Ancient sites are a big draw card to many visitors of Turkey and just when it seems like we've explored most of them, we find even more to add to our list.
While we were enjoying our time at Kuşadasi marina we didn't pass up the opportunity to visit the nearby site of Ephesus.
The plan was to rent a car for 2 days and visit Ephesus and Pamukkale. That plan didn't take into account that it was the height of summer and the rental companies would much prefer to rent a car for a week than 2 days. So after an hour and a half of traipsing around to what felt like every car rental office in Kuşadasi, I returned to A B Sea empty handed and a hot, sweaty and frustrated mess.
Plan B was launched and the following morning we were, along with a handful of other people, eagerly climbing aboard the local dolmuş and heading for Ephesus. The trip took about 25 minutes and cost 20 TL (AU$2.80) each. Just before the dolmuş reached its turnaround point at the town of Selçuk the driver stopped at a small road junction and loudly declared "Ephesus" as he opened the bus doors. We and four other tourists stepped off and began walking the last kilometre to the entrance of the ancient site.
We have been very fortunate when visiting previous ancient sites as we were generally the only tourists in town. Not so at Ephesus. The car park looked almost full and there was a large amount of people milling around the ticket office and entrance gate.
Because we had our museum cards we just waltzed up to the gate, scanned our cards and walked straight through. I think the museum cards are one of the best value for money things that every long term Turkish resident should take advantage of. The card which is valid for 12 months costs only 60 TL (AU$8.30) and it allows access to every museum and ancient site all over Turkey. The normal admission price to Ephesus is 100 TL (AU$14).
I won't go into too much detail about everything at Ephesus as you can see what we saw in this week's video. There are two stand out highlights for me. The first was the biggest amphitheatre that we've ever seen with seating for 24,000 spectators. And the second was the amazingly intact and well preserved façade of the library of Celsus.
After wandering around for a few hours our stomachs told us it was time to eat and our feet told us it was time to sit down and rest. Wandering out of the main entrance and past the parked cars a Turkish man directed us to a bus stop and told us that the dolmuş to Selçuk would arrive in 10 minutes. The 5 minute trip to Selçuk cost 5 TL (AU$0.70) each.
We wandered in the general direction of Selçuk town centre and seated ourselves at a table of a random restaurant. We ordered a couple of fizzy waters, 2 beers and 2 Adana kebabs. After we'd eaten I commented to the restaurant owner that we'd been in Turkey for two years and tried many Adana kebabs but his was the tastiest we'd ever had. He smiled a happy smile and said that the key was to always use the freshest ingredients.
After lunch we got on another dolmuş which took us back to Kuşadasi and weary but satisfied we climbed aboard A B Sea and chilled out for the remainder of the afternoon.
Also in this week's video we talk about our boat insurance costs and why we changed from a UK insurer to a Turkish insurer.
Plus, thanks to a helpful tip from one of our subscribers, we apply a small fix to our head sail furling drum. Check it all out from the link below and remember to click the like button, leave a comment and subscribe if you haven't already.
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Follow the link to watch the video that accompanies this blog click here.