Turkey: Ephesus

Another highlight of the tour was the visit to Ephesus city, it feels rather like a pilgrim tour at this stage as it is thick with Christian and Catholic history from the bible. Although the rain might have spoiled it a little, we got our group our own friendly personal photographer who then sells the photos for TL 6 each (1 TL = IDR 5,500).

famous Ephesus gate

Ephesus city ruins was splendid and huge, we need 90 minutes to cover it. It was the biggest Roman ruins in the Eastern part. The place was full of uneven rocks and stairways so make sure you prepare for that. It is just a lovely experience to have witness what’s left from a civilization thousand of years ago. How mankind has evolved or remained to have similar civilization instinct.

One of the ruins we visited was the temple of Artemis, which is included as one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World. It was magnificently built around 650 BC as a place of worship to the goddess of Greek myth. It used to be surrounded by priests, musicians, dancers and acrobats before being destroyed at 263 AD by the Goths. There was only one surviving column, entirely constructed out of marble.

I also witnessed what was left from an exclusive luxury items market place with beautifully decorated mosaic ceramic tiles. I imagined it to be like our modern exclusive shopping malls for branded designer labels

the luxurious shop ruins

street cats are all marked and taken care of

This is an open space toilet for number two. Men and women combined.

My local guide also told an interesting story about ancient Ephesus time. Only men were allowed to visit the library during those time and they actually build a secret tunnel from the library to the…*drum rolls*.. ladies house! Ha! Boys being boys after all.

So they would sneak out from the library to get some games on. They actually have an advertisement for it:

Interpretation:

1.     Heart: if you want to find love

2.     The round coin: gold coins; you have to have money for the ladies.

3.     Sexy big boobies lady : sexy big boobies lady

4.     Left footprint: your foot has to be at least the same size or bigger (there was no ID verification just yet!) and that the ladies house is located on the left.

After climbing uphill and many many stairs in Ephesus, I was impatient for lunch. I had seawater Sea bass from the local fisheries and it was wonderful!

 One of the best meal throughout the trip. It might not look like the prettiest meal but it was super tasty! The fish was cooked perfectly, juicy and oily but not in a greasy way. With squeezed lemon to add a fresh note to the rich buttery taste and pilaf rice (rice cooked with butter and olives, see more about it here).