Bergama - 24/04

The bus ride was interesting. We went on a ferry, taking us into Bursa, which gave us all the chance to stretch our legs and to buy food and drink. It would have been more comfortable if I hadn't been sat beside some retard (shades of my Chinese bus experiences!) who insisted upon spreading his legs and jiggling the whole time he was awake, couldn't work the screens, farted repeatedly and obnoxiously, and just generally behaved like a dork for 10 hours.

I was a little worked at the end because they seemed to be uncertain about the route and took off to Ayvalick rather than Bergama, but they were just organising their drop offs. From Ayvalick to Bergama I was the only one on the bus, and they took the opportunity to start the cleaning.

I'm very impressed and happy with the Odyssey Hostel. It's much cleaner and better facilities than the Sydney. But I have to say that the town is a good deal less interesting than Istanbul - which really should surprise no-one.

View of the Red Basilica from the terrace of the Odyssey Hotel

Visited the Red Basilica – a very large ruin, currently undergoing repairs, of a temple dedicated to ancient pagan gods. Apparently it was so large that the Christians didn't try to convert it into a church, they just built their own church inside it! Pretty cool.

Walked about downtown and had a look in the Archaeological museum. Not much of interest: lots of fragments of things - gravestones mostly - and some life-size dioramas of medieval Anatolian Turkish life.

Had a bit of lunch at Vitamin, which was simple and pleasant. By the time I got back I had a splitting headache and could barely bring myself to go out and get some food. And I couldn't enjoy it when I got it. My head was freezing and I was shivering with cold generally. When I got home I turned on the air con, but I was sure that I'd been poisoned and the only mystery was by whom and how long I could last. I must have fallen asleep almost immediately I lay down and woke up 4 hours later feeling warm and happy. That's a great relief.

Looking at the bus and ferry schedules and availabilities of accommodations, I've decided not to bother with skipping back and forth over the border to the islands. I'll stick to Turkey and do the islands on the way back at more leisure.

Bergama - 25/04

Did a lotta walkin' today. First up I (had breakfast, of course - and the owner made an omelette without being prompted) walked along the road behind the Red Basilica to the cable car to the Acropolis. It all went fine, and the Acropolis was quite impressive.

Plan of Acropolis of Pergamon

Arsenal!

Temple of Dionysus

Real ‘dangerous theatre’

Capitals

The most amazing sight there was the Theatre built on the side of the hill. that's quite standard for Greek theatres, but this one was very, very steep. If the audience had been rolling in the aisles in one of their Comedies there would certainly have been fatalities as they rolled off the edge. Still, from my knowledge of Greek Comedies, there wouldn't have been much danger of that.

It hadn't occurred to me until then that this is the origin of the Pergamon marbles in the famous German Museum. The point from which they were removed is marked. I notice that there's no big fuss being made over these in the way that there is over the Elgin Marbles: I wonder why that is.

Actually, the first thing I did when I got to the entrance was to take a breather and a coffee in the shade. And on the way back I had a lunch at an isolated little place which looked very clean. Shish kebab w/ chips and a drink called Ahvay (or something like.) The drink was hideous; like salted yoghurt!

Home and rested a bit and then back out to visit the Asklepion. Took a while getting up the hill, and then the sun was getting pretty bright. I found a shaded spot at the top of the Roman Theatre and read a book for a while. Couldn't be too relaxed however. I was accosted by a group of Turkish children who had to practise their English on me (which was limited to 'what's your name' and 'where are you from') until I was rescued by their teacher or parent or whatever calling at them from the Sacred Well.

Stoa 

View of the Akropolis from the Asklepion

 After a while I came back down and went back home via Vitamin, where I sat and watched the scenery on the main street - which wasn’t much - for a while with a couple of sprites. And so to bed.

Izmir - 26/04

Easy bus trip to the big city, followed by foolishness and confusion on the way to the hotel. There was no servis, so I had to get a taksi (see how fluent I am in Turkish?) and the driver took me past the place I wanted and just dumped me a kilometre away. I was mistaken in thinking that it would be easy to find the hostel, or I would have insisted on being driven there. It turned out to be a bit tricky to find; but it's well-fixed in my atlas now. The hotel staff were very helpful (they speak good English for a change) and gave me a good map and some advice. They also advised getting the train because the 'Gar' is right next to us, but I declined this since the Selcuk hotel offers a shuttle to/from the otogar.

Went straight out again and walked to the outdoor museum, meaning the Agora. That was pretty good: it's a big site and a lot of it is cut off for renovations or excavations or perhaps just because it’s dangerous. Took some photos of arches and such-like but couldn't really get the feel of the extensive underground sections because there were no really old sight lines. Still, there were some interesting views of different colours and textures of stone used in their construction.  

Stones of Smyrna

Through the bazaar section, which was very dull, and down to the rather modernised waterfront, where I stopped for a quite pleasant coffee at a flash place in the Konak Pier shopping mall. From then it was a pleasant walk along the Kordon, which is the Izmirite version of the corniche or waterfront walks of other towns. It only occurred to me later that I have not been pestered by any touts or peddlers or beggars while I've been here. That's a nice change.

The Kordon at Izmir

I got as far as the Cruise ship ports at Alsancak where a couple of the Costa lines were moored. The Pacifica remained, but the Magica left, majestically. Down through the Kültürpark, which would have been a nice place to spend a lazy day I think, and then home. Dinner at a small place in 9 Eylül Square near my hotel.  

Coast Guard and Costa Pacifica at Alsancak

Selçuk - 27/04

Map of Selcuk

 Easy connections to the hostel. And the hostel is very attractive. It's got a pool, a bar, a pool table, table tennis table, all sorts of good stuff; and there are oriental sofas to lounge around in. I mentioned that my room would be more convenient with a table in it and Attila rushed to get me one. (It's not the sort of bench table that I was talking about, but that's not the point.) I've arranged to have breakfast and dinner here, since I doubt that Selçuk will have much better to offer, and I'm having some laundry done. I also gave Attila two of my shirts that I've decided I can't wear any more - the red and black striped polos - and he gave me a beer as a compliment.

Atilla’s Pool

Speaking of clothing, I had to buy myself a new pair of shoes since my Colorados broke while I was exploring St John's Church. TL 120 for a pair of comfy walkabouts: I just hope they last until I get home. Lucky I broke them near enough to a market, too. 

Storks in the ruins of the Aqueduct 

And behind me as I watched the storks is an ivy house

(Actually, browsing the web I find that this is a hotel.)

The inaccessible fortress seen from St John’s Church

Had a little difficulty finding the Artemision, and I'm not sure it was worth the effort anyway. Just a pool with a few fragments about it, and one column with (as promised) a stork nested on it. Hear the French tourists crying "Regardez la cigogne!" Ha, they're no better than any other tourists.

OK, in descending order: Fortress, St John’s Church, Isa Bey Mosque, Artemision

Hey, this outdoor cafe has free wifi. Neat.

Selçuk - 28/04

To Ephesus. I was ashamed to take a bus there: it turned out to be only a few steps further than I'd walked the day before. Anyway, the sights were good. In fact it's the first place where I've been able to get a decent feel for how a Greek (or, in general, a classical) city might have felt before it was ruined. It also suggested to me that the streets would also have been lined with advertising matter, whether on boards or on textiles. And with their colours and the painting of the buildings themselves, it would have been quite a scene.

Library of Celsus

Self and Sophy

The Street of the Curetes

Sad Arch

Very relaxing evening with nowhere near so many people at the dinner.

Pamukkale - 29/04

Off at 9:30 for a 3 hour bus to Pamukkale. It turned out to be very easy to find the Artemis Yoruk Otel, since it was right beside where the bus stopped. Once I'd put my stuff down it was about a 5 minute walk to the travertines and Hierapolis.

The pool at the park under the travertines

The travertines were amazing. They are limestone Terraces built up by a spring at the top of a hill. I'm reminded of the fabled Pink and White Terraces of New Zealand that were destroyed by the great Tarawera eruption. Having said that, however, the travertines here are in a rather sad state, and are only gradually being repaired by a more tourist-aware government. The stream that builds them is amazingly loaded with lime: we had to take our shoes off to walk up them, and if we let the water dry on our feet it would leave a lime coating.  

Ascending the travertines to Hierapolis

The other thing that was striking was the number of people who had come prepared for the swimming opportunities. There were girls in bikinis all over the place, which has to be a novelty in a Muslim country. But this is one more evidence that Turkey isn't the sort of socially regressive place that is going to breed jihadis. It's much more like a poor East European country. I think that the EU may have been alarmed unnecessarily by the prospect of Turkish accession and the possibility of an alien intrusion. On the other hand, the places I've seen are tourist places and the Europeans might well be worried about hordes of Turks from less Westernised and much poorer regions that we don't see on our tours.

Hierapolis was ok. It was very spread out and the heat and sun was unbearable. I had to take two breaks at the Antique Pools, which is a sort of cafe and tourist shops centre at the top of the travertines and before we get to Hierapolis proper.

At Hierapolis