Our trip to Ephesus did not have a pleasant start. We were met at 5 am for our transport to the airport for a 6 am flight to Izmir. The flight was short, only about 45 minutes, and smooth. We landed on time and went to find our local tour guide who was to meet us at the airport and take us into the city for our tour. The scheduled meeting time was 7:45, and when no one was there by 8:00 we began to wonder what to do. One of the problems with international traveling is the fact that I don't have an international plan (it costs 1,000 dirhams extra) so I can't make calls. We went out of the airport 5 times, and back in again through security, looking for someone holding a sign with my name on it. No one. At 8:15 we were directed to the 4th floor to information, since no one was at the information desk on the ground floor, to use their phone. The attendant at the information desk called our tour guide in Istanbul, that was the only number that we had, and found out that the driver was waiting for us at arrivals. We tried to explain to her that no one was there, but to no avail, so we went back downstairs and outside, once again, to look. And no one was there. So, we went back in and the same attendant was now downstairs at the information desk and we had her call again. This time she was informed that the local guide would call her and explain the situation to her so she could relay the information to us. Eventually we found out that the driver was still en route to the airport and would arrive in about 5 minutes. What had happened was that the tour company in Ephesus had switched to their summer hours and hadn't informed the tour company in Istanbul. I don't completely get this because in my mind it doesn't matter what time the tour starts, you have the flight number and time of our arrival so you show up at the airport to pick us up. Right? Logically that makes sense, but that's not what happened. Anyway, the driver showed up at 8:45 like he was "supposed" to and transported us to the tour company to pick up a few more guests before starting the tour.
Once our tour began we headed out to one of the supposed houses of the Virgin Mary. There are several theories and stories surrounding the house, but the best story is that the site was revealed to a nun who wrote a description of it in a book that was read by a Turkish priest who realized she was describing the site in Ephesus. It is highly probable that Mary lived there with John after Jesus' crucifixion. The house is rather big for ancient times and it is well preserved. Along the outside of the house there is a wishing wall that is covered in wishes written on fabric. We had a nice visit and walk around the surrounding area before our bus left for the ancient city of Ephesus.
 |
The walk down to the residential
section featuring the library |
Ephesus was an ancient Greek city built in the 10th century BC with a population of at least 50,000. Walking around this ancient city reminded me a lot of the other ruins I had seen in Lebanon and Petra, especially the walk leading to the treasury in Petra. As we walked from the governmental to the residential sections of Ephesus, the library was the focal point, just as the treasury in Petra was the focal point. The governmental section had carvings of various Greek gods and goddesses, the medical facilities, fountains, and of course the governmental buildings. The residential section had the houses, theater, library, and the hammam (bathroom). Although the houses had their own hammams, the one built in the residential section was for non-residents, like those attending the market place. The market place would have had more than 20 covered stalls along each side of the square. We enjoyed the sunshine while wandering around the ancient city imagining what it would have been like to have lived there. Because this settlement was dated BC there wasn't much evidence of Christianity other than a few crosses carved into blocks of the fountain. This was unfortunate, because I would have liked to have spent time where Paul spent time preaching, but I guess that just means I'll have to go back to Ephesus to tour the places he preached. The sunshine quickly became too much, so we sought solace in the shade before meeting the rest of our group back at the bus to continue on to the oldest mosque in Turkey and the Temple of Artemis.
 |
| Old mosque |
 |
| Temple of Artemis |
The last two stops of our tour were quick stops. We spent a few minutes at the oldest mosque in Turkey where you didn't have to cover your head or take your shoes off to enter. It is definitely different from the mosques that I have seen in Turkey and in the UAE, but it is still beautiful. After walking around the mosque for a bit we headed to the Temple of Artemis (goddess of fertility), one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. With this description in our minds, we were a bit disappointed by what we saw. There was only one column standing surrounded by a pile of rocks and other rocks that were underwater due to local flooding. I would definitely not classify what I saw as a wonder of the ancient world. It is listed as a wonder of the ancient world because of its size: 115 m (337 ft) long by 46 m (151 ft) wide with 13 m (40 ft) high columns made of marble. I suppose with those measurements it can be listed as a wonder of the ancient world, but I was still disappointed.
 |
Model of the Temple of Artemis
|
Our tour ended at 4:30, and we had a lot of time to kill before our 10:30 flight back to Istanbul, so the driver took us over to the coastal town of Kusadasi where we walked along the corniche, had dinner and enjoyed the view of the water before our driver came back at 7:00 to take us to the airport. No problems at the Izmir airport and we were met by our driver in Istanbul to take us back to our hotel for our last night.
No comments:
Post a Comment