The Wild and Crazy Ride into history

Dear Reader,

Please forgive my failure to write yesterday. I was too exhausted from yard work. Even I have to devote some time to my place of residence before I can go out and have some fun.

It was on my first Greek cruise, the one we took in the middle of my chemotherapy, that we visited Turkey also for the first time. The cruise sailed out of Piraeus, Greece, the port city for Athens and it was a great seven day cruise stopping at Patmos, Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete plus an overnight in Istanbul, which was fantastic, and Kusadasi, Turkey. This was a lot of stops in only seven days but we ran like crazy and saw everything on my list of sights worth seeing. Every place we went was special and unique. I'd do the same exact cruise over again.

Being a Historian I get a special thrill over the prospect of visiting ancient ruins. I've climbed ruins all over Europe and never miss a chance to see more. Turkey contains some of the greatest ruins of the ancient world and I couldn't wait to see them, the most famous being Ephesus, or Ephes, as the natives call it.

The ancient city of Ephesus was Greek, then Roman, and it is a vast sight which is highly recognizable for what it was. St. Paul preached against idols here in the theater, which is still very much intact. Caesar and Cleopatra strolled down the same grand marble street that we walked, only in their day it was covered to protect them from the sun. We weren't protected and it was very hot. A lot of the columns which once held the roof over the street still remain. The greatest sight is the library which has two full walls, three stories high, standing. Apparently prostitutes used to hang out in front to pick up a Brutus. There are inscriptions of names all over the walls and Julius Caesar's name is very prominently displayed over an archway on the side wall. I could have spent a week studying this sight but we only had one day and the heat was cripplling.

When I was studying up for our cruise I learned that the cheapest way to get from Kusadasi to Ephesus is by Dolmus, a public transportation bus. This sounded good to me though I could not find out exactly where to catch the Dolmus in advance. I figured, someone will know.

I eventually learned during the cruise that no one knows anything other than the information about cruise tours. If you don't get your own information in advance, you're either on your own, or booking a ship's tour. There's nothing wrong with ship's tours except the price, which is a lot higher than doing your own touring. However, ship's tours do offer such amenities as air-conditioning and a guarantee that you won't miss your boat. That's comforting but I'm on a budget so I plan all shore excursions myself.

When we arrived in Kusadasi we had to walk a gauntlet through a customs/giant gift shop to get to the main street. The streets are paved with marble and other shiny stone, just like in Ephesus. We wandered up the main street looking for the tourist office and a map. This we found and the nice lady pointed out where to find the dolmus. We followed her directions until we got lost and when John stopped to consult "the map of knowledge" as he likes to call it, a very nice looking young man dressed in grey slacks and a white dress shirt with tie came out of his shop and asked if he could help us. He said "I am a gentleman and can help you". We took him at his word and he did give us excellent directions.

As we approached the bus depot, which is a concrete divider in the middle of a busy street where the buses don't actually stop, they stop around the corner, we walked past a very inviting little restaurant/bar with outdoor tables and an awning above. It looked so appealing. The owner ran out and started chatting us up and invited us to stay and eat. We told him we had already eaten. He offered us a cold beer. That sounded so good! But no, we have to get to Ephesus. So he pointed out the buses, which are the size of a VW bus, and made us promise to return later for a beer. We agreed to this.

It was easy to figure out which bus to climb aboard. I just asked each driver "Ephes?" and on the second try got the right bus. I tried to ask how much but the driver just nodded so we sat down. The seats were narrow and it was difficult for John and I to stay on ours without falling off. More people got on after us and finally we were full and ready to go. The driver took off and we drove up into the hills of Kusadasi hitting speed bumps and potholes, though the city streets are pretty good. At a bus stop he picked up another passenger. We all squeezed together. Then he shouted out something like 50 lira and stuck his arm back while driving with the other. John put coins in his hand which the driver threw into his ashtray. Then more people started passing coins forward person to person to John who handed the money to the driver who was manuvering around corners and over bumps but somehow managed to count how much money everyone paid. It was pretty impressive.

When we were out of the city we rode for awhile along the coast only up on a cliff but it wasn't a sheer cliff and didn't seem scary at the time. I've been on the bus to Positano, Italy and that's scary! But it was quite hot in the bus and with all the people crowded in it got hotter. The driver didn't seem to care how many people were in the bus. He continued to stop and cram more folks on board as we bounced along on our way to Ephes. Of course, not everyone was going to Ephes. In fact, we were the only ones who did that day. And some people got off at various resorts on the coast, a huge waterpark attracted several, and their homes were along the way too.

The road turned inland and finally flat. The grass turned green and trees were a few yards ahead. This looked promising. When we reached the Ephes stop the driver advised that we should cross the road and walk up the gravel drive for about 2 kilometers and then take the dirt path until we reach the entrance. We started off on our quest for history down the gravel path which was tree lined so that wasn't too bad. But when we got to the dirt path it wound up around a small hill and got very narrow. There were tall weeds growing on either side and I started to get sand in my shoes but the worst part was our full exposure to the sun. It was directly overhead and since I was forced to wear a wig plus a hat sweat was pouring out of my scalp. We were prepared with our hats and water bottles but I had almost finished mine during the ride.

When we finally reached the entrance there is a rather wide paved road and a turn around but the gate was in the shade. There were no lines of people which surprised me and after a small fee we were in. The best news was that they have a restroom right inside the gate which was also in the shade. I threw cold water on my face and arms and refilled my water bottle at the drinking fountain. Those ancients thought of everything!

We also strolled the grand boulevard and sat in the theater, gazed in awe at the library and imagine hookers propositioning St. Paul, wandered through the remains of various shops and houses along the way and finally reached the temples beyond the end of the city. There were fields of rubble ruins beyond that point and a very large crowd of ship's tourists approaching from that direction. We wondered where the heck they had been and didn't find out until evening that there is another back entrance where the tour buses park so the tourists don't have to walk the 2 kilometers and the dirt path. So, they had air-conditioning too but we got to ride the Dolmus.

The grand street makes a large curve just past the library and begins a bit of an uphill climb. The street could be quite slippery and I imagined what it was like during rain. On one side was a large structure which had been a great house. It was under renovations and cost an extra fee to go inside so we decided to wait until next time to see it. They did have some of the beautiful mosaic floors on display.

I think my favorite sight was the ancient restroom. I've always been fascinated by how people throughout history went to the bathroom, where they went and what they used. The Greeks and the Romans had this all figured out way back when. This particular restroom was square and must have been very pleasant. There were toilets around three walls and a nice fountain in a square pool in the center. The back wall was reserved for the orchestra. It must have been offensive to make noises while using the toilets so there was a band of musicians who played to cover up the sound. I'm sure they also had lots of flowers or good smelling herbs in the place to cover the smell. Such civilized people!

We decided we'd had enough for one day and started the long walk back to the highway. There was nothing to sit on and no cover but we knew where it was and just had to stand there until another Dolmus drove by in the right direction, then flag him down. This time it was fully packed. I ended up sitting next to the driver in the front of the bus but later at a resort an entire family boarded with baby and baby carriage and everyone had to squeeze. I ended up sitting between the driver's seat and the passenger seat with the stick shift between my legs. Alright, this was a bit awkward but tell me that any of those people on the ship's tour could top that.

When we returned to Kusadasi there was still time to stop for that beer so we did. The owner was a great guy who talked incessantly about everything including New York City where he lived sometimes. His English was perfect and there was hardly any accent. He was fascinated with politics and told us all about Kusadasi. When winter comes, most businesses close down for 6 months. Most residents have to go elsewhere to work. That sounds rough. He said a lot of them go to Ireland because jobs are plentiful there. I had this odd image in my head of Dublin being overrun by Turks and having pub brawls over the beer. Turkish beer is quite good, I think. But people do what they have to do, and he seemed to really enjoy running his establishment. He gave us some free snacks too and they were outstanding. But, alas it was time to return to our cruise ship and perhaps take a swim and have another beer. Such is the tough cruise life.

To compare the cruise ship tour to ours I would have to remember their exact cost, which I don't but I believe it was around 90.00 Euros, which is more than $100.00 per person. The cost of taking the Dolmus to Ephesus, which is about 30 miles from Kusadasi, is only about $1.00 US. The entrance fee for Ephesus was one of the more reasonable ones at about $9.00 US. The beer, priceless!

Cheers,