Surmeli Efes Kusadasi

Destination 395

km195'201

Not such a spectacular scenery but beatiful enaugh, the route along the second part of the southern coastal route was enjoyment for any biker. Unfotunatley enaugh, the fact that my rear shock was about to say goodbye by loosing the oil was reason why I was distracted for much of the time. How to get this bloody shock repaired or even replaced?
A real highlight was a meeting of a turkish biker who owned a ...

... 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.
(Whitney)

Ephesus was amazing. Usually, I am not really one for history, but this site was so intact it was easy to imagine ...

... madness there are lots of turkısh young boys ın the bars all tryıng to get the attentıon of all the gırls sıngıng and dancıng and we ended up speakıng to lots of brıts who loved ıt and all the attentıon. It was 2 for 1 on cocktaıls and Ian and I were absolutly blınd drunk left at 2am staggered to the kebab shop and got a kebab on the way home ha ha Ian ate hıs ın bed wıth no clothes on class!

Flew to Istanbul and onto Ismir and then took a train to Selcuk. Must admit that I was getting nervous on the train ride in a very rustic train and very bleak countryside but was pleasantly surprised when we arrived in Selcuk. It is a quaint town with lots of shops and restaurants in a compact downtown area that we could walk to from our hotel. Turkish people are really friendly but guess I should say men since we really did not see or talk to ...

28 October - A warm sun shines down on us as we walk along paths, through doorways and sit with the Apostle Paul. The small river once meandered here, so the Greeks called the town Ephesus. We stroll with Hakan our tour guide among ancient restorations on the same pavements that Paul walking among the same structures he lived among for some years here long ago. It was here that he first began the use of anointed cloths. Paul re-baptized a ...

... provides a good example of the flexibility provided by "backpacker" travel. The tentative plan was to arrive via ferry in Bodrum, immediately take a bus to Selcuk for one night, and then work our way across the southern coast of Turkey (avoiding the large city of Istanbul). As I write this, we are on a bus headed north to Istanbul, with a stop in Canakkale. And this is after a one night stay in Bodrum, and a full five nights in Selcuk. So much for ...

... We have also vısıtıed a number of other Turkısh places such as a carpet makıng shop, a leather shop and a precıous stone shop. the food started off as fantastıc; eatıng doner kababs and vıneleafs, but there ıs only so many kababs and tomato/cucumber salad you can eat and after 2weeks of thıs we are gettıng a bıt sıck of ıt. we are fındıng transport a lıttle harder to come by than fırst expected, but tonıght we are takıng a bus to cappadocıa.

... at the beginning of town, and is the largest, most impressive building in town. Normally this would be a place to avoid for all those reasons and we did have a mixed experience. On the whole the meal was good, but Jess chose 'local greens with lamb' which sounded very nice, but turned out to be a tiny plate of steamed weeds with some flakes of lamb barely visible. She put on a brave face and ate it up. The rest of the meals came about ...

... town. The people are supposed to go to the mosque to pray. So far we haven't seen many people going. I have met a lot of fellow travellers here, the courtyard is a popular hangout! Becky & Jason from Colorado, who quit their jobs, sold their house and are doing a year of travelling (sound familiar?). Clare & Tom, from Ontario, who are travelling for 4 months before moving to Vancouver in January. There is a couple from Montreal, Jean ...

... brother tells me that I blew it - the trick is to pick one only.) The Church has sanctioned it for a few reasons: first, St. John is buried there and the Basilica was built in his and Mary's honor - they only do that in that part of the world if the people are locals. Also, the descendants of the people native to the area have the stories of Mary. Finally, there's a handicapped nun, Catherine somebody, from Germany in the last century who claimed to have conversations ...