It's 'Efes' For Our Anniversary!
Trip Start
Jul 06, 2008
1
18
26
Trip End
Aug 18, 2008
Selcuk,
Izmir,
Turkey
Friday, July 25, 2008
Let's compare the two shall we?
1)
-Efes Ruins are a 3 hour bus ride away from where we stayed the night before.
-West Edmonton mall is a measly hour and a half.
One point West Ed.
West Ed. - 1 Point
Efes Ruins - 0
2)
-To get to the Efes Ruins, you must flag down a bus which you share with locals and you must cram in just to fit in the small seats.
-To get to West Ed., you can take your own wonderful and roomy transportation - free to come and go as you please!!! (And in full control of the A/C)
One point West Ed.
West Ed. - 2 points
Efes Ruins - 0
3)
- To get to Efes, the bus will cost you about $2.00
- To get to West Ed. the gas will cost you about $50.00
One point Efes:
West Ed. - 2 points
Efes Ruins - 1 point
4)
-West Ed. has so much to offer, including a waterpark, an amuzement park, shopping, dolphin shows, submarine rides, a movie theatre...the list is endless!
- Efes Ruins has none of this but a theatre - from 2000 years ago.
OK, we'll call that one a draw:
West Ed.
01. Our First Steps
- 3 pointsEfes Ruins - 2 points
5)
-At West Ed. you can see Japanese Tourists checking things out and chattering away as they flash their cameras.
-At Efes, you can sit at the top of the stone theatre and hear a Japanese tourist belt out an Italian opera from the stage below. Perfect acoustics - not bad voice either.
One point Efes:
West Ed. - 3 points
Efes Ruins - 3 points
So as you can see, through simple analysis of both scenerios, there is no clear-cut winner here. A trip to West Ed. for our 5th year anniversary should be more than adequate.
As mentioned in the analysis above, it was a 3 hour bus ride from Pamukkale to Selcuk, where the ruins of Efes are located. We spent a relaxed afternoon when we arrived, having a scrumpcious supper (and a beer of course) and we even lucked out and had some popcorn at the pub we were at. (Did the owner KNOW it was our anniversary!!!)
After our time at the pub, we made our way around the cobblestone side-streets and came upon a street market set up in a large open area. We took our time searching through their many tables full of jewellery, clothes and other knick-knacks. We both went away with some new fashions that we grabbed for $2.00 a piece. It was a free-for-all and at times, you needed to have your elbows out and a wide, strong stance to maintain a low center of gravity to avoid being knocked over. It was kind of like shopping Christmas Eve at West Ed. (Good thing that is not our anniversary!).
We prepared for a much busier day of walking through the ruins the next morning, and after another Turkish breakfast of tomatoes, cheese, watermelon, olives, bread, cucumbers and hard boiled eggs (always included in pansiyon prices) we have now cut down our choices to boiled eggs, bread and watermelon. 21 days of this same food and we solemnly swear never to eat another hard boiled egg again. This must be how contestants from the show Survivor feel about rice.
It was a longer than anticipated walk to Efes, and we decided even before we got there that we would definitely pay the 2 Lira to catch a dolmus back again. It didn't help that there were two signs pointing in different directions to get to Efes. One (3km) pointed across the street from where we were - so we crossed the street and were ready to head in that direction. Once we got across the street, a second sign directed traffic in another direction.
Hmmmm.
Flip a coin.
We chose the second one.
Wrong decision - we tacked on 20 minutes more of walking in the heat.
Life lesson: Always go with your first choice.
We did, in fact, make it to Efes without a problem. We quickly paid the admission fee and maneuvered ourselves around and past tourist groups.
Amongst the ruins, we visited a large theatre (mentioned in the previous analysis), St.
02. A Look Ahead
Mary's Chruch, a large courtyard, a library, some marble statues and walkways, and more ruins as well. It is pretty amazing that this has all lasted for over 2000 years. Some of it dates from 2nd century BC. At one point it was the capital city of Asia Minor.We spent almost three hours exploring and as amazing as it was, it is tough to compare these to the incredible structures of Ankor in Cambodia.
We are planning on heading to Marmaris next, where we will catch a ferry to Rhodes - our first Greek Island! Bring on the beaches!
Hugs and Love,
Dana and Trevor
Comments
comment
i randomly stumbled upon your turkey blog, and being a turk from istanbul, i must say i really enjoyed reading about your trip from start to end! especially the guy with the crazy mother had me laughing a lot.. i wish you continue having a great time! cheers!