Grand Ontur (Half Board) Dalyan

Funny how perspectives are different. The LP guide says that Selcuk is not a 'tourist' town despite the ruins of Ephesus and that some travelers may be disappointed. To me, it was very touristy!

Here carpet salesmen (the first we've seen) woo you with cay, backgammon and pleasant conversation while trying to get you to buy a carpet.

Men in the street tell you stories of their archaeological career and try to sell you ancient ...

... 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.
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!
We continued to drive past ...

... It hopefully translated to, "take me to the international airport." Everyone seemed to nod when I showed it to them, assuring me it did say something. However when they ushered me off the bus at some tiny station at four am, I was seriously doubting its content. I saw some small bus a few parking spots over and the driver motioned for me to come. He read my note and nodded, as i climbed aboard. 20 minutes later he was yelling at me in ...

... 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 ...

... him... We sat on his ship as he pulled in his anchor, which was tangled with some other boat's anchor! So our ship cased a boat traffic jam (like going between classes at Post Oak!). When we finely got to the mud bath we where told to get in to our swimsuits. After that we had to "cover" our self's in MUD!!!!!! So I did. Mom got some not so flattering pictures of me! I ...

Today we visited the ancient town of Ephesus. It is about 5 miles away from where we are staying in Selcuk. As I mentioned last night, we were able to purchase the services of a guide for the entire tour. The guide worked for many years at the US Air Force base in Izmir. He spoke very clear, easy to understand English. The fact that the other two gentlemen who shared our tour are currently serving in the US military in Ankara led to a quick and easy ...

Ephesus is the best-preserved classical city in the Mediterranean, with the first settlements formed around 600 B.C.  It is quite a site, but seems much less dramatic than the other sites such as Hierapolis or Aphrodisias, but I am unsure why - is it just less of a place, is it due to ...

... her arm to make the changes. She now had an extra week in Turkey. Next stop after Kas was Fethiye, where we went to look at property. When we first got there, it was pretty quiet, and it felt like it didn't have the same charm as it did five years ago. However, after being there for a few hours, it felt good to be back. When we got there, I contacted a realtor who was going to show us some properties there. I have been to Turkey so many times that I felt the next step for me was to buy ...

... Croatia and Greece. Both have been battling wild fires since I left them; luckily for me, I was not affected by either of the situations. However, being in the Greek islands while the mainland is burning to the ground was still saddening. It in fact reminded me a bit of what sept. 11, 2001 was like in the USA - everyone in Greece has their TV sets on to watch the news and updates; they are panicked and waiting to hear from loved ones about loss of property or ...

... warm... it wasn't. However, as a group, we lathered up in the mud and slopped on as much as we could. The only single guy on the tour, a dodgy American construction worker of 40some, quite enjoyed being in a mud bath with many young ladies in bikini's, not missing the opportunity to offer his services to do someone else's back. We convinced our tour guide to join us, after finding out he had never actually done ...