Doryssa Bay Pithagórion

... by large mountains. We learned that there were seven universities in Izmir, but only 10% of the applicants are accepted. Military service of 18 months is compulsory for men. It can get broiling hot in the summer. Itek said it was 125 in the shade this year.<br> The Turks originally were Mongols who invaded, and the country has been conquered many times. When Ataturk took over, he forbade the veil and fez. A new day for Turkey!<br> We continued to drive past ...

... 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.

... 1.5 hours when I realised that I couldn't find what supposed to be so beautiful, wonderful, magnificent and mindblowing. Either I just have seen too many other ruined sites to be more approaching or I am just realistic by saying that I was simply disappointed about the helpless appearing heaps of stones beside the theatre and very few remaining facades. <br>But the nearby village of Selcuk was a good place to be anyway - just to find an excuse!<br>

... on them or carried drinks over some of these incredible pieces that took years to make. Once the presentation was over, our host called in his 'associates' and we were effectively cornered by 10 or so Turks trying to engage us in conversation in the hopes that we would buy as many carpets as possible (starting at around $2000 US for the small ones and $6000 US for the big ones). It was quite amusing - they didn't bother us as much as other ...

THE MONASTERY OF PANAGIA SPILIANI<br><br>(the cave of Virgin Mary) - cave means spileo, and Panagia is Virgin Mary.<br><br><br><br>The Monastery of the Panagia Spiliani is situated on the hill behind Pythagorio. The view from the small open area is impressive as we gaze caresses the Aegean all the way to the Turkish shores and from Pythagorio with the Kastro of Logothetis (the castle) up to Ireon.<br><br ...

... and was very pleased to see us. Unfortunately he speaks very little English. Rob, looking at his rugs, asked the price of one or two and was told the history of them, how they were hand made by the women of a mountain village etc, etc. He then quoted an eye wateringly painful price. Rob, at that moment spotted a cheap manufactured rug covering a hole in the wall and asked the price of that. The man tore it from the wall and kicked it around the floor shouting "I ...

Yesterday we went to Efes or Ephesus. Very cool acient city. Efes is only 15% uncovered, I can't imagine what else they're going to find over there, but once ...

... and it does really look good, even though a huge crane was towering over it, as they were doing restauration work on the theatre. We had gone to the theatre more or less with out seing the stuff on the way, as we wanted to get a few pics of the monumental room without any other turists. There after we went back and saw The Hill Houses, which is the living quarters of the people of Ephesos. They were remakably well kept and we could ...

... rocks off from time to time, thus the large number of stone ruins and the rather strange single, phallic column. A large and interesting site. Here we met Marco and Karin of which more anon. o A ruined Roman baths placed almost on top of one of the most popular beaches on the island. It was almost eerily quiet here. o A number of attractive hill villages which were nearly ruined in a disastrous hill fire in 2000 but have been mostly, sympathetically restored and ...

Our last day in the Selcuk area. There are supposed to be some really nice beaches very close by, which get totally mobbed in the summer months (July & Aug), but should be less crowded in Sept, so off we go to find them. First stop is Pamukac Beach, only a few kms from Selcuk and really easy to find, Lonely Planet writes it up as one of Turkey's best beaches. We get there and its deserted - one guy fishing and a few people swimming at the far end. Plus ...