Ello mates, another bumpy start here which
I have skipped over. I met some really wonderful Argentinian friends along the
way, but they were off to a different destination. So this is the story from
after I arrived in the little city of Selçuk.
Friday 22 March 2013
8:10 Am
Parking lot of the Selçuk bus station
My knees hurt, and I was cranky. It was
about a nine hour bus ride, over the course of which I probably got four hours
of sleep. The rest trip I spent trying to sleep over the noise of two different
wailing babies. This was not an auspicious start to the day, but the sun was
shining and we were surrounded by beautiful Mediterranean hillsides so my mood
was quickly recovering.
I had gotten off the bus with four
Americans. Three of them were students from the University of Alabama, and one
of them was the mother of one of the students. I chatted with Justin, a
coincidentally very tall skinny guy, on the way to our hostel. At the moment I
was rather confident that they were participating in the same tour as me. They
weren’t but I wouldn’t find that out until after breakfast.
It was nice to eat a Turkish breakfast
with Americans. I didn’t feel so out of place. Anyway the tea was good, fresh
bread is always one of my favourites, and we lamented as a group about the lack
of Bacon.
When I was done with breakfast, the man
who ran the hostel informed me that I had about a half an hour before my tour
bus was due to leave. I decided this would be a perfect opportunity to take a
shower. I was really quite impressed by Turkish water pressure. It was way
better than in the UK, actually I’d even say on par with the US, and everywhere
I seemed to go there were mixed tap faucets! It’s the little things in life.
As I turned off the water, I heard voices
coming from the room outside, so I threw on my clothes and went out to meet my
new roommates. My head was filled with a rush of thoughts, the loudest being
“Why doesn’t this happen to me when I’m at home?” They were five incredibly
beautiful girls. Two of them were from the Netherlands. Two of them were from
Slavonia, and one of them was an American, who was as confused as I was about
which nation she felt like calling home.
We chatted for a few minutes, and then I
had to leave. Unfortunately they also were not on my tour. So who bloody was? I
asked myself as I jogged down the road towards my tour bus.
I want to take a moment to describe the
irony of the actual tour situation. Out of the whole bus, I was by a
substantial margin the best English speaker. This includes the tour guide, and
does not include the one other American on this tour. I don’t include him
because he spent the entire time complaining to his girlfriend from the Check
Republic about what a waste of time this all was. This did not make me proud to
be an American.
Anyway, we rode the tour bus, which was
really more of a van, through the rolling Mediterranean hills, passing
countless vineyards along the way. This felt like home. More than any other
place I had ever been. It felt more like home than the Appellation Mountains in
Pennsylvania. I belonged here. Perhaps not specifically on this van, or even
necessarily in Turkey, but someday I wanted to live in this landscape. This was
home.
Our first stop was the house that the
Vatican claims belonged to the Virgin Mary in the last few years of her life.
Our tour guide told us that, going off of the bible, it’s assumed that Mary
lived in the vicinity of Ephesus towards the end of her life. However, they
didn’t have any idea where until a woman from Germany back in the 17 or 18
hundreds had a vision about the house and its location. She had never been
there before, but apparently she was able to describe the area incredibly well.
The Vatican would classify that as a miracle, and therefore they sent someone
to check it out.
After a little bit of digging, they found
the foundations of a house dating to the right period. Is it actually the house
of the Virgin Mary… to be honest, I’m
not convinced, but if it’s good enough for the Vatican, I suppose there aren’t
too many higher authorities on the subject.
The house had been rebuilt, retaining the
original foundation. It was now a chapel. To be honest there wasn’t much to it
except for one small room with an alter, a photo of what Mary probably didn’t
look like, a photo of the woman who had the vision, and a few kneelers. For no
reason other than I would never be in a place more appropriate, I prayed a Hail
Mary. When in Rome, you know…
My group gradually trickled back to the
bus. While I was waiting for some of the slower individuals, I got a nice cup
of Turkish chai tea and bought a few post cards. It was around this time that I
was surprised to bump into Justin’s group. They weren’t on my tour but if
you’re staying in Selçuk what else do you go see I guess?
When everyone had come back, we hopped on
the bus and wound our way through incredibly picturesque hillsides and
vineyards until we were at the gates to Ephesus. Our guide handed us tickets
and we made it though security into an area that appeared to have the scattered
remains of a few buildings. Directly in front of me were a few interesting
looking pillars and the remnants of clay pipes. The city of Ephesus had two
Agoras, one for the rich and one for the common merchants. We were currently in
the Agora for the well to do. Truth be told, there wasn’t much to the area
beyond what I had mentioned earlier.
Note: to those of you don’t know ancient
Greek city (polis) structure an Agora was a general meeting place, designed to
be both a Market place and an area where people could gather to chat about
politics or the gossip of the day. It was an early tool for exchanging ideas,
democracy, and honestly a lot of gossip in a time before Facebook. I know, hard
to imagine.
Near this agora was the first
amphitheatre. It was much older than the second which I would visit later. It
was horseshoe in shape, with steps each measuring about 50cm (1½ feet) in
height. I found a small tunnel that climbed up and around to the top. Walking through
this marble passage way made me feel like I was walking through a corridor in
my book. It was an incredibly self-fulfilling moment. I knew then, that if I
ever returned to writing that book, I would be inspired by the city of Ephesus.
Standing in the amphitheatre also gave
quite a feeling of awe. This was the traditional Greek style, and thousands of
years ago comedies, dramas, and city council meetings would be held in this
very spot. It’s hard to put words around all the things I saw as I ran along
the giant marble steps under the warm Mediterranean sun.
If you love ancient history as much as I
do, you need to visit this city. The more time you spend there you realize
there is more to see. As we left the amphitheatre, I was stunned to see a
completely intact marble street that lead to an incredibly intact looking city
centre. Before we walked down there, we were shown what is believed to have
been the hospital and the pharmacy. We then were given a bit of time to
explore. I went off and found a locked structure. Behind the iron bars, were
hundreds or thousands of stones all inscribed with Greek writing. At that
moment I would have killed for a Sonic Screwdriver or even a decent lock pick.
Either way my inability to read Ancient Greek inspired me with yet another new
goal for the bucket list. One day I will return to Ephesus, and read those
inscriptions, simply because I can.
From here we wandered down the main road,
passing the homes of the well to do and entering a city square near male public
toilets and the Celsius Library. In the ancient world there were a few big
libraries. We all have heard of the library of Alexandria, which was without
question the largest, but the Celsius Library in Ephesus was certainly in the
same league.
Unfortunately, as is true with all the
great libraries of the ancient world, it was burnt down, any valuables stolen,
and the books destroyed. What remained for me to see was a hollowed out, but
rather impressive, marble building. Originally it had three floors and I would
imagine a roof. Today it has neither.
Walking out of the library and back
towards the tour guide, I closed my eyes trying to imagine what this city would
have been like in its height. What’s been lost forever to the torrent of time
is immeasurable, and it made me cherish the ruins that were still there to walk
amongst.
I was in Heraclitus’s city. Have you ever
heard the quote “You cannot step twice in the same river.” He’s the one who
said it. It was a famous philosopher, and anyone who’s ever studied Greek
philosophy would certainly know who he was. The reason why I felt this was
significant, was because he was one of the first people who one could classify
as a true scientist. For me to be standing in the Agoras, library, streets, and
amphitheatres of this founder of science was very fulfilling.
Our last stop in the magnificent city of
Ephesus was the Roman amphitheatre. It was substantially larger than the
original Greek one. At the time of its construction it would have had a
wonderful view of the harbor and the merchant’s Agora. It would have been a
wonderful place to watch all sorts of plays, and would have been able to
accommodate for a large chunk of 200,000 of the city’s inhabitants. A few
members of the group wondered if someone could hear a performer from the top of
the stands. So, I raced to the top, which is quite a workout, and listened as I
heard them from below clear as a bell. Those witty Byzantines had done the
acoustics perfectly.
After Ephesus, it was time for lunch. We
were taken to a place that had an all you can eat buffet. The buffet was
included in the tour, but beverages were not, and in accordance with other
Turkish restaurants I’d seen, they charged you through the nose for a drink. So
I got water. Not free water, but rather a 500ml bottle for 4TL. To compensate,
I ate until I was stuffed. I don’t think I’d felt that full since I left the
US.
When we were done with lunch, we were
taken to a leather factory. This was not a part of the tour I had expected,
signed up for, or even really enjoyed. Turkey is famous for their fine leather
products, so what better way to show us tourists but by putting on a fashion
show… I suppose I’d never been to a
fashion show before, but after watching one I decided that my life hadn’t been
lacking that crucial element.
Our last stop on the tour was the remains
of the Temple of Artemis. It was a gift paid for by Alexander the Great
himself, and was once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It once
had about 150 magnificent marble pillars, but today only one and a half
remained. I think I wandered around this site the most, even climbing half way
up the remains of the half pillar. Most of my tour group was feeling more or
less done for the day.
Our bus took us back to the travel agency,
and from there I walked back to the Boomerang hostel to drop off my map of
Ephesus and the handful of post cards I’d purchased. When I walked into the
room, the five girls I’d met this morning were there. I had about five hours to
kill before my bus departed for Istanbul. So they let me tag along with them
and their two other friends.
The eight of us wandered into the central
part of town which held a tremendous market place (bazaar) which on one end was
full of insanely well priced fruits and vegetables. Where else can you get a
kilo of strawberries for 3TL (so about $1.60). Yeah I didn’t think so.
The bazaar eventually changed its
merchandise genre to clothes and other random trinkets, but we weren’t all that
interested. The group was hungry. I wasn’t since I had eaten until I was about
ready to burst during lunch. However, I had a nice cup of Turkish tea while
they ate and we chatted.
When we were done we went to the bus stop,
not to catch my bus. It was still way too early for that, but instead we were
headed east to the wee village of Şirince. It was 3TL each way, and after we
got going, I realized I would gladly have paid 10TL or more. This short trip
was the single most beautiful part of my time in Turkey.
The late afternoon sun was hanging in the
sky. It wasn’t due to set for another few hours, but it shimmered through the
vineyard covered hillsides in a way that is too beautiful to put words around.
We all awed at the stunning beauty of the place, occasionally commenting at it,
but mostly watching in silent admiration.
The journey took us winding through the
hills until we found ourselves in a tiny village near the top of one of the
larger ones. Tiny and remote as it was, Şirince was famous for its fruit wines
and therefore was somewhat of a tourist spot. Our first objective was to get to
the top of the hill, so we climbed through the streets passing at least five
different wine stores, each offering free taste testing. Tempted as I was, I
felt it was better to stick with the group.
So up we climbed, higher and higher along
the hillside until eventually we were at a crest. The late afternoon sun lit
the western sky with a brilliant orange, which shimmered through the majestic
Mediterranean hills and valleys. The hillside was covered with wild flowers and
soft grass. I simply didn’t want to leave. In all my life, I don’t know if I’ve
ever watched a more beautiful sunset.
Unfortunately, we had a pretty limited
amount of time here, because the last bus back to Selçuk departed at 7:00. I
would have jumped at the chance to take that hike in the middle of the day.
However since I didn’t have too much time before I had to catch my bus back to
Istanbul, there was some part of hiking through unfamiliar Turkish hills at
dusk that seemed to us like a bad idea.
So we made our way down the hillside and
back into the village, where the bus was waiting. It wasn’t due to depart for
another ten minutes, and so I hopped off the bus and into the nearest wine
shop. It was 15TL for a bottle. There was no way I was passing this up. I
gleefully handed over 15 lira and hopped back into the van with a new bottle of
amazing raspberry wine.
“So you actually bought some then?” Carlee
asked.
“You know, when in Rome… ” I responded.
“Do as the Turks do,” she finished, as the
bus started up and we made our way through the hills and vineyards to the small
city of Selçuk.
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