Arora Kusadasi

... look to God. Specifically worshiped in this area was the goddess Artemis (Greek) or Diana. A very large temple was erected for her - one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. All with Diana's larger-than-life statue was standing right in the middle.

[Now I saw this statue in the Ephesus Museum and my first reaction was to run from this lady rather than worship her. I mean, how many boobies does one ...

... and seeing some 'real' Turkey again.

We had a great time going through the museum and seeing some interesting sites. As well, the food's still amazing here and we've had the chance to sample many different dishes and even try some raki! However, the adventures of choosing food at a place where you cannot read the menu or speak with the waiter will need to wait a few more days.

... into town via the signs then straight
west towards the gradual setting sun to find the beach. It was my first look at the Aegean sea, which blankets the western coast of Turkey. I cruised up the beach and decided to park the
bike near a small concession stand. There I met Ramazan, who referred to himself as "Rambo." I drank a cold Efes beer (local brew) while he attempted to teach me how to play backgammon, even though his ...

... harbour became silted over seemed out of sync with the rest of Europe in its time of immersion in the Dark Ages. So much knowledge was lost or suppressed at that time by those who contributed nothing to the rational and wonderful development of the world. The civilisations that created places such as Ephesus and the Acropolis were so advanced and their writings and thoughts were burned in the large libraries they had created by the pagan ignorant and the Christian destroyers. How ...

... on the Prinsendam is free. I have no idea why, but everyone is very happy about it. Tomorrow is a big day: a full day at Santorini, and I also begin Nano. Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month (www.nanowrimo.org), and it's just a crazy thing that about a hundred thousand people all over the world do in November-we each try to write a 50,000-word novel in 30 days. This will be my third year, and if you are wondering why I ...

UPDATE 6/5/08: We´re pretty tardy with our updates. Sorry about that! We have been having a great time, but haven´t been able to find an internet cafe for a while. Right now, we are actually writing this from Cadiz, but will try and get through just as much as we can. When we looked at the ports of call for this trip, Kusadasi was not one that we thought would blow us away. We were VERY wrong. As we ...

... even though the weather was a little bleak. The afternoon had brought the multitudes of tour groups, being sheparded around the sites by their guides, however, we were still able to enjoy the ruins, and get photos when they cleared off. Missed the terrace houses as the admission was a further 10 Lira, after we had already paid that same amount to get in.....but we later made up with that with the displays at the Selcuk museum which were great. The ...

... and started taking pieces that are today in British Museums. In 1903 the Austrian came and did the same thing and of course, the pieces are in Austria. The Turks then started doing the digging and a man who Iris met found Aphrodite and it was his life passion to do this city. Unfortunately he passed on at an early age. Pictures of the ruins would be difficult to explain because one has to see the big picture. I will upload a couple of shots for you to see the detail.

... leather jackets. We declined and got the bus back to our hotel. Tonight we spend our last night in Turkey. It will be sad to leave this amazing country and I think it will be hard for the rest of this trip to live up to what we have seen here. For anyone who has not been to Turkey it is definitely a place you must put on your list!!! Tomorrow morning we get a bus to Kusadasi and then hop on ferry to the Greek Island, Samos. In the afternoon we then get another ferry to Mykonos.

My first and maybe last Aiesec congress, traveling on a bus down to Izmir region to a sunny and beautiful place called Kusadasi, meaning Bird Island. 60 travelled from IStanbul and many from all other Turkey will join us there for sun, sea, and something else?!?