My first full day in Selcuk began at around 5:30am when the loud speaker from the local mosque started announcing the morning prayers over the load speaker at a volume I was not prepared for. I shook it off until about 8:30am when it went off again. I figured I should probably get up. I once again received a free breakgfast from my hostel. This time a plate of all my favorite things.
If you know me, you sensed the dense sarcasm embedded in that last sentence. As the resident health nut I try to avoid most fruits and vegetables because they really lack the nutritional value one needs. A few of you will be proud to hear I ate exactly half of what was given to me. I almost threw up when I ate the tomatoes but that was only because I had heard they are good if you put salt on them. This was not true. After breakfast I headed out to Ephesus. My hostel provides free bike rentals so I thought this would be the best way to get around.
The bike ride to the runis was quite charming other than the parts I had to do on the highway. Those parts were terrifying. I saw a number of interesting things but mostly nice landscape.
About 2km outside of the city I finally reach the park entrance. If you are unfamiliar with Ephesus, it was an ancient Greek/Roman city that is now in ruins. There were a lot of things to see and tuns of pictures taken but I will spare you the full slide show and go over 3 of the highlights. The first is the coliseum:
The second was the Terrace Houses. This was a slew of ancient apartments that were part of the city and belonged to the more prominent citizens. It was an extra 8$ (15 Turkish Lira) or so to see them and no one was paying to go inside. I don't see how you can spend all this money to get to this site and skimp out at the end over a small up-charge. I know its a dick move but come on. Whatever the case was, it made the experience much more enjoyable because I wasn’t playing a game of dodge the old people just to get to the next sight. And while we are talking about tourists this place was packed with them. The parking lot was jammed with tour buses. They force the people on the tours to wear these horrible lanyards with tags on them so they know where they belong. I didn't want to use the sheep analogy but it works on multiple levels. Anyway here are some shots from the Terrace Houses:
The whole thing is a huge restoration project. Like the biggest most complicated puzzle in the world. They were attempting to put every piece they found back together including the marble on the walls, the paintings, the tiles. Most of the structures in Ephesus were restored.
One of the few things that didn’t appear to be overly restored was item number three on our list, The Library of Celsus. The name alone is cool enough to make it on this highlight tour. It sounds like something off of Indiana Jones's bucket list. It was one of those things that really makes you feel like you have been transported back to the time when it was relevant and you can imagine how the structures would have actually functioned when whole. I don't think I enjoyed it as much as the ruins in Ayutthaya but it was still a sight to behold.
One interesting thing I found hidden around the corner from the library was this:
It was blocked off but inside it had all these elements from the ruins that blind people could touch to get an idea about what they were actually in the presence of. I thought that was pretty cool. Doubt many use it but an interesting idea. It kind of reminded me when the blind guy on wheel of fortune won a trip to Hawaii.
After Ephesus I started heading back when I noticed a sign pointing to a sight called the Cave Of The Seven Sleepers. Having nothing else to do I decided to check it out. When I arrived it was blocked off by a barbed wire fence. In fact a lot of Ephesus was blocked off by a sharp metal objects. As I was looking through the fence a group of guys came up and started talking to me in Turkish. When I shamefully revealed I don't know any Turkish they climbed up a rock, pulled down a part of the fence, and gestured at me to come over.
Once inside I got to see what few who abide by laws do. The story goes that 7 young men get walled up in the cave for around 200 years for their religious beliefs and then miraculously 'awaken' and return to Ephesus. The cave then sureves as their tomb for when they eventually died of natural causes. I learned all of this after Googleing it once I got back. It was especially eeary because the group of guys that helped me break in consisted of 7. Maybe they awoke once again.
We ended up playing what I thought was hide and seek and for the first two rounds I was unbeatable. I then learned that it was not hide and seek but more of a game where you have to sneak by the guy looking for you. He doesn’t go out of his way to find you so my extra awesome hiding spot was useless. In reality I was failing horribly but they didn't seem to mind. With each failure they would laugh and say a few things in Turkish with the word 'tourist' sprinkled in here and there. The tomb was still in tact so there were all these underground passage ways to run around and hide in. They had holes to the surface and this is where most of the hiding occurred.
Once I got the hang of the game everyone started to leave. When we got to the exit one of the guys gestured at me to get on the back of his motorcycle. I was about to have my "I can't believe I'm doing this" moment. I usually end up having at least one on most trips. For instance when I fed an alligator a raw chicken tied to a pole in Thailand, when I sang we are the world in a Japanese karaoke bar with a local when I didn't know the words, or when I was chased by an elephant in my car in South Africa. My moment in Turkey was getting on a motorcycle with a stranger who doesn't speak English without a helmet and not knowing where I was going. Maybe not the smartest move.
The guy took off and was going way faster than I was comfortable with. This being my first time on a bike I didn't really know what to expect. His speedometer was also broken so I have no idea how fast we were actually going.
Once he started doing wheelies I knew there was no turning back. They were constantly speeding up and weaving in between each other. I really thought this was how I was going to die. After a while they had me switch over to a different guys bike. He knew a few words in English and said 'he expert'. Don't worry guys, I was in the hands of experts. The new rider still went fast but was free of wheelies. Once we made it back in the city the speed dropped and I had a chance to not freak out. Lets have a look at Jake's motorbike theater.
They took me on a short tour of the city and then took me back to where my bicycle was parked. I thanked them and gave them some money for gas and they drove off. My short stint in a motorcycle gang came to a undramatic end. All in all it actually was a lot of fun mixed with terror that got my adrenalin pumping and put me in an instant good mood. I got back on my non-motorized bike and headed to see some other sights. I ended up going quite a few places (whose names I don’t remember) and seeing some interesting things. Here are some highlights.
My final stop was St. Jean Aniti. I don't know much about it so you will have to Google it if you are curious. What I do know is it was some of my favorite sights of the day.
There was a castle at the top I was quite interested in. I had seen it all day over the horizon because it is at the highest point in the city. I wanted to take a look. It seemed like the right time because I was now at the base of it.
But there was one problem...
At least the view from the base was nice.
I then retraced my steps and headed home which involved a lot of uphill riding. Once I got back I turned my bike in and went to walk to the market to get a drink. This is when I saw another set of ruins right next to my hostel. I couldn’t believe how I had missed them before. It had been night time when I arrived and I was not paying too much attention in the morning so I suppose it was a natural oversight. I went to go check it out and realized it looked familiar. It was friggin St. Jean Aniti.
I had just gone in a completely unnecessary uphill circle without realizing I was a block away from where I was staying. This is why pre trip research is so important. I sure am an efficient traveler.
