yesterday and all is well. Hugh is having fun reading the Greek inscriptions here at Ephesus, now that he has a pretty good grasp of the alphabet, and David is ready to go home, but secretly enjoying himself. Topher passes for a Turk according to our taxi driver. Will update more later.

Selçuk, still March 28

We arrived here to our hotel yesterday after what felt like a long day of travel, but it was really only mid afternoon. We had an early start, getting up at 6 this morning to catch our 8:15 am ferry from Chios to Cesme, Turkey. The ferry seemed very small and basic compared to the ones we’ve been taking in Greece, and a bit crowded. We landed in Turkey without a clear plan of whether we were taking a bus or renting a car, but decided while on the ferry

to stick with public transit for the most part after reading about high gas prices and crazy Turkish driving. Topher now has an international drivers license though so we’re prepared!

It was very disorienting to get off the ferry and not understand a word of anything, and my Greek SIM card no longer worked so we had no internet access. I had forgotten what it felt like to travel like that, and it brought back memories of our backpacking days in the early 90s. Topher had read that the Turkish word for bus station was “otogar”and we knew it wasn’t far from the ferry. We managed to find it without much trouble, and a bank machine for Turkish lira, but no luck finding a new SIM card.

We quickly found that not many people speak English, unlike in Greece where we barely used what little we know. We had about an hour to kill while waiting for our bus and enjoyed some Turkish tea while trying to learn a few words in Turkish like please and thank you, but we’re all having a hard time making the words stick! There’s zero relationship to English (except the odd borrowed word) so I’m finding it hard to pick up.

On the bus ride I couldn’t keep my eyes open so I didn’t see a lot of the countryside. From what I saw it seemed pretty similar to Greece, but the

architecture is very different (much more modern, mostly unattractive), and when we got to Izmir especially the mosque towers were a noticeable change. One thing that was kind of nice about the bus is that, in addition to the driver, there was a man who looked after the people riding the bus - he checked tickets, passed out little cups of water part way through, and made sure people got off at the right stop. His English was as good as our Turkish, so we communicated through gestures and one of our few words, otogar. I think our only other word is “çay”, which means tea.

We had enough time in Izmir to use the toilets and hop on our minibus to Selçuk. The boys were fascinated with the idea of paying to use the toilets and Hugh had his first experience of a Turkish pit toilet, and when he came out he just kept saying, “it was weird, so weird”. Topher noted the intense amount of free enterprise on a micro scale, i.e. lots of different bus companies (each with their own timetables) and small stalls selling food, souvenirs, etc.

When we got to Selçuk we again tried to figure out where we were going without the Internet or a map (too cheap and stubborn to take a taxi) and ended up enlisting the help of a group of teenage girls to find our hotel. Of course, despite our early practice I couldn’t remember how to say thank you, so I looked it up so I could use my first bit of Turkish!

Our hotel is right in the central market area and close to everything we need. The boys are happy to once again have their own rooms and were extra excited that we opted for the hotel’s breakfast buffet this morning. There’s something thrilling about a) staying in a hotel and b) eating breakfast in your actual hotel.

After a short rest we went to Koylum, a buffet restaurant around the corner from the hotel for a very early supper as we hadn’t had much to eat all day. Hugh said he wanted to find a traditional Turkish place so we could see what the food was like. He still wanted to order spaghetti but we convinced him to join us for the buffet instead. The kids had no trouble polishing off large plates (although they did stick mostly to the starches) and were very happy with the food. It wasn’t a fancy place at all but had been highly recommended on TripAdvisor, and we had ordered the buffet before looking at the menu. We were a bit shocked by the bill when it came to 143 TL! We realized that wine and beer are not as cheap here since it’s a Muslim country, but we were

still surprised since Greece had been so cheap. My guidebook said $1 Canadian is about 2.14 TL, so it seemed like a lot for a fairly mediocre meal.

We then walked around the market, and bought Turkish delight for dessert, and a SIM card. I have lots of data and texts to use. Topher went to explore the area closer to the medieval fort up the hill from us while the boys and I checked out a nearby store (La Tulip) with lots of beautiful Turkish things, including handmade shoes.

The shop owners are very pushy here and we got the full sales pitch, including invitations to sit down for tea. At first I said no, but then the second brother was more convincing, saying it was part of their culture, so it felt rude to say no. “One cup of tea makes 40 years of memories.” Topher joined us then and we all had tea with Ali, who is the shoemaker and antique collector/dealer. Together with his brother they own three or four shops in a row that sell pretty much anything you can think of - rugs, jewelry, lamps, etc. I found the

high pressure sales to be somewhat off putting, and the prices surprisingly high, so I didn’t buy anything, but we enjoyed our conversation with Ali very much. His English is very good and he is an interesting guy. His shoes are beautiful but I decided to hold off as there are so many things I’d like to buy here! Plus he has an Etsy store.

We went to bed fairly early and spent quite a bit of time relishing our access to the Internet again and planning our visit to Ephesus, which is just a few kilometres outside of town. I was also researching where to find better deals on souvenirs in Turkey when Topher discovered that our guide book was outdated and we had been miscalculating the exchange rate by a lot….it’s closer to 4:1 so things are indeed cheaper here than in Greece. Whew!

This morning after our Turkish buffet breakfast (which was delicious but surprisingly dishes you would expect to be hot were all room temperature or cold) we got a taxi from the bus station to Ephesus.

I’m going to let Topher take over now so I can get to bed!

Took a taxi to the “top” (or second) entrance gate of the site - lots of souvenir and snack stalls outside (“Buy this book! No signs in side! You need a hat!”), bought our Turkey museum cards (all we can see in 15 days, $75 each) and then took our time. I’d done some skimming before arriving but there really was more info than most people would need. The boys weren’t delighted to be told it was a school day (i.e. they had to listen to history lessons) but eventually they came round.

We all found the first few buildings interesting (a forum, a small theatre - see pictures below and on following pages - and a small fountain) but it got more intriguing as we rounded the corner and were funnelled down the ancient street (see photos on page 113), with worn marble slab paving, little shops and statue bases on both sides of the road and a large public bath complex.

Even better was the display of the recently excavated terrace houses built into the side of the hill (see photos below and opposite). So much well-preserved mosaic flooring and wall frescoes! Mostly destroyed by earthquake so similar to Pompeii - floors and partial walls preserved. This is where both boys really got into things.

Another highlight was the the Library of Celsus, which is very well preserved and had lots of inscriptions for the kids to decipher (pictured on pages 116 and 117). By the time we got to the big theatre - pictured at the bottom of page 117 and page 118 - everyone was losing steam, but we sat and listened to another tourist sing some nice (Turkish?) songs. Lots of Turkish, Middle Eastern and Indian tourists there today.

Finally finished about 2 pm and went back into town for Turkish pizza (pide). Long, narrow and thin rolled and baked in a wood fired oven, very tasty. Hugh is quite happy since the default way to make it is without cheese.

After lunch Martha and David went to the hotel for a rest while Hugh and I went to the museum in town (photos opposite). Lots of cool stuff from the excavations of the terrace houses, sculptures from Ephesus and cult stuff from the temple of Artemis. There’s an old Turkish bath attached to the museum (bottom right photo opposite) but it’s closed for repairs so we couldn’t see it. After we’d seen enough old things we got a SIM card for me and had a short rest ourselves. Fifteen minutes later Hugh was ready to see more. We walked by the ruins of the once huge church of St. John, built on the spot he allegedly lived by the emperor Justinian (6th century) on a massive scale. Closed for the night but we went into the neighbouring mosque built in the 1370s. Hugh was very interested in it all. (Both buildings used a lot of marble from the temple of Demeter nearby). Finally set off to find the temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but it was also locked up for the night. There’s not much to see though - one reconstructed column and some rubble. Then off to supper at the Old House restaurant (tasty and friendly) and finally to bed.