Life Was Old Here, As Old As the Hills

Thursday the 13th, we docked in Kusadasi -- which is the heart of the Turkish Riveria. Once a sleepy fishing village, over the past 30 years, the town has exploded in size. While 50,000 people live there year round, the city swells to over 400,000 people in the summer. Apparently, the better beaches are several miles away.

But we weren't going to a beach. Instead, we were going to Ephesus. Our guide, Mr. Denizhan Pekoz, met us just outside the port area and took us to our mini-bus, a Volkswagen Caravelle. This was a legit sized vehicle -- comfortable enough for us, but not overly large (see Athens, Istanbul posts).

Denizhan spoke very clear English, which would give him a major leg-up in our book over our guide in Istanbul. A former cruise ship worker, he was an interesting guide, willing to answer any of our questions -- about his life, life in turkey, Turkish politics, and, of course, questions related to our tour.

When we arrived at Ephesus, we saw our favorite sign for the trip hanging over one of the outbuildings that was selling souvenirs/drinks, etc. -- "Genuine Fake Watches." Truth in advertising.

The weather -- as we found on the entire trip -- wasn't as hot as we feared it would be. Ephesus is about five kilometers inland from the Aegean Sea. It was formerly a port city, but the river silted up, and between earthquakes, conquering armies, malaria, the city was eventually abandoned.

The earliest indications are the area was settled around 6000 BC, with significant growth starting around 1500 BC. It became one of the most important cities in the Mediterrean region until an earthquake around 614 AD and was completely abandoned in the 15th century.

Today, Ephesus is most famous in the West as being a key city in the early days of Christianity. John is believed to written his Gospel here, Paul lived here for a few years, and -- of course -- wrote two letters to the Ephesians. It's one of the seven churches addressed in Revelations, and also believed to have been the final home of Mary, mother of Jesus.

Only about 10% of the city has been excavated, but the most important sections of the town have been unearthed. The most famous is the Library of Celsus, which was only second to Library of Alexandria (Egypt, not Virginia for those of you not paying close attention).

We also wandered through the Odeon, the agoras, the Theater (seats an estimated 44,000 -- and was the site of an anti-Christian riot), the remains of the Temple of Hadrian, and the remains of the Temple of Domitan. But, it was just as interesting seeing the shops, houses, main streets, and baths. It was reminscent of my trip to Bet She'an in Israel, or our trip to Pompeii. It never gets old seeing how smart they were back in the day -- good hygiene, good markets/shops, and the areas for discussion/discourse. One of the coolest views was from the Theater down the street that led to the port -- realizing the views people must have had when they first landed at Ephesus and headed into the city.

After spending approximately 90-120 minutes at Ephesus, we hopped back into the minibus and headed for the Basilica of St. John, a large church about two miles away from Ephesus and just on the edge of the current town of Selcuk. A beautiful site, we could also see the remains of Temple of Artemis (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world -- now just one forelorn pillar left.

Constructed in the 6th Century, the Basilica held the believed remains of John for many years until the Crusaders took them for safekeeping (and of course, the bones have long gone missing).

From there, we went to a sales job and lunch at a state run facility to help create jobs and teach the manufacture of Turkish rugs.

We got the full sales treatment. After first being shown the process of harvesting silk from the silkworms, the natural dyeing process (organic!), and the looming process, we were taken into a big room and shown dozens of carpets. We of course had Apple Tea (Carol and the girls) while I had Turkish coffee.

I don't drink coffee. Never have liked the taste. But, I figured it would be rude to turn it down. I had it sweet (with sugar). While it was too hot at first, I did drink it and kind of enjoyed it. (Sorry, Starbucks, I'm not converting to drinking coffee.) We ended up bargaining over a runner for our front hall. We paid a good price compared to what it would be in the States or in Istanbul -- because we went right up to the factory and picked it up ourselves (as Johnny Cash would sing).

It was small enough we were able to take it with us rather than have it shipped -- which saved us money on shipping. Afterwards, we sat among the peach and quince trees and had a good lunch of a variety of village foods. We talked for a while with Denizhan.

After that, we went to the House of the Virgin Mary, way up a hill above Ephesus. She lived approximately four kilometers from the city, because Christians were persecuted back in the day. Apparently, their involvement in daily life, politics, etc. was frowned upon by the rest of society (some things don't change).

It's quite the pilgrimmage site -- popular with Christians and Muslims (in their eyes, she is the mother of an important prophet and should be venerated). It's a nice setting, but we're not big Mary folks, so after a bit we moved on.

We returned to Kusadasi, and walked out to a spit of land that sticks out into the harbor. The small castle that once guarded the harbor. The castle keep was locked up, but we strolled around the grounds, getting views back into the city, and all around.

Maddy and I walked through the town to do some various modest shopping. We then headed back to the ship to join the rest on the long run to Istanbul. We had dinner in the restaurant that night -- I enjoyed my surf and turf.

Later that night, I hung out on deck for a while. The oncoming wind was so strong that the boat was hardly moving. The stars were, once again, brilliant. Saturn was easily seen.

All in all, Ephesus was well worth the day and the private tour.