Today we had a private excursion booked to Ephesus. We were outside the terminal by 8:15am and our guide was already waiting along with many others. We were escorted to a nearly street where we were picked up in a nice air conditioned minivan. Our guide spoke with us the entire way, pointing out various landmarks and telling us about the local area and economy.
We arrived at Ephesus nice and early and beat the crowds, yet already it was hot. We were warned there is little shelter from the sun and yet with so few people we could take shelter under trees while our guide shared with us stories and history.
Ephesus is incredibly large and it is estimated in its day the population was 250,000. Only a small area has been excavated for display and much is still buried.
The walk was all downhill until we reached the Terraced Houses. This is a relatively new excavation still underway. In 1999 it was given a roof to preserve the work in progress but under here was incredibly hot. It was not busy either, people are only allowed in with a registered guide which we had. It gave us a great insight into how rich people lived back in the day. Running water, central heating and views across the harbour! Not much has changed.
We were in here maybe 45 minutes and when we emerged, many coaches of tourists had arrived the Ephesus was packed! We continued along the road to the main theatre which can hold 25,000 people (nearly as much as the Wellington stadium).
Eventually our tour was over and once outside the gates, there was a huge parking area mostly full of coaches, and pushy sales people trying to sell us souvenirs and rugs. We escaped this and found tranquillity in our private van again.
Next we visited Artemis of which there is little to see, and hardly anybody visits. It is nothing more than a column and a few stones.
Our guide tells us what used to be and points a lot. Then we leave. We return to the ship, and cool off in the air conditioning and grab lunch.
After lunch, we head out on foot back into Kusadasi. It is not as busy here and shopkeepers are not so pushy and the streets less crowded. We sat in a cafe and for the cost of a drink each, got some free internet to check emails etc. I was keen to offload our remaining Turkish Lira and convert into US dollars as this is our last day in Turkey. Easily accomplished and no identification required which is very surprising.
We returned to the ship and Helen had a snooze while I went for a swim.
Tonight we were booked in on the ship for special dinner, called "An Evening at Le Cirque" it features the menu, china, and some decor from the New York restaurant Le Cirque. We had a nice window seat looking at the ship next door, and once it departed we had a beautiful view across the bay. This was short lived, half an hour later we departed port also and the ship turned 180 degrees to head out. So over the course of dinner we had three different views.
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