Atamis Onura Kusadasi

... br> As we drove out of Izmir, which used to be called Smyrna, we saw how clean the streets were and how handsome the people. Many have the most beautiful golden skin tone, and aquiline features. They are generally graceful and elegant.<br> Did you know that Turkey is on two continents? The larger Eastern part is in Asia and is called Anatolia. The smaller Western part is called Frea(?) and is in Europe. 95% of the people are Muslim and there are mosques ...

... one mile of thread in the cocoon and we saw the teasing out of this thread and its spinning into multi-strand threads used for carpet making. The owner had his employees lay out many carpets on the floor for us and we were impressed with the variety of colours and different materials used in their weaving. One type of silk carpet had 650 knots per square inch! We demurred at spending anything on the admittedly splendid carpets so they lost interest in us and we went back to the boat.

... couples because apparently we don't look like we have much money to spend on carpets. They were right of course and we were able to slip by the merchants and out into the street. I couldn't find a patch for my backpack so instead of being hassled to buy something, we spent the afternoon on the beach.<br>(Whitney)<br> <br>Ephesus was amazing. Usually, I am not really one for history, but this site was so intact it was easy to imagine ...

... very nice and very knowledgeable. we were on our way for about a 20 min bus right to ephesus. ephesus is an archaeological site, one of the largest in the mediterranean, very old and very impressive. you'll have to google to find out more as it's too much to type. we did sit on a toilet that was around long before christ, definitely a trip highlight.<br>after ephesus we took another 20 min drive to a small village called sirince. sirince was very quant, small little vendor ...

... Iranian, Persian borders of Turkey. They were beautiful. - silk, natural, single stitched, double stitched - too many to choose from . The rugs took up to a year to make and were hand made. He laid out more the 40 rugs - we couldn't get over how good they were. Before doing the hard sell - as expected - out came the home brewed wine. Someone was trying to get us drunk before appealing to our weaker side. Wine was interesting but as it was free, Goose had 5 ...

... and they have a crew of 655, so the crew is bored silly and falling all over themselves to help you out.  Makes you feel very spoiled.   This morning we arrived in Kusadasi, Turkey (very weird to say that).  Our tour was of the ancient city of Ephesus.  We have to give big kudos to Diana our travel agent.  We originally picked another tour, but Diana overruled us and insisted we go to Ephesus.  All we can say is WOW.  I attach some pictures, but they will ...

... adventure, we went back to the hotel for an early dinner at the "good" restaurant in the BFE village. There, we sat in nicer surroundings than day one, and got to pick what we got to eat. We stayed far away from yogurt, but what we could not get over was how much olive oil they douse on everything. As you will see from our pictures (take a closer look at their fries) - doused with oil... ugh. The food was better, veggies were nice, and the fajitas were ...

... They are sturdy. This is important to Cam and I, because we are currently averaging 1 door handle per month. We would like to think that we have acquired super-hero strength, but really we just suck at opening doors. We have adopted a practice of checking out and quietly leaving the key (with broken door handle still attached) on the reception desk.

... town where most of the city`s famous attractions are located. Not two minutes walk from my hostel and I was heading through the gate into the Topkapi palace. This was the home of the sultans for centuries and it`s now best known for its harem section. We`ve all heard about sultans` harems and their eunuch bodyguards. Taking the guided tour of the harem area was fascinating in that it really gave a day to day perspective on something that has always seemed so totally bizarre ...

... been reconstructed so its hard to determine what is real or not, but I should probably give them credit for trying. That's about it of the ruins for a while, we're heading back to nature on the south coast. Next entry -&gt; Turtles (one in a million chance) at Dalyan Old Rossian Proverb A stork on a rock beats two on your head.