Day 20 – Kusadasi Turkey and Ephesus

Kusadasi

Saturday, 5 October 2013

Cold morning in Kusadasi, about 17 degrees, with a cool wind from Russia. So I rugged up but Anthony maintained that it would get warmer during the day so wore shorts.

We had a morning tour of the archeological site of Ephesus and the Terrace houses, which was about 20 minutes drive from the port. This is a very extensive site, rivalling Pompeii in terms of the size of the city that’s been uncovered.

The terrace houses were particularly amazing. A structure has been built over the excavated remains of 4 houses built into the terraces of the mountain. 

You can now walk along glass bridges, looking down at original mosaic floors and remnants of frescos imagining what it would have been like.

The theatre of Ephesus is the biggest one we’re seen with a capacity of 25,000. However it’s too unstable to be used for performances.

There were many cats on site posing for photographs.

We could have spent so much longer here!

A final shopping stop at a carpet showroom in Kasadesi where we had apple tea and a very informative talk about how Turkish carpets are made, how to tell a quality rug, and how the Turkish carpet industry is subsidised by the government. Quite a few carpets were bought from our bus alone! And there were 5 cruise ships in town, all of whom went on one tour or another.

On the way back to the ship I lost my hat when a wind gust took it and swept it into the Aegean Sea! I was scared of running after it in case I too would be swept over the edge!

Lunch on board ship – a delicious American hamburger – and then out for a brief walk around Kusadasi’s grand bazaar, running the gauntlet of shopkeepers. Good practice for Istanbul!

---

Sent from my iPad by My Vacation HD app (www.myvacationapp.com)