Day 9: Oct 16th Antalya, Then Home

 We have time for a leg stretching walk before our evening meal at our hotel in the centre of Antalya. 

We walked towards the sea, and were rewarded with a lovely silhouette of the bay. Antalya is a Mediterranean seaside resort and is a popular holiday destination.

On the way back it was dark but the mosque floodlights showed it off really well.

Couldn’t not take a photo of this shop on the high street, my secret business venture.

We have until 12:00 midday before the bus leaves for the airport so we stroll down to the harbour again. All the stalls are open heading down to the port and it all looks very atmospheric.

Some very nice architecture on the way down, maybe not spectacular but very different from European style.

Another lovely view approaching the harbour.

The bay itself is ringed by the mountains in the photo. You can walk along the harbour wall to enjoy the view. 

Antalya seems a pleasant location in its own right. Back to the hotel by 12:00 mid-day in order to leave for the airport, a 20 minute drive. 

The flight itself was delayed due to a medical emergency but an uneventful 4 hours thereafter. Slight negative was that the captain’s announcements were indecipherable as he spoke rapidly in a heavy foreign accent: perhaps there were other issues, but we’ll never know. 

The holiday overall was incredible value. The tight schedule packed in so many amazing sights all explained in detail by our knowledgeable and competent guide Ali.  The hotels, food and transport arrangements were all above expectations.

Day 8: Pamukkale to Antalya

 One of our party had booked the balloon trip – up at 5:00 am and back for breakfast. On our way to breakfast we caught sight of the tail end of the adventure: the balloons look like tiny bubbles. She said it was fabulous.

Our visit to Pamukkale was in two parts, firstly the spa water springs where the evaporated minerals gave the appearance of a huge snow field.

To put scale to it we need some people. Our party was encouraged to join the general throng paddling in the waters. We didn’t join them as we were warned the surface was slippery, as if to emphasise that we observed several take a tumble and getting wet.

From below, it looks like a snowy mountain behind us.

Right next to the spa are the ruins of the city Hieropolis, founded by the Greeks in the 3rd century BC and which flourished under Roman rule several centuries later. It’s inextricable tied up with the spa as many came to take the waters and ended up staying. We start with the usual amphitheatre,  and, although we’ve seen plenty, this is magnificent.

And now the main street, a long elegant highway originally flanked by buildings. The shadow is the entrance arch.

This building is better preserved: it’s the latrine. Its use has perhaps endowed the structure with preservative qualities.

The arch here is part of what was the city wall and one of the main entrances.

Just outside the city wall is the necropolis or cemetery. This was the largest in Asia Minor (Turkey) in the ancient world and came about because of the number of ailing people who came for the spa benefits and stayed. Clearly the spa didn’t result in many miraculous cures.

Late morning, we’re on the bus and heading for Antalya, our last destination.

Day 7: Kusadasi to Pamukkale

 Ephesus is a short drive from Kusadasi and is claimed to be the best preserved ancient city after Pompeii, hence the cruise ships. 

Ephesus is on a slope so, we start at the top: the bus will meet us at the bottom, one of the advantages of being in a tour group. The first street is a long, elegant colonnade, but where are all the trippers?

The masses have all funnelled into this pinch point that is now main street.

Alongside the street are many artistic embellishments as in the next two photos. Art and elegance were important in the ancient world as well as functionality.

Speaking of functionality, here’s an often brushed over essential, the toilets. These were sociable visits as the multi-station design shows, with running water beneath for cleanliness and hygiene.

Ephesus first appears in recorded history in the 7^th century BC. After being subject to several conquests, by the 3^rd century BC under Lysimachus it became the most important Greek city in what was then called Asia Minor. It was also an important port but, but as with Troy, the sea has long receded.

The most impressive building is the reassembled ruin of the great 2^nd century library, the third  largest in the ancient world.

Past the library is the agora or market place and yet more columns indicating streets very similar to the first Ephesus photo above but the hillside 25,000 seat amphitheatre is worth a look if you can ignore the crane..

The coach is waiting for us at the lower car park to whisk us off to the carpet factory where carpets are still produced by hand weaving in the traditional way. Here’s a weaver demonstrating, and a new recruit learning the ropes whom you might recognise.

The carpet above is wool, but they also weave in silk that they produce themselves. Each cocoon, one of many floating in the bowl in the next photo, provides a mile of very fine silk.

This is an example of the traditional designs produced here.

And this is the carpet that we actually bought!

The salesman’s appearance  may not inspire confidence, but most Turkish males look like that. The carpet is being sent in a few months: being a magic carpet, it will find its own way to us. 

So then lunch nearby, and back on the bus – to visit the Blessed Virgin Mary’s abode, and here she is, in statue form. The shimmering light isn’t a heavenly glow but the reflection off the bus window.

The story is that Jesus, on his crucifixion,  commended John the apostle to look after his mother as his own mother. There is some evidence that John visited Ephesus and was buried there so the legend took root that he and Mary lived nearby in this next spot. The building was originally their house and the ruins were subsequently turned into a small chapel where pilgrims could pay respects

.There are several holy water springs outside the chapel where favours can be requested, but we settled for an ice-cream instead. 

Our hotel stop tonight is at Pumukkale where there are more items to visit tomorrow, but we have one last extra freebee before dinner and that is a performance by the Whirling Dervishes. This is to take place in a marquee near the hotel. It is a serious ritual and we are asked not to clap or take photos until right at the end when photo shot opportunity would be provided. Firstly, there’s a small musical group playing snake-charmer type music with a vocalist making calling-to-prayer type noises. Then the three dervishes dressed in white with Bill-and-Ben hats come on.

The combo strikes up again and off they go, whirling away, for a good 15 minutes.

 The amazing thing is that none of them gets giddy and falls over. It’s a spectacle not to be missed but not necessarily repeated.

 

Day 6: Kusadasi - a rest day

 A whole day off! An extra trip has been offered for the morning but most of us decline on the basis that we need the break and the weather is lovely. We wake up next morning to a lovely view from our hotel balcony.

After breakfast, the usual vast buffet, we walk along the front to the harbour, past an unusual statue on a small quay, called the Hand of Peace.

In the background are the cruise liners that we will do battle with tomorrow when we visit Ephesus. We carry on past the harbour and up a small hill that gives a pleasant view of the fort on Pigeon Island, now connected by a causeway.

There are many pretty bays further on. This one has the Greek island of Samos in the background, where Pythagoras was born in 570 BC.

So now lunch in town and a stroll back to our hotel.

Day 5: Canakkale to Kusadasi

 We’re at the ruins of Troy by 8:30 am opening time. Troy was thought to have been a mythical invention existing in the literary works of Homer and Virgil. However, in 1871 amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann got permission to dig here in the belief that he had found the site. 

In the years since, with a lot more archaeological investigation, it’s been established that Troy consists of 9 different time layers, the oldest being dated to 3,600 BC. These are mud bricks from that first layer.

These are the early defensive walls from layer 1 or 2

But it’s the Helen of Troy era, the Greek legend, that we’ve all come to see, in layer 6 or 7. This photo next is claimed to be part of king Priam’s Palace. When the Greeks sacked Troy, having gained entry by the wooden horse ruse, Priam was killed by the son of Achilles. Schliemann further ravaged Troy by making off with Priam’s treasure, which was then exhibited in Berlin until captured by the Russians in 1945. Today it’s on display in St Petersburg where its ownership is disputed by both Germany and Turkey.

This was Troy’s harbour. The sea in those times covered the flat green area just beyond the trees.

A wooden walkway threads through the ruins and Info boards in Turkish and English describe the various points of interest. This is the walkway running along the later and sturdier walls of the city.

The final level was the Roman occupation, and here’s a small Roman amphitheatre where plays would have been performed.

Finally, in  the car park, is  a replica wooden horse. There’s no exact description from Homer or Virgil, even if there was in fact one at all,  so it’s whatever wooden horse you want to imagine. Tour guide Ali in the red jacket is seen leaning on one of its front legs imagining it's lunchtime I would guess.

Unlike most of the tour group, we resisted the temptation to buy a souvenir wooden horse from the gift shop.

On the way to the day’s final antiquities site, Pergamon, we call in to the village of Bergama for a pre-arranged village lunch: we split into groups of about 6 people that then go to individual houses. It’s a unique experience.

We’re not far from Pergamon, which is on top of a steep hill. The bus decants us by the cable-cars, reassuringly described by Ali as “Swiss-made”.

We’ve still got a steep enough final climb from the cable-car station, but seeing the ruins ahead spurs us on.

It’s fairly flat on the top with an open area and some columns remaining which, I think, was the temple of Athena. We have to enter the main city through the narrow portal you see on the photo underneath.

Here’s the entrance tunnel, built with effective defence in mind.

Through the tunnel, we can see the impressive hillside amphitheatre with a capacity of 10,000 plus. It’s also one of the steepest theatres in the ancient world, so good views of the performance but you don’t let go of your hat or ice-cream.

The city’s origins are obscure, around 800 BC is a best guess. It came to prominence under Alexander the Great’s general Lysimachus in the 3^rd century BC. 

This next photo is of the remains of the library that was founded in the 2^nd century BC, and was believed to be the second largest library after Alexandria in Egypt, with 200,000 papyrus scrolls. 

The papyrus raw material came from Egypt, and the story is that the Pharaoh Ptolemy V came to see Pergamon’s library as a rival to Alexandria’s and so wouldn’t supply any more papyrus. But Pergamon revived the skill of producing parchment from animal skins for script. Parchment, unlike papyrus, could be made into books and is very durable. There is even a modern day pastime called pergamano which involves writing on and embossing parchment.

The elegant columns are beautifully decorated.

 I’d not heard of Pergamon before this visit. It's a privilege to view and appreciate the skill and craftsmanship in all these ancient cities that have survived through the centuries. I wonder if our age will leave such artistic wonders for future generations.