Where are John and Kara?: In Selçuk exploring Ephesus and Pammukale, Turkey

Ancient library of Celsus in Ephesus

The bus network in Turkey is efficient, on time and quite comfortable. There are a number a big companies to choose from. We chose a company called Metro for our trip from Bodrum to Selçuk and it turned into very passionate ride.

Passionate (long story short) because our driver was punched in the nose and then our bus attendant wheeled a carving knife at several passengers who were waiting to board but it seemed had too much baggage.

Can I help you?

You could say the shit then hit the fan and we sat watching the 'passion' of everyone in close vicinity unfold (even the random who somehow appeared holding the broken off leg of a table). It proceeded to get worse when our safe viewing spot from inside the bus was compromised as the attendant tried to hide from the unfolding drama in the bus and was followed.

We arrived into Selçuk as our driver was still spitting up blood and probably nursing a broken nose and only a bit behind schedule.

We made the small town of Selçuk our base for several nights as it is reasonably close to several ancient attractions. After a good night sleep and a delicious buffet Turkish breakfast we hired bikes and cycled the 3.5km to Ephesus, built in the 10th century BC, where we spent the morning exploring old Greek ruins.

The temple of Hadrian

We got there early and got a few photos without many people in them. But as the morning progressed and the cruise ship tourists came in bus after bus it became rather crowded - as expected from a major tourist attraction.

Playing in the columns

Old way to the market 'hi ho, hi ho'

The ancient theatre in Ephesus

Roman decoration

Ancient columns

In towards the small settlement

Ancient houses

Roman ruins

Steps in the ancient city

The ruins were a fantastic site. It's quite amazing to see how civilised the Greek community was back during the Roman period. The ancient city, now home to a healthy population of tame cats, had street lighting, sewage system and even air conditioning (to catch the sea breeze) in the houses.

Please, you're in my sun

Head of a Roman Emperor

My favourite statue

Roman public lavatories

Relaxing with ayran and goremeze

Everything was made out of white marble, including the roads, the stadium, the amphitheatre, the meeting "theatre", the beautiful library, the communal toilet where 50 people did their business facing each other, and even the brothel and surrounding homes. It's an amazing cite to behold and well worth a visit. We lost track of time and spent several hours exploring the excavated houses.

Then we took our bikes to an area called the Seven Sleepers (mentioned in both the bible and Qu'ran) there really wasn't much to see but it had a great authentic restaurant where we saw older ladies making wood-fired cheese pancakes (goremeze). So we sat for a relaxing lunch and turkish coffee on the carpeted floor with colourful pillows under the trees with birds chirping away completing the atmosphere.

Cycling the back country

Then we decided to cycle the other "3km" to the Aegean sea which didn't look too far on the map. Turns out the map wasn't really to scale and the 3km was actually another 6km which, to the untrained muscles already suffering in the heat, can feel very long!

Surprising the area reminded us of Adelaide. It was hot, very dry and large gum trees lined both sides of the road and the smell was very yummy!

Playing on the cotton candy castle

The following day we took a bus to Pamukkale. Pamukkale is located in the middle of the Denzili province and boasts a small world heritage site city, famous for its ‘cotton candy’ rock formations.

The mineral rocks, although unique to Turkey, are similar to the famous pink and white terraces that were destroyed by volcanic eruption in New Zealand in 1886.

Looking down the travertines

The terraces and travertines have been built up over centuries by flowing supersaturated carbonate minerals coming from within the local hot springs.

The volcanic area has been used as a thermal spa since the second century BC and on the plateau above the terraces sits the ancient Greco-Roman city of Hierapolis.

Just relaxing, spa side.

A foot bath all to himself

Relaxing in the pools

Landscape and view

Although we had a nosy around the ancient city, we spent more time jumping into the naturally heated pools and rubbing the therapeutic clay over our skin. Ahh.. bliss. A very beautiful place to visit!