Selcuk, Ephesus, Pamukkale - The final exploration of Turkey



The once proud temple of Athena



I moved on to Selcuk (pronounced Seljuk) which is near Ephesus. This town wasn’t as small as Goreme, but still special. It’s known for the white storks that come and nest on the ruins around the city.

It’s quite funny actually as one of the major sites to see in the city is the ruins of the temple of the goddess Athena. This in it’s day was one of the biggest structures around (I stand to be corrected but I think it had over 200 pillars). Today there is one tiny pillar left with a huge stork’s nest on top. I can only imagine the people of the day thinking that this structure will last forever.  A rather humbling experience.

St Jean's church

I also visited St Jean’s church ruins in Selcuk which is supposedly where St John was buried. It had a lovely view of the surrounding area and was a nice quiet place to read up a bit about the area. I bumped into a Turkish man here who provided a bit of history and scorned the carpet men for their tactics in selling things. He then promptly brought out a couple of “real” coins from the age of Caesar should I wish to purchase any. Had a good laugh at this. So much for being nothing like the carpet men!

The "real" coins from BC days

The Ephesus ruins are definitely worth a visit (I managed to acquire on the back of a local’s scooter to the ruined city which saved a couple of km walking). The audio guide tries to give an idea of how grand this city once was. The theatre of the town could seat over 24 000 people in it and you really can hear a person right at the top of the stadium. I climbed it and got to hear the inside info of an English tour group who were standing on the stage.  The audio guide mentioned that Paul came here and preached in this theatre to the crowd who were not keen on what he had to say. He then had to leave the city in a hurry. Some photos of Ephesus follow:

It’s quite something to see the place and imagine this story when you are there. There is so much richness and history in Ephesus and they have only uncovered a portion of the city to date. I spent a number of hours wondering around the ruins of Ephesus and enjoying the sunshine and imagining a city so full of life.



Near Ephesus is the valley of the Seven Sleepers. Legend has it that long ago some Christians were trapped in a cave near Ephesus. They were then put to sleep. About 200 years later, when an earthquake shifted and opened the cave again they came out and down into town to tell their story. They seem to have died soon after. Fascinating legends like this one are all over this area.



Me and friends on the Pamukkale tour



Pamukkale – another town about 3 hours drive from Selcuk. I took a tour there and it turned out to have the dullest most un-interesting tour guide I have ever met in my life. Some of the people on the tour with me were rather interesting though. There was a lady from Canada who was travelling by herself and instead of taking pictures of herself in places, she had a bag full of hand puppets. Rather a novel idea. Also a bunch of Indonesians. We all went into the white pools that Pummakale is so famous for and the ruins of a city beginning with an H which I don’t seem to have record of anymore. We took a quick hike up a small mountain to get a good view and see the ruined church of St Phillip which is supposedly where he was martyred. This ruin is not quite as impressive as Ephesus, but  some good legends surround it.



Views from the water pools



St Phillip ruins



Flowers at St Phillip

I’ve been called beautiful in Turkey more times than I can count. It’s rather charming until you think that that person owns a carpet shop and their uncle owns a jewellery shop and they think all blond people are rich. Yesterday at the Grand Bazar back in Istanbul, I managed to negotiate a shawl price down from 70 Lira to 25 Lira for the cost of a single strand of blond hair and a kiss on the cheek. Lol – if my hair is worth that much I should have bargained with it before J. I even had a line from one of the stall people: “Lady, lady, you dropped something.” I tried to ignore it but glanced around. “No I didn’t.” “Yes, you dropped my heart!” What can you do but laugh and run away? (Claire I think I’ve heard some special ones here!)

View from St Phillip

Anyways… And that’s Turkey. I love this place, but I can see why people may find it difficult to travel here by themselves. If you’re ok with “Lady, yes please.” Coming from every second stall and shop you will have a ball here. The travellers here tend to be great too. That’s all from Turkey. I’m now flying into Switzerland. I’m sad to leave Turkey but rather excited that I don’t have to fend off any more carpet men.