Wandering through the ancient city of Ephesus

The theater in Ephesus.

Sir, you’re not a very good negotiator

I spent the night in Selçuk, 3 km from Ephesus so I could easily walk there the next day. On my way, I popped by the Temple of Artemis. A lonely pillar stood there with geese mulling around. There were 4-6 Turkish men all asking me to purchase postcards. One guy first asked for 1 Lira, and on my way out, asked for 2 Liras. I laughed at the flaw in his plan. He then insisted on 1 Lira. I wasn’t interested in 12 postcards for 1 Lira so I said no. During the exchange, I made a joke about offering him .5 Lira and he said yes. Huh, desperate? So I gave him a 1 Lira coin; of course, he didn’t have change. Insisting I take 24 postcards instead, I declined and walked away. Fifteen steps later, he chased me down the path with change. <–And I wasn’t even trying to haggle! 

Learning to (maybe) let my guard down a wee bit

I eventually made it to Ephesus. Just before reaching the ticket stand, I was stopped by a random man claiming to know me. ‘Fat chance, dude. I’ve heard this before as a ploy to get a tourist to stop and talk to a shop owner.’ However, I was pleasantly proven wrong! He named the hostel I was staying at, what time I arrived, and the name of the receptionist that I chatted with; he’s the friend of the receptionist. He was friendly and invited me for tea when I was done visiting the ruins.

Ephesus, an ancient Greek city which developed into a major Roman city

The theater in Ephesus seats 25,0o0 people and is the largest in the Antolia. You’ll feel small when looking up at the seats 18 meters above. The entire area is quite small when compared to how far spread out the ruins are in Pamukkale. Around the theater corner are the remnants of the market street leading up to the famous Library of Celcus. I overheard some tour groups mention something about an underground tunnel that lead to a nearby brothel, ha!

Lesson learned: The best time to get a photo of a typically busy, outdoor monument is when it rains; tourists tend to scatter.

Check out the detail! I wonder what it would be like to chisel marble.

The first and last bit of ‘blue’ skies for the day.

Lunch with a fantastic view of the Library of Celcus! Mmm, packed lunch of bananas, tomatoes, bread, cheese, Turkish crisps, and water. And yes, pocket knives make life so much easier!

Wherever you look, there will be a cat above your head on some cracked pillar, lurking in the shadows, or by your feet seeking affection and food.

Yay! It rained an most 99% of the tourists disappeared!