Day 157 - Fethiye and Oludeniz

I took an early dolmus from Kusadasi to Aydin, where I bought a bus ticket to Fethiye, another seaside town, but on the Mediterranean Coast.

It would be my first time at a hostel in all my travels in Turkey, since the Couchsurfing community is so large and available here. I would be on my own for the next couple of days without the help of an experienced local, who could suggest where to go and what to eat. Luckily, I had a clue on where to go because my Lonely Planet Mediterranean Europe book listed Oludeniz as the number one sight to see in all of the Mediterranean countries combined.

Upon arrival here, I noticed the large number of British people here. Like the Koreans and Taiwanese in Boracay, or the Russians in Pattaya, this was a very popular spot for the British to come and vacation at this time of the year. The city wasn't too crowded this month, but I could still see the touristic appeal in the area. Since I planned on being in Fethiye for 2 nights, I was initially planning on visiting Oludeniz tomorrow, but I arrived early enough to grab another Dolmus to take me to the beach and lagoon area.

Again, Lonely Planet has over-exaggerated on its praise of something, because I didn't really see why this beach should be the number one spot in ALL of Mediterranean Europe. It was a nice, pebbly beach to spend a day at, but I really didn't see that much appeal in the location. The weather helped though, as it was finally sunny enough to go shirtless and "tan" on the beach, which I quickly took the opportunity to do before the cold Winter came.

I spent the rest of the night exploring the touristy area of Fethiye, where there were the typical restaurants and souvenir shops to browse. I decided by the end of the night to catch another bus tomorrow to another city to see more of Turkey. Next stop...Kas

Fethiye Marina

Fethiye Roman Theatre

Oludeniz Lagoon/Beach

Day 156 - Kusadasi and Pigeon Island

I decided to stay one more full day in Kusadasi instead of painstakingly planning my next destination, whether it be Bodrum or Fethiye. Just like some of the days in my college years, nobody woke up until around noon, missing some classes that started earlier in the day. In fact, a couple of the girls ended up not going to class at all today, opting to play hooky to tour me around their city.

We walked around the city in the afternoon after the skies cleared and the warmth from the sun filled the air. There was a small island off the coast that we visited called Pigeon Island, which some call the symbol of Kusadasi. On the island lies the Byzantine Castle, which was used to protect the city from attacks from the sea.

The day was short, since we left the house around 3pm, and after our visit to the castle, we had dinner at one of the seaside restaurants. I ordered Balik Ekmek (Fish Sandwich) with Salgam Suyu (Turnip Juice). The sandwich was good, but the drink was too salty for my taste, although it is a popular drink to accompany any seafood meal. Afterwards, we headed to a tea shop popular with the university crowd, where we smoked Nargile (water pipe), drank tea, and played some Backgammon. The game is probably the most popular board game in Turkey, and I felt so slow when I played against Elif. She knew exactly where to place each piece whenever she moved, where I had to take my time counting the number of spaces to move based on my dice rolls. I learned a couple more strategies to take when playing though, things I never even considered when I played the game when I was younger.

At the end of the night, I decided I would head to Fethiye the next morning since I was running out of time and everyone told me I should try and get to Eastern Turkey to see some of the more "Middle Eastern" culture of Turkey.

Byzantine Castle on Pigeon Island

Helping Make Breakfast!

A Tense Game of Backgammon with 20 Lira on the Line

Day 155 - Ancient Ruins of Ephesus and the Village of Sirince

I set off early in the morning to get to Kusadasi in time to visit the classical city of Ephesus, where ruins lay that are over 2,000 years old. I set off my dolmus from Manisa to Izmir, and then took a larger bus from Izmir to Kusadasi. I contacted a couchsurfer in the city to see if he had a place available, but he was in the process of unpacking into a new apartment and told me his friends would be willing to host me. It's incredible how people can go out of their way to help someone they don't even know...

Upon arrival, I met up with Cagla, Elif, and Fatma, three university students who offered to host me for the night! They were a fun and energetic bunch of girls who were enthusiastic to host me and offered to be my tour guide for the day. I would be their first couchsurfing experience, and I hope I was a good surfer.

We met up with their friend Ahmet, who had a car and offered to drive us from the seaside town of Kusadasi to Ephesus. At Ephesus, we took a horse carriage ride around the sights in the area. Our first stop was the Cemetery of the Seven Sleepers, which was a graveyard area near Ephesus that was built inside a natural cave. The name comes from an ancient legend where six religious people and one dog hid inside the cave to shelter themselves from the pressure of Paganism and slept there for 200 years.

Afterwards, we headed to the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus, which was once a Roman city that was populated by 250,000 people – the second largest city in the Roman Empire (after Rome) and also the second largest city in the world at the time. The city underwent numerous restoration periods due to earthquakes, wars, and time. It was also home to one of the seven ancient wonder of the world – the Temple of Artemis. Check the pictures below for further descriptions.

The last stop of the day was to the small village of Sirince, first inhabited by Greeks before the population exchange in 1922. It is known for its wine production and minor tourist draw. We had a wonderful lunch/dinner atop one of the hills, overlooking some of the houses scattered throughout the other hills and mountains. I also purchased a cherry/strawberry red wine for us to enjoy in the evening.

Later on at night, we walked around the city of Kusadasi with some of the girls' other friends, enjoying the cool weather after the long and hot day in the sun. They were all students at the nearby university and all were studying tourism, hoping to one day travel both around Turkey and internationally. I showed them some of my photos from my travels, and they especially liked the ones in Bagan, Myanmar, and the ladyboy caberet pictures from Bangkok.

Ephesus - Celcus Library (built 115-117 CE)

Ephesus

Kusadasi Street Vendor

The Cemetery of Seven Sleepers 

Ephesus - Small Theatre

Ephesus - Memmius Monument

Ephesus - Kuretler Main Street

Ephesus - Hadrianus Temple

Ephesus - Celcus Library

Ephesus - Great Theatre

Sirince

The waiter wanted to feed me some dried red chillis since I was curious about them. He ended up forcing me to eat two whole ones, and afterwards, I needed a cup of Ayran (yogurt drink) to help neutralize the heat.

Wine Tasting with Elif

Kusadasi at Night

The Ladyboys were a Big Hit at Home