Adventures of a Turkey Roadtrip - Saturday 10.9.10

Saturday I woke up bright and early, ready for a full day of site-seeing. The first stop of the day, a 30 minute drive from Kusadasi, was Ephesus. The ancient city stood up to the claim that it is one of the greatest ruined cities in the western world. After seeing a good share of ruins in my life, I was amazed at how well preserved so many of the ruins were in Ephesus - I could see intricate details on pillars that were made in BC. BC!? The first picture below is of the Library of Celsus (built in AD 114-117). In the second picture you can see the intricate detail on the ceiling and then a well preserved statue. Of course, Jill and I had to take a glamor shot on the library steps!

After walking around Ephesus, we jumped in the car on to our next historical destination - the house of Mary. Yes, as in Mary Jesus' mother. The story of how Mary's house was found is incredible. You can read about it at www.sacred-destinations.com/turkey/ephesus-house-of-the-virgin. All of the history surrounding how Mary came to this particular location outside of Ephesus and how her house was found is amazing. Being there was an experience I would recommend to anyone with an ounce of religious belief or curiosity. It was interesting to see but Jill and I couldn't stay long at the house of Mary as our next stop came after a 3 hour drive into Central Turkey - Pamukkale.

The 3 hour drive turned into 4 with a detour off of the main highway and onto random Turkish roads. Luckily Jill and I noticed the change immediately and our Lewis and Clark skills kicked in when were were solely surrounded by mountains. After hours of Turkish music (there are no English stations in central Turkey), a drive through what looked like Egypt, and a few doners later...we finally arrived at Pamukkale!!

Pamukkale is basically the side of a mountain that has been turned white because of mineral deposits in water flowing down along the side. You have to take off your shoes to walk up the "cotton castle" as an attempt to better preserve the natural wonder. The entire time walking up the mountain a cool stream of water flows over your feet - in some places the rock was smooth and slippery, in others not so much. There were times when I very seriously thought about putting on my shoes (especially on the walk down after the sun set and things got a lot colder!). In ancient times the romans used the pools as thermal baths. This had been allowed by tourists until about 20 years ago when it was clearly deteriorating.

Jill and I no doubt chose the best time to be at Pamukkale - right around sunset. It was by far the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

At the top of Pamukkale is the ancient city of Hierapolis. With the long car ride we didn't have as much time to explore Hierapolis as I would have liked but it was exciting to be walking around the ruins after dark. One fun thing we did see, was the "antique pool" - a pool that people can swim in that is littered with fragments of marble columns, which may be a pool associated with the Temple of Apollo. You just don't get to see these sorts of things everyday!!!

Since Jill and I were playing the weekend by ear and didn't book a hotel in Pamukkale, we decided to make the 4 hour trek back to Izmir that night. We had to turn the car in by noon the next day. Unable to find a hotel around the airport, Jill and I made the most economical decision yet - that night we got cozy on a well-lit side street near the airport and decided to make the fiat our home for the night. Yes indeed, I slept in a car in Turkey! Now onto Sunday...Life's an adventure!! XO