It was either Selçuk or nearby Kusadasi as our next stop. We ended up going to the tiny sleepy town of Selçuk and I’m glad we did as Kusadasi sounded huge, touristy and expensive.  Selçuk has its own quiet charm and we were pretty quickly talked into staying one night longer here than we though we would.  Our hostel was so sweet, although missing an elevator and had far too many stairs.  It did have a gorgeous Golden Retriever that chilled in reception though, so all was well.  Selçuk was filled with tiny cafes and old men playing backgammon which seemed to be the most popular social sport.

We found a bus claiming to go out to the famous ruins of Ephesus, jumped on and ended up slightly stranded on the side of the motorway with a vague “It’s in that direction” from the bus driver.  This was by far, the hottest day we had ever had.  The road we walked up was also completely deserted and we were both a bit panicked by the extreme heat and the fact we were completely lost.  Finally, we found 3 old men sitting around chatting and saw us as a fantastic opportunity for business.  “I take you for horse and carriage ride, very cheap, half an hour”.  It wasn’t cheap and I have seen dead horses that looked happier than that one.  “Look at these old Roman coins, I found them in my garden!  Good price for you, I don’t take them to the museum, I keep them for you”.  I did stop and look at these for a bit and I think he was a bit surprised when I put them back in his hand and demanded to know how to get to Ephesus.  I ain’t falling for that shit.  Grudgingly, they pointed us in the right direction.

Somehow, we ended up at the gate finally and bought much iceblocks and cold water.  We decided to go for Ye Olde Audio Guide as we seemed to be some of the only people there who weren’t being lead round by an actual guide.  I don’t know how it happened, but I think we ended up walking it backwards as well.  It didn’t matter, it meant we had energy to climb the big amphitheatre at the beginning rather than struggle straight past it like other sweating tour groups.

The most beautiful part of Ephesus is the giant Library wall, which was covered in people sitting on its steps in the shade.  We sort of moved from shadow to shadow at this point and crept up behind other tour groups to listen to their guide.  Apparently, one of the more social places the Romans chilled in, was the multi-seated latrine that did have some sort of flowing water going through under it.  There were Roman baths next door, fountains and more theatres, the site was huge.

After seeing all we could, we ran back to the main entrance we were happily extorted by a taxi driver to take us back to our hostel.  Next up would be a day trip to Pamukkale, population: 2000.  Photo below of the beautiful Ephesus Library.

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