Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK whY

[kermatu]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Absolutely amazing place. Sadly we were caught in mostly large crowds at Ephesus (must admit I was on a small tour too - but only about 12 people - our guide did a pretty good job of avoiding the masses but couldn't always).

Ironically Mother Mary's House was not too bad. A little bit of a touristy feel (lining up to enter - conveyor belt style) but actually was pretty serene and a lovely spot.

 

[Bindibuys]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Will be there in 96 days time. (am I counting the days until holiday.....hell yes.)

 

[Pushka]

Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

I didnt realise how wonderful Ephesus was. We had a private guide and she steered us away from the crowds. It was truly memorable. The biggest crowds were in the public latrine area.

Thought the Terrace Houses were amazing.

 

[OATEK]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

Onto Ephesus, surely the highlight of any visit to the region. Although it was obvious by then that tourist numbers were down, I still decided to turn up on opening to try to avoid any crowd that might eventuate. The tour boats were still calling into nearby Kusadasi and I definitely wanted to avoid their tour groups!

We were some of those dreaded tourists who came by boat to Kusadasi when we visited last year! Should I be offended?

Seriously though, our visit to Ephesus was a wonderful experience, and being early in the season there were not too many of us around. But no matter how hard I tried it was not possible to take a photo of the Library that did not include a bunch of tourists, so I am envious of yours above.

 

[Pushka]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J, TK

I was one of those 'boat' people too. A beautiful way to see a lot of the Mediterranean.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

I didnt realise how wonderful Ephesus was. We had a private guide and she steered us away from the crowds. It was truly memorable. The biggest crowds were in the public latrine area.

Thought the Terrace Houses were amazing.

So did I .

The Terrace Houses are a number of co-joined villas down a hillside that are being excavated and where possible, restored. Its covered by a large protective structure:





The state of preservation of a number of areas is amazing:



With mosaics and wall paintings ...

 

[OZDUCK]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Thanks for more of these great photos!

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

There is a lot more to Ephesus, but I'll end at the Theatre. Like many Roman cities, its the largest structure that's largely intact. It was built during Greek times but re-built by the Romans between AD 41 and AD 117. It sat 25,000 people.





This is the view of the site from the main road between Selcuk and the coast. In the RH pic you can see the structure over the Terraced Houses on the right and the excavated city runs up the gully. There's a small airstrip in the foreground.



Originally I had intended to return to Ephesus in the late afternoon, when the light would give different aspects to the site, but to be honest I was Ephesus-ed out. It was already bloody hot. Between visits I had arranged for the driver to just take me around the coast a bit, casual exploring. however with no need to return to Ephesus he suggested we head east to Hierapolis and Pamukkale 'a couple of hours away'. Dubious, I consulted Lonely Planet and quickly agreed - it was a long haul but promised two completely different experiences. One of the advantages of private tours! :mrgreen:

So, we fanged it east, up a valley on a very good road and we were able to make 120km/h easily over many stretches.



The road is good and kept in good condition, with flowery verges (like so many highways in turkey, I discovered). I was surprised to see a geothermal power station (I used to be in that business) - but it made sense when considering the geology of the area.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

After 2 and a half hours drive (longer than 'advertised!) I got my first glimpse of Pamukkale - enormous travertine terraces from the hot springs. The pic on the left is taken from the other side of the valley so the scale is hard to appreciate.



First to Hierapolis - a Roman and Byzantine 'spa retreat' at the head of the thermal springs, founded about 200 BC. It was abandoned in the 1300s after a number of earthquakes.

At first, the site doesn't grab you - great fields of masonry and low ruins. I head up the hill in baking heat to the largest of the structures.




And ... wow! What a theatre. Straight in front is the top of the hot springs, and beyond that, the floor of the valley.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

After an hour scrambling around Hierapolis in high-30s heat, it was time to cool off. Most conveniently, at the base of the Roman site is the head of the Pamukkale thermal springs. There's an area under shade, with shops and cafes, next to 'Cleopatra's Pool'. A silly name, but no less welcome as a place to cool off (for a fee). Lolling around genuine Roman pillars in the hot water (its not sulphurous) was wonderful.



Down the slope, the travertine terraces begin. Its recently gone onto the UNECO World Heritage list, so management of the site has improved, and people are now restricted to where they can go. Basically a long path down the slope, to a lower gate. Shoes off, of course.



Its all very white - a challenge for the camera!






Down the slope are a series of shallow pools where you can bathe as well. This was mainly a kids site, but some adults and lots of waders.



This is a great site to visit - the history as well as a fantastic experience in the thermal pools, with views etc.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Back to Selcuk.

The Bella Hotel has a great roof top terrace for breakfast. Its a 'set menu'. Starting out with a nice plate of fruit, cheese etc, and then eggs (not pictured). Lots of fresh orange juice and decent coffee, too.




Its on the roof of the third story of the hotel, and the hotel is on a hill, so there are nice views out over the town and local castle, and you are eye-to-eye with the local nesting storks.




For dinner the first night I went to Ejder, which is the top of Trip Advisor's recommendations. A family run place, it lived up to expectations. The owner came out and chatted, and then mumma. She recommended her home made (Turkish equivalent of-) dolmades (not pictured unfortunately - I got straight into them and they were delicious!)




The dolmades were a meal in themselves (they forewarned), so I just had a simple marinated 'chicken sis'. It was good, too. Some-one else thought so, too.




Washed down with a lovely cold Efes. On my walk back to the hotel, I stopped off at an ice-cream place, which would become one of my regular spots. Business was obviously slow with the turn-down in tourism, so the owner was very appreciative too.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

This would have been a good map to put up at the start. Today, its a quick visit to 4 locations south-west of Selcuk, more-or-less along the coast.



We first drove through Kusadasi, a large town of about 70,000 people, on the Aegean Sea. Much more lively than Selcuk! We came back here on the way home, but on the way out we stopped at 'Ataturk's lookout' - where the great man once stopped and took in the view.



First proper stop was at Priene. Established by the Greeks in 300 BC and modified a bit by the Romans. It was a port town, but the bay silted up, and it was abandoned about 200 AD. Today its very quiet - one other car pulled up as I was leaving. Overall its pretty overgrown, but just navigable.

One of this site's claim to fame is that it was built on a right-angled grid - a concept invented by Hippodamus in about 450 BC, this was one of the first cities to be built from scratch on a grid (not that you can tell much of that today).

A little theatre, but you got a good appreciation of how the expensive 'ringside' seats looked!



The site is backed by Mt Mykale. On the right, the remains of the temple of Athena.



Obviously, the place was once a sophisticated manufacturing centre - here's a bunch of gears for some ancient machine from a couple of thousand years ago . On the right you can look upon the fertile plains that were once the bay before it silted up.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

We continued about 20km south to Miletus. It was established by the Greeks maybe 1,000 BC, captured by Alexander the Great in 334 BC and then it thrived, then went through the 'usual' Roman and Byzantine occupations. Like Priene was a port city, but now totally surrounded by fertile fields due to silting of the bay and harbour and is now 10km inland.

There is an OK café and bookshop at the entrance, and the first views you get are WOW! Check out the theatre! That's one solid chunck of masonary.




Inside, its equally impressive.




Unfortunately after the Theatre, the site was very disappointing. Virtually no pathways other than a maintenance road, no signs, full of weeds, and difficult to navigate. I saw 3 snakes; it was the middle of the day and stinking hot.



I had to resort to photographing the weeds for something of interest.



I had a good walk around, but was essentially none the wiser (a guide would have been very handy here) so we set off for the Temple of Apollo, via the Aegean coast.

 

[amaroo]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

All very impressive - thanks for posting. We need to head back to Turkey and get around to these places.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Third stop for the day was Didyma and the Temple of Apollo. Of the three so far, this was the best.

Didyma means 'twin' in Greek (or near enough) - this was the twin of the Temple of Artemis, seen before in this post and a 'reconstruction' here.

The Temple of Apollo was a bit smaller than Artemis, but has fared a bit better. Built in before 5th century BC, when it was destroyed by the Persians. Partially rebuilt by Alexander the Great in 334 BC, it never reached its former greatness.

The pics below don' do the site justice - the scale of the columns etc is huge.



An aerial view and 'reconstruction' :



Interior of the temple, and some details:



A griffin and a Medusa:



A last sculpture. Afterwards, a very late lunch was a big container of strawberries bought from a roadside stall. Properly ripe, very juicy and possibly the most delicious thing I ate in Turkey.

 

[cpa747]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Nice photos, thanks for sharing.

 

[NZflygirl]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Gah! My green eyed jelly monster is out and staring! Turkey has been on my list of to do things for some time. But admittedly I've been a bit scared off after recent attacks. I hear what you're saying but am somewhat risk averse.

I'm hoping things settle down. How much time did you spend on this trip? 2 wks?

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Gah! My green eyed jelly monster is out and staring! Turkey has been on my list of to do things for some time. But admittedly I've been a bit scared off after recent attacks. I hear what you're saying but am somewhat risk averse.

I'm hoping things settle down. How much time did you spend on this trip? 2 wks?

11 days in Turkey. I think anyone who goes to Turkey this year will get it 1) Cheap, 2) Uncrowded and 3) You'll be more welcome than anywhere else in the world! The coup - and especially the President's over-the-top reaction - bugged me more than any security thing, but neither would stop me going again.

On the drive back from the south, we stopped in Kusadaisi so I could go for a swim, as it was a very hot day again. As far as Aegean beaches go, it probably doesn't make the top 10 (most of not all the best beaches here are private), but it was refreshing and uncrowded.






Back at Selcuk, dinner was at Tat - another Lonely Planet recommendation. Again, very friendly, family service, with a nice cold Efes. Menu was a bit standard; halve the lira cost to A$.




Although the area is officially a mall, there seems to be exceptions ...




On my first night I came across this place - it was brand new and the owner welcomed me like a long lost relative. Best espresso coffee I had in Turkey (apologies to the lovers of Turkish coffee), nice sweets and, what I eventually had each night - milkshakes! Mint was my favourite.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Next morning, picked up by my ever-friendly driver for the drive to Izmir airport, for the flight to Istanbul. Made more enjoyable as he didn't even look like he was expecting a tip.

Check in on TK (in whY) was OK, except my seat had been taken by some-one else and I was now over the wing. No biggie.

Izmire airport is about the size of MEL, maybe a bit smaller, but new and just one, long terminal building. the TK lounge is down one end, which is a bit odd.

I got into the TK 'Elite' lounge, courtesy of being Gold on Miles and Smiles via a status match. Not bad, somewhat smaller than I expected for an airport and city this size, but it wasn't crowded. I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time in it. Had an OK spread for breakfast. First thing you see is an 8-ball table ... a bit strange!




As I commented in 'View from my office', the toilets are a bit weird - mirrors on both sides of the stalls!!




I discovered that they take you to the gate via a bus from the lounge. Not a bad idea, considering where the lounge is, but it didn't work for me. The bus can't go until the last pax decided to get on. Some moron decided he wanted to finish his phone call, so everyone was kept waiting for his lordship. So of course we were the last to board the aircraft - TK's status pax waiting in the sun, in a queue to board.




The flight was OK but had a disgraceful end. We landed on the NE to SW runway below .. and then taxied, and taxied, past the terminal, and then taxied more, for ~15 minutes all up ... to the far top left NW corner of the airport complex, marked by the pin. We had arrived at the maintenance area for TK. So, the airline had simply showed contempt for its passengers, saved as few bucks by bypassing the terminal (marked with a blue 'M'), and dumps us in the maintenance wastelands, for another long bus ride back. RH pic is the view back to the terminal. :evil:




A 10 minute bus ride back to the terminal, decanted at some gate. I found my bearings and had decided to use the metro to get back to my hotel (Novotel in Galata), as I still had cash on my metrocard which needed using, plus it was still morning, so unlikely that I could check into my room if I arrived early. It was a long walk to the metro terminal - another 10+ minutes, at a brisk pace trough some cavernous spaces, back past the international terminal.

A comfortable rip on the metro, then transfer to the tram system (same open air platform) once I got into the city. Tram nearly empty, so handling bags was easy. I think the entire trip cost about A$3.

 

[RooFlyer]

Re: Historic Turkey (and 5 airports!), finishing in Muscat,Oman. QF, QR and WY J,...

Just for the record, from leaving the metro station at the IST airport, to arriving Kabatas tram station, Karakoy, including transfer between train and tram, took 55 minutes. A taxi with clear traffic lol: ) would take about 25 mins and cost maybe 10 times as much.