Ancient Ephesus & Kusadasi

see all photos »

Our next stop was Turkey. It was actually a very beautiful country, and very different then I expected. Alot of Europeans live there in the summer actually, or so the tour guide said. We took a tour to the Ancient city of Ephesus, which is one of the most well preserved cities in the entire world. Our tour guide was very awesome, it was the best tour of the entire trip. The drive of Ephesus was probably around 20 minutes and it was interesting because back in the time of Ephesus, it was a major port. Now it is 7 km away from the ocean. When we got there I was awe struck. I could believe my eyes. I can't really even put it into words. My sister would say it was a bunch of old shit. But I loved it! They had bath houses, columns, underground flights, temples, houses, library, stadium, theatre, latrines, and more. There would be so much to write here but I can't even think of where to start. The things that were preserved were amazing!! In the houses, all the paint on the walls and the mosaics on the floor were still there!! After 2000 some years! That is amazing. I really think I'm going to look into archeology when I get home. It's sad though, the terrace houses that we went through had just been re-opened after closure because people were stealing pieces of the floor! Who would be that stupid and greedy? People these days have just gone overboard I think. The tour guide had many interesting facts about Ephesus and I think it is just one of those places if you ever get an opportunities, you should go. We went back into town and "got" to go to a Turkish carpet demonstration. They talked about the hand made carpets and showed us probably at least 30 of them. There was a big silk one that took 6 years to make and was probably at least 100 grand. A small one was 800! After that, we went back to the boat, got into our swim suits and walked to the beach. I wasn't too keen on going in but I did eventually. It was just kind of weird cause the beach was basically in the same port our boat was parked in ... kind of weird. We didn't go into the town very much though because I wasn't wanting to get too near any shops or anyhting because I really don't like the pushy salespeople. I feel so bad ignoring them but they don't want to take no for an answer. I really liked it though above that. Sorry I couldn't give more insight, but it was one of those places that words just fail.

In the houses, all the paint on the walls and the mosaics on the floor were still there!!