Ephesus!

May7

I joined a tour to see Ephesus (Efes in Turkish) and a few other sites in the area. It’s apparently a major site for early Christianity. Our first stop was Meryem Evi or Mary’s House, thought by the Catholic Church to be where Mary spent her last days.

There were some spigots for water thought to have special healing properties/properties to grant the requester his prayer. Next to them was a wall where people had left their wishes and prayers written on pieces of paper

I took advantage of the little post office to buy a bunch of stamps for postcards. Then next stop, Ephesus!

Ephesus is a large set of Roman ruins that are extensive and impressive. Not surprisingly, my favorite was the library facade, two massive stories of which have been restored

Ruins:

Nike (check out the swoop that the company Nike uses for its logo):

Ancient public toilets:

Marble + sun = kitty

The library from a distance

I was the only one on our tour who opted for the additional entrance fee to see the Terrace Houses, but it was definitely worth it. The houses are still being excavated and reconstructed, so you can see the frescoes and mosaics as well as the in process restoration. Those scared of heights, though, beware! There are a couple of walkways that are about two stories up and made of glass so you can see the mosaics and frescos without damaging anything. Not my favorite part at all.

I joined the rest of the group back at the library:

This one gives you an idea of the scale (yes, I’m the bitty figure in one of the doorways)

The rest of the ruins including the theater are also on a grand scale:

After a buffet lunch at a not-very-good restaurant catering to tours, we visited a ceramics place. Yes, I admit it, I caved in and bought some! And now I have to carry them in my backpack the rest of the trip…but they are truly lovely and the glaze is lead free.

We then went to St John’s Basilica, believed to hold the grave of St John. Interestingly, this Seljuk (I think) church reused some columns from the Artemision (Temple of Artemis). So does the Seljuk Isa Bey mosque I visited on my own after the tour.

The church:

Views of the Seljuk fortress and Isa Bey Mosque from the church:

We also stopped back at the Artemision and then at a carpet school/workshop/store. I made the mistake of showing interest in some of the carpets and got the full carpet salesman experience. At least I got an idea of prices!

I ended my sightseeing at the Isa Bey mosque:

Troy: From Moscow via Troy to Sirince

May6

I had seen real Trojan gold in Moscow, Trojan ruins in, well, Troy, and now I was going to see the jeweler who made a lot of the jewelry in the movie “Troy” when I visited a little town called Sirince.

After my visit to Troy, I took a bus to Izmir (formerly called Smyrna for those fig lovers among you). I spent the night there, not being able to face the extra hour it would take to get to the town of Selcuk, my base for visiting Ephesus, after my night bus to Troy. In the morning I hopped on a dolmus (mini-bus, thus far much easier than in Russia because I’ve taken them for inter-city rides) and was off to Selcuk.

I decided to take a tour to Ephesus the following day as I’d heard that the site signage wasn’t great, so I had the afternoon to spend in Selcuk. I first set out to see the remains of the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World but now only one lonely column and some tumbled marble blocks in a pool of water amid crowds of tourists and a few oh-so-persistent souvenir sellers.

I then decided to take a dolmus up to the Greek town of Sirince, perched on the hills less than ten kilometers from Selcuk. Just the ride up there was amazing, over a steep road climbing through olive trees and some vineyards. It reminded me a lot of Tuscany. And in fact Sirince is known for its fruit wine, one of which I sampled with lunch. (Quince wine, cool and sweet.)

I enjoyed clambering around the rather steep streets. I had a couple of interesting encounters, too. One older lady sitting on her stoop asked me if I were looking for the Orthodox Church, told me it was under renovation and the gate was closed, but that I could cut through her garden to see it. She also asked me if I were married and had any children. I cut through her garden and enjoyed a lovely view, but I’m honestly not sure whether the church was actually a site or just another church. Does it really matter? I had a memorable time, anyway.

After lunch I passed a jewelry store which had a quote from Lonely Planet about the fact that this store supplied a lot of the jewelry for “Troy”. I wanted to look in the window but of course ran into someone who worked at the store, one of the nephews of the master jeweler. And so we chatted, I had tea, tried on some jewelry that was extremely tempting. He did a great job – I was very close to buying something, but managed to walk away unscathed. I’d rather spend the money on a balloon ride in Capadocia.

Some pictures from Sirince:

Topless Towers of Ilium

May6

As I had a lot of time to kill between arriving in Canakkale and the tour setting off, I took a walk by the water to the horse used in the movie Troy:

And before you ask, no, I’ve actually never seen the movie. But I grew up on retellings of the Greek myths and then later the actual classics themselves, so I was super excited to see Troy, despite the lack of sleep and the fact that everyone told me there’s nothing to see there.

Well, I went, and there is definitely something to see! I had been envisioning a few holes in the grassy plains (like the archeological site at Nara) but I got to see part of the walls from Troy VI, the incarnation of the city that is likely that of the Iliad. All it took was a bit of imagination to see Hector standing at the top of the wall looking down at the mighty Greek army laying siege to his city.

The version of the horse up at the site:

The East (?) gate of Troy VI along with some Roman period city walls:

More of the site covered in poppies – and what was once the sea:

Me in front of what may have been the main gate to Priam’s city:

I Think I’m Finally (Almost) A Real Backpacker

May4

So after my six hour overnight bus trip to Canakkale (my base to visit Troy), I have checked off a couple of items that I had this far successfully avoided: using a squat toilet, and smelling like a backpacker. Let’s start where I left off: in my lovely Istanbul guesthouse, after a long day in the sun, about to take public transit to the Istanbul bus station.

It’s a bit of a walk between the tram stop and the metro line that goes to the otogar (bus station). I asked for directions a few times but made it just fine. I’m not a fan of going places I don’t know with my backpack after dark since I stick out like a sore thumb, but there were plenty of people around.

And oh yes, the toilet. Well, I had avoided them in both Japan and Korea, but they were the only option in Istanbul and beggars can’t be choosers. Honestly, it wasn’t a big deal at all. However, the fact that it’s this far into my trip is a pretty big achievement.

I was really early for my midnight bus. A bus pulled in around eleven, which seemed very early but I wasn’t going to quibble. The destination listed was Canakkale and it was in the spot listed on the ticket. It was only when a lady had a ticket for the same seat as I did that the conductor realized I was one bus too early! My bag was already loaded, so he took me to the ticket counter and helped me swap out my ticket to one on that bus. My new seat mate was an older lady who kept insisting I eat some of the crackers she had brought. Whenever I stopped munching for a few minutes, she would pay my hand and point at the packet, making a satisfied noise when I took some more.

I managed to doze on the trip, waking for a few minutes on the ferry crossing the Dardanelles (anticlimactic on a bus at 4am). What I had realized only after I changed my ticket was that my new arrival time would be before dawn, around 5 in the morning. Luckily, I was able to sit in the lobby of the Anzac hostel there until the tour office opened for my tour to Troy.

In the Harem

May4

No, get your mind out of the gutter, it’s not like you’re imagining at all! (Although I was wondering how my number of site visitors would go up if I tagged this with the word harem!)

Sunday was all about Topkapi Palace:

It was the palace of the sultans (and yes, their wives,mothers, and other women lived in the harem) for 400 years, from the 15th to 19th centuries. As the needs of the sultan changed, a new and different part was added to the palace. This makes the palace enormous, and I spent over four hours there.

First comes the first courtyard:

And after that I have to admit that I can’t remember specifically where many of these photos came from (harem vs the other public areas). It really is just that big and a little overwhelming, but yet another beautiful and historic site. There is an amazing view of the Bosphorus and, at the innermost part of the palace, a tulip garden.

Can you tell how much I love the ceramics here?

And though I can’t show you pictures as photography was forbidden, I did go into the exhibits at the palace as well. These included a sacred artifacts exhibit (with a cast of Mohammed’s footprint and a staff purporting to be Moses’s), a room of various sultans’ gorgeous caftans, arms and armor that I think my archer friends would love to see (such lovely inlaid bows!), and rooms containing the treasury items like huge diamonds and gold thrones.

Exploring Istanbul

May3

After a delicious breakfast on the rooftop terrace of my hotel (spent gazing at the Blue Mosque, with Hagia Sophia and the Sea of Marmara behind me), my new Canadian friend from the previous night and I headed over to Hagia Sophia.

Now I must confess that I had spent the entire previous evening mixing up Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, as the Blue Mosque is so impressive! However, Hagia Sophia is also very impressive, especially as it’s so much older!

Hagia Sophia started its life as a church in the sixth century AD, and became a mosque 900 years later. Its dome was the biggest until the Renaissance Duomo of Florence. And it’s very impressive:

The interior (now a museum) is filled with a mix of decorations from the 6th century to much later when it became a mosque. Among them are some incredible mosaics, several in gold:

My plan for the afternoon was to go to the Blue Mosque, but as I arrived at Sultanahmet Square (between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque), I heard the call to prayer. I decided to sit on a bench in the square and wait, which was a great decision as it turned out. There are three mosques around the square, and I sat in a wall of sound as the three muezzin tried to outcompete each other. It was an incredible experience! I’m pretty sure at one point one of them turned up his loudspeaker.

Once prayers were over, I had a chance to enter the gorgeous Blue Mosque, so called because of the glorious tiles on the inside. I thought it lovely, but a pity that there were so many tourists (and yes I do recognize the irony there). Whenever I enter a house of worship, I try to find a quiet corner to meditate or pray, and it just didn’t seem possible there.

But do feel free to drool over the glorious tiles!

I had bought a three day museum pass so decided to get out of the sun by going to the Archeological Museum. One of the most spectacular items they have is the Alexander sarcophagus, which depicts, but did not enclose, Alexander the Great. The artistry is amazing and some traces of the paint still remain. They also have a chain that was used to close off the Bosphorus (picture at the bottom of the post).

As part of that museum complex, there is a little tile museum that is both a beautiful building and a lovely collection:

Below: some flowers in the way out of the museum

My busy day wasn’t over yet – I met up with my new Canadian friend and had dinner with her and her friends (who had arrived) across the Golden Horn near Taksim Square. We walked most of it, so I got to see Galata Bridge close to sunset.

Istanbul, Here I Come!

May2

This picture says it all, doesn’t it? Mystery, beauty, ancient civilizations…a meeting of Europe and Asia. (Continental crossings seem to be the theme of this trip.) Oh yes, and don’t forget the hordes of tourists. You may notice a lot of my pictures are angled up at the blue, blue sky. There’s a reason for this beyond aesthetics!

I flew Turkish Airlines from Berlin and was amazed to find that they serve real, even tasty, food. After my koftes and a decent Turkish red, I got to watch about half of The Hobbit (a slightly long choice of movie for a short flight, I know).

I had decided to splurge and go for a hotel-arranged pick-up at the airport, as I had heard that taxis in Istanbul can be a challenge. (I can definitely tell that I’ve been traveling for a while and am ready to take it easy.)

Now, I am trying to be very unstructured during my time in Turkey and not plan everything ahead. After planning for Russia, I didn’t have the time or energy to plan so far out. Unfortunately, this meant some frantic hotel searching in Riga to be able to get a centrally located, clean, relatively affordable hotel the first weekend in Istanbul. I ended up booking one night at the Terrace Guesthouse since it was recommended by Turkeytravelplanner.com and having them book me into a sister hotel two doors down for my first two nights.

So back to the airport transfer. I had to walk by that embarrassing long wall of people holding up placards twice and I still didn’t see my name. I moved to the side to figure out my next step when I was approached by someone who offered to call the hotel for me. I later found out he worked legitimately for the airport, but I didn’t know that at the time so I refused his offer and walked past that board one more time. At last! I found my name, and that same gentleman I had earlier brushed off (in all fairness, when someone approaches me with “didn’t I see you here an hour ago”, I feel they deserve a brush off) went to call my car. The driver dropped me at Terrace Guesthouse (easier than explaining the whole I’m staying two doors down thing to someone who didn’t speak much English), and I was made to feel right at home by the owner. We chatted for a bit and then he took my bag and walked me to the hotel I was staying at my first two nights.

Apparently this hotel switching is pretty common, as the woman in front of me checking in struck up a conversation about it. Apparently she needed to book an extra night because her travel companion had hit travel delays. Their bad luck was my good luck though – since she was solo, we decided to hang out and walk around Istanbul for a bit.

We had fun, trying to get to Galata Bridge but going left instead of right down Divan Yolu. But losing oneself is a great way to explore a city.

Above: Me in front of the Blue Mosque

Below: A pretty mosque on Divan Yolu

Blue Mosque illuni

trails untrod

Satisfying wanderlust one day at a time

Tag Archives: Turkey