Kekova, Myra & Santa Claus

Today I went for a boat ride over the Mediteranean Sea to the island of Kekova. It's known for sunken city ruins. An earth quake in the second century brought the ancient city down into the water, though ruins are still visible along the coast. This would be a nice place to dive. The ruins weren't that much to look at, what was nice was just being on the boat on a very sunny day. It was very relaxing.

What I found out on this trip that I wasn't aware of was that St. Nicholas (Santa Claus) is from Turkey. At least that's where he lived and died; in Myra, an ancient city of Lycia. I thought it would be nice to visit the Church of St. Nicholas, which once housed his remains. I read that it had amazing frescos, and I wasn't disappointed, they were all over the church walls. St. Nicholas is well known for giving to the poor, hence why Santa Claus brings presents at Christmas. His way of helping the people also involved converting them to Christianity, which meant destroying a lot of ancient temples in order to stomp out paganism in the area.

The day concluded with a visit to the Myra ruins, within walking distance of the church. Impressive tombs are carved right into the mountain side, and they are the highlight. Unfortunately it is not possible to get very close to them. Viewing them is only possible from below. The site also has an intact theatre. The theatre was open to the public, but compared to the other theatre ruins I've seen so far on this trip, this one was nothing special.

Today I met some other visitors to Turkey. Ursula and Karen (mother and daughter) from Germany and Heather from the Isle of Man. They accompanied me for much of the day. It was so nice to have some company and share stories of travel. It's a great way to learn and pass the time on the bus.

Tomorrow should be interesting. I will be leaving Antalya for Anamur. I'll make my way to the local bus station and attempt to book a trip on my own. So far touring companies have been doing that for me, because I've been lazy. The bus stations here are insanely busy! In the bigger cities they're like giant malls with a dozen bus companies competing against each other. Though that makes it easier to get good prices, it makes it a lot more confusing for the foreigner.

Fearless Turkish captain of the boat to Kekova Island:

The sunken city of Kekova Island:

Kale, near Kekova island:

The Santa Clause worksh... err church:

Ceiling frescos in the Church of St. Nicholas:

Myra tombs in the mountain side:

Myra theatre with tombs in the background:

Turkish O Cristo Redentor -- actually it's just me with the Meditteranean Sea in the background:

Perge, Aspendos, Side and Kursulnu Waterfall

The title of this posts lists three ruin sites, but really it's all about Perge. Side used to have great ruins, but people taking advantage of the tourist location have set up shops, destroying the ruins in the process. All that's left now are remains of the Temple of Apollo, five rebuilt columns that you see in the photo on the left.

Aspendos seems to be a large site but it is either not fully escavated or it's mostly destroyed. What it's famous for is it's theatre. It's one of the largest in the area, capable of holding 30,000 people. It's also still in use today. Plays are quite frequent in the summer.

On my way into the Aspendos theatre I noticed some camels on the side. I went to take photos and was approached by a guy who put a fancy hat on my head and insisted I sit on the camel while he takes my photo. I knew he would ask for money after, so I declined. I took a photo and then he wanted money for the photo. I told him I'd rather delete it and he seemed to leave me alone. He wanted 10 Euros if I sat on the camel and 1 Euro for taking a photo of the camel. Ha!

At all the ruins there are locals trying to make a buck off the tourists. My favorite one is where they come up to you with ancient coins that they claim their family member discovered in at the site. They offer to sell them to you for real cheap and assure you that you can get thousands of dollars for them back home. The cute little old lady in the photo to the right tried to pull that one on me.

Perge was the real jewel of this sight seeing trip. Walking through its ruined streets you really get a sense of what it was like to have been there in its glory days. The place would have been covered in marble, awesome statues and carvings and shops of all sorts. One of the shop ruins still had a sign indicating it was a butcher shop. The bath ruins show an advanced underground draining system. The streets of Perge are marked with grooves from the weight of the Roman chariots. Just amazing! Many of the statues that lined the streets have been moved to the Antalya museum, which I'll make a point to see before I leave this place.

I have to mention, on my trip today I met an Argentinean guy by the name Oskar Delrosal. He's quite amazing. At 77 he's on his own traveling through Turkey and Greece with less baggage than I have. If I understood correctly, he's a retired University professor. When I was just a 1 year old, he was making his way around Europe. He seemed to share the same passion for history and ruins that I have. It was a real pleasure talking with him. Hope I can do the same at that age. To the left is a photo of Oskar at a beautiful park we stopped by known for the Kursulnu Waterfall. A peaceful park and quite beautiful with the autumn colours and leaves floating around in the ponds.

The photos I've been taking may give a sense that Turkey is still in the dark ages. It's quite the opposite. Turkey is quite modernized. Most people here drive better cars then I do. I just happen to avoid framing anything modern in my photos. Antalya is unique in that there's an "old town" area where modernization of the structures is forbidden. Though some of the villages that I've passed through on the way to these ruin sites do seem like they're a few years behind the times.

Perge ruins:

Columns along the main street of Perge:

Perge's main street:

Perge's bath house and draining system:

Marko at Perge stadium:

Cat at Aspendos theatre:

Camels at Aspendos:

Antalya, view from my hotel room:

Antalya at night. My Hotel is on that hill:

Pamukkale and Hierapolis

It feels like I've been in Turkey for over a week, yet this is only my fourth day! I left Selcuk for the village of Pamukkale via tour bus. On the bus I was happy to find some familiar faces. Hardy and Tejal, the couple from Chicago that I had met while exploring Ephesus. It was great having them on the bus as we had a two hour bus ride to Pamukkale.

Like with the bus to Ephesus, we started off the morning with a sales pitch. This time it was marble. We were shown how they make things out of marble, different types of marble found in the local quarries and the local marble shop. It was pretty interesting, but again the prices of the items were quite high. The marble shop was followed up by a stop for food, all you can eat Turkish buffet, then we were off to sight see.

Pamukkale literally means "white castle" and is named such because of the giant calcium deposits overlooking the village. It's a popular place to bathe in, as the people now and in the ancient times believed the water had healing properties. I mention the ancient times because above the springs are ruins of Hierapolis, an old Roman city. The Romans used these springs in much the same way the locals do today.

Approaching Hierapolis, we passed through its necropolis. It is littered with tombs and sarcophagi, many which are very much intact. The Hierapolis baths are still in use, though they are covered and extra admission fees are required to go in. Above the baths are remnants of the Temple of Apollo and a theatre that is said to have sat 15,000 people in its day.

Unfortunately I couldn't explore the site longer, I had to hurry to catch a bus from the village to Antalya, where I just arrived a little over two hours ago.

The white castle, Pamukkale:

Calcium formations, pools:

Locals and tourists dip their feet in the pools:

Tejal with the Pamukkale village in the background:

A tractor passes through the Hierapolis necropolis:

Tomb at the necropolis:

Decorated ruins at Hierapolis theatre:

Hierapolis gate:

Selcuk & Ephesus, wow!

I'm loving Selcuk! It's a beautiful little town, very friendly people and so much to see! I did so much in the last 24 hours, I'm not sure where to start.

Last night, while looking for an internet cafe, a carpet shop owner let me use his computer. I told him that I wasn't interested in buying carpets and he didn't try to sell me any. While chatting I told him that I was Serbian by background and once I was finished using his computer, he took me to meet his Serbian friend. Coincidentally, she happend to be married to the owner of the hotel I'm staying at. We talked for a bit and now I seem to be getting pretty good treatment there.

In the morning I decided to walk around Selcuk. This town is built on top of ruins! There's an old aqueduct running straight through the city, and a castle and St. John Basilica on a nearby hill. The basilica is where St. John the Apostle is said to be buired. Also, within the town border, are the ruins of Temple of Artemis, one of the seven ancient wonders. There's nothing but a column left standing, but still it is quite a feeling to be on the ancient site.

I walked up to the castle and then explored the basilica. A lot of the material that was used to build the two came from the ancient city of Ephesus, which is within walking distance of Selcuk. I went there with a bus though, part of the tour package I purchased in Istanbul. The bus picked me up at 9:30 along with six others doing the same tour. A couple from the U.S., another from the Czech Republic and a mother and daughter from Australia. I didn't get to talk to them much during the tour as I was running around the ruins of Ephesus like mad, taking lots of photos. But we did talk lots later, as the tour was finishing up.

Ephesus was just incredible. A lot of the ruins are still very much intact. It was like going back in time. There are streets, two theatres, a library (which is said to be the third biggest in antiquity), temples and tombs. I took over 300 photos at this site. We had a guide as part of the tour, but I'm afriad I didn't listen to very much, I was just in awe of the site. At the exit the locals put on a play of ancient times for free.

Just like in India, no tour is complete without some marketing. Our tour guide took us to a carpet shop where they shed some interesting information on carpet making followed by a bit of a sales pitch. It was interesting to see them spinning silk from the slikworm cacoons, but I wasn't sold and neither were my touring friends.

We then went to the top of a nearby hill which is believed to be the site where the Virgin Mary was taken by John the Apostle and where she lived out the rest of her life. The site is very beautiful, surrounded by lots of trees and very isolated. It was a refreshing stop after the busy ruins of Ephesus.

After that it was another sales pitch, this time it was interactive. We were taken to a "fashion show" where models displayed the latest in Turkish leather goods. Half way through the show I was asked to participate. Wearing a stylish leather jacket I made my way down the runway to the laughs of my touring friends and "I'm too sexy" by Right Said Fred playing in my head. There are some photos and if I get them, I will post them. We were then taken to a leather shop where they tried to sell us jackets at 600-900 dollars. Right!

Now I'm back in town. I spent a little bit of time watching locals play backgammon and then made my way to this internet cafe. So far this is my favorite place in Turkey.

The patio in my hotel:

Tomb of St. John the Apostle:

Temple of Artemis ruins:

One of the theatres of Ephesus:

Statues at Ephesus:

Mosiacs at Ephesus:

Silk from the silkworm cacoons:

House of the Virgin Mary:

Troy

I got to the bus station in Istanbul and no one spoke English. I wasn't sure if I was at the right stop or if I was getting on the right bus. I just kept showing people my ticket to ensure they pointed at the same bus.

It was a rough bus ride during the night, tough to get any sleep. I got to Eceabat where I got a couple of hours of sleep, boarded a ferry to Çanakkale where I met Uran, my guide to Troy.

There isn't much to see in terms of ruins, but Uran had much to say about the story. There are ruins of nine towns on top of each other. They believe Troy VI is the one that is referenced in Homer's Illiad.
Leaving Troy for Selçuk was quite a journey. I waited for a bus that I was told would stop for me at the side of the highway. It was about 40 minutes late and I was starting to get pretty nervous. But patience prevailed and the bus came. I took it to Izmir, which was a 6 hour bus ride and then transfered to a public bus that finally brought me to Selçuk.

Photos from the Troy ruins: