Western Turkey P.2

Much like Canakkale and Troy, Selcuk is the modern town outside of the Roman ruins of Ephesus. Before the Romans showed up, Ephesus was already famous for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Today, you can visit the site for free, but a healthy imagination is required, as there is only one rebuilt pillar remaining.

Only a short walk down the road are the much more impressive ruins of Ephesus. For a couple hundred years, Ephesus was the second most important city in the Empire behind Rome. At it's peak, some 2000 years ago, close to half a million people lived in the area. You could wander around the site for the better part of the day, and we did. Supposedly the 'largest excavated area in the world,' scholars believe only 15% of the site has been unearthed. Some 1.5 million tourists visit the area every year, so you can imagine there is a delicate dance between preservation and accesibility.

Ohh...and these are ancient Roman public toilets...

Moving on...

Within Ephesus, the main sites are definitely the Great Theater, the Terrace Houses, and the Celsus Library.

The Library is probably what you'll see if you do a Google Image search of Ephasus. And yes, it looks as cool in person. It was once the third largest library in the world, behind Alexandria and some other place I can't remember.

The Terrace Houses were homes for some of the cities wealthiest citizens, fully equiped with indoor plumbing and heating/cooling, and covered in magnificent frescos and mosaics. Unfortunaltely, pictures aren't allowed inside.

We've seen a lot of Roman and Greek theaters at this point, but this one is still pretty impressive. With seating for 24,000 (larger than most NHL/NBA arenas), the accoustics are still rediculous.

One of our favorite things we brought on our trip was our ‘Moment Lens’. Essentially a wide-angle lens that screws on to your iPhone. It lets you turn pictures like this:

Into pictures like this:

Unfortunately, right there on the theater steps is where I left it.

The ticket into Ephesus included entry into the remains of St. John's Basilica back in town. The church was built in the 6th century on top of the supposed burial place of John the Apostle. Christian legend has it that John and the Virgin Mary left Jerusalem shortly after the crucifiction and lived out the rest of their lives around Ephesus. There are a handful of sites attributed to Mary around the area as well.

From there it was only a few hour bus to Pamukkale.

I'm not a Geologist, but basically there is some underground volcanoe stuff going on, and a hot spring and bunch of calcium carbonate (known as travertine), and limestone spewed out as the faults shifted forever ago. That's what gives the area the unique pools and white color. Pamukkale means something like 'cotton castle' in Turkish. The area has been used as a Spa by whoever's been living there since the 2nd Century BC.

Today, you can still climb and go into the pools, but the flow of water and access to certain pools at certain times is regulated for preservation and safety reasons.

We spent the better part of our day splashing in the pools and exploiring the grounds. It's very confusing to see terrain that looks so much like snow but that isn't cold. Although the temperature was cool, the pools towards the top of the park weren't unbarable, and a few brave (mostly Russian) tourists were fully submerged and basking in the mineral-rich water, credited with good skin care attributes.

The town is 100% built up for tourists visiting the park, but being low-season, most guest houses and restaurants were closed for the season. We were able to find a few decent spots for our meals, and caught an early bus out the following day.

From Pamukkale, with love,

Will + Sara