Turkey here I come!
So this month I had to go to Turkey
to attend a workshop on Leadership. I was pretty excited about going to an
exotic nation like Turkey. I haven’t been to Turkey. I heard a lot about her
but never crossed my mind to visit Turkey. So I got my flight from New Delhi to
Istanbul, than I found another domestic flight from Istanbul to Izmir. I booked
with Turkish Airline. Flight to Turkey wasn’t that bad expect that it was
delayed by 2 hours so I missed my domestic flight to Izmir. I learnt something
from this experience. Always book your domestic flight in one single booking. I
made two separate booking with two different airline. If I had booked with a
single booking with one airline, they would have put me in the next connecting
flight. I had to rebook another seat and thankfully I found a seat within an
hour of my arrival. So I landed in Izmir.
Since my workshop was for only 7
days, I thought I took a week holiday in Turkey since I am paying a lot on
travels. I found some affordable accommodation In Izmir. It was very near to
Basmane Railway Station. I was only 200 meters. There is a train from Izmir
Airport to Basmane Railway station and it cost like 4.50T. I was really
surprised that there was hardly any signs or directions in English. I heard
Izmir is quite a touristic place. So finally I made my way to my hotel. Thanks
to google map, the hotel was exactly where it was pinned on google map. Rooms
was quite small, but who cares. It was affordable, within my budget, quite
close to railway station and in the city.
Avoid Private Tours
There are many historical sites in
turkey. Izmir is a metropolitan city in the western extremity of Anatolia. it
is one of the most westernised cities in turkey. The ancient city Smyrna was is
the old name for Izmir. There are many private tours available. Your hotel can
arrange one for you. However, getting around turkey or Izmir is quite easy. I
found it is more economical to travel on your own and see these sites. All you
need to do is do your research.
Some places I went to see
o
Ancient
Theatre of Smyrna
o
Residence
of St Polycarp
o
The
Agora of Smyrna
o
Clock
Tower [Konak District]
o
The
Kemeralti Bazaar [Kadifekale]
o
St
John’s Church
o
Bergama
[Aegean]
o
Ephesus
[Selcuk]
o
St
John Church [Selcuk]
o
Church
of Mother Mary [Selcuk]
o
Gulf
of Izmir
o
Saat
Kulesi
o
Luna
Park
o
etc
In general, travel
costs in Turkey are highest in Istanbul in April-May and September-October;
and at Turkish beach resorts in July and August; lowest
in the small towns of eastern Turkey, and off-season
Ephesus [Efes]
Take the train from Basmane Octogar
to Selcuk 4.50T. From Selcuk walk to the city center and you will find Dolmus
[Mini Vans]. You can ask anyone which Domus goes to Ephesus or Efes as the
locals call it. It will cost 2 TL. Entrance fee is 35 TL which includes entry
to the Efes Museum in Selcuk City too. You can spend a good 3 hours in Ephesus
ruins. My total cost was 50 TL [$20 US]. Private Tours could have cost me more
than $125 US. Selcuk also has a market every Saturday. Nothing much to see at
the market but if you have nothing to do, I guess it will be fine.
While visiting Ephesus, make your way
to the Efes Museum in Selcuk. The museum is about 100 meters where you board
the Dolmus to go to Ephesus. Since if you have paid 35 T your entry fee is included
for both Ephesus and the Efes Museum
 |
| Efe Ruins - slideshow |
Some unique attractions at Ephesus
· Temple of
Artemis.
·
Great Theater
·
Harbor Street (Arcadian
Way)
·
Marble Way
·
Brothel
·
Library of Celsus
·
Curetes Way
·
Hillside Houses (Yamaç
Evleri)
·
Temple of Hadrian
·
Gate of Hercules
·
Odeon
Signage at Ephesus is simply terrible (compare the far
better signage at Aphrodisias), which no doubt promotes the sale of guidebooks, audio tours and the services of
human guides, all of which are
available at both entrances. Quality of
human guides varies from guide to guide, but most are entertaining and
informative. The books are mostly pretty expensive for what you get. Some are
not very informative.
Selcuk – Efes Museum
The Ephesus Museum (Efes Müzesi) in the town of Selçuk holds the best of the archaeological
objects excavated at Ephesus, a few artefacts
from Ephesus's great Temple of Artemis, and finds from some of the many other
significant ancient Hellenic, Hellenistic and Roman cities in the region.
The Ephesus Museum (Efes Müzesi) is open every day
from 08:30 am to 17:30 (5:30 pm), but ticket sales stop at 17:00 (5:00 pm).
Admission costs 10 TL but if you buy ticket for both the Ephesus Ruins and Efes
Museum – total cost is 35 TL. You save 5 TL for coffee later on.
Selcuk – Church of St John
The impressive ruins of the Byzantine
Church of St John mark the spot where St
John the Evangelist was buried. The church is on the slopes of Ayasoluk
Hill near the center of Selcuk (the town next to Ephesus), just
below the fortress.
St
John is
believed to have spent the last years of his life in Ephesus writing his
version of the Gospel. Emperor Justinian (527-565 AD) believed that a tomb
dating from the 300s was John's, so he built a great church
above it in the 500s.
In later centuries the ruined church was pillaged for building materials, but restoration allows you to see its extent and to imagine its beauties.
 |
| St John Church - Slide Show |
Selcuk – Home of Mother Mary
Legend has it that the Virgin Mary lived her last days on earth in a small stone cottage on Mount
Koressos (Bülbüldağı, "Nightingale Mountain" in Turkish) to the south of Ephesus.
This would be appropriate, as Ephesus was the ancient world's center of worship for the Anatolian Mother Goddess for millennia, since Hittite times. Mary followed in the footsteps of Cybele and her forebears.
Meryemana ("Mother Mary"), as the place is called, is located in a municipal park on the mountaintop 9 km (5.6 miles) from Selcuk, 5.5 km from the Upper Gate entrance to the Ephesus archaeological site
 |
| House of Mother Mary |
Bergema (ancient
Pergamum)
Pergamum (or Pergamon) was an important kingdom during the second century BC,
having grown from a city-state captured by Alexander the Great.
Upon Alexander's death in 323 BC, his generals fought for control of the
parts of his empire. Lysimachus
took command of the Aegean coast, but was killed in 281 BC, leaving Pergamum in
the control of Philetarus the Eunuch,
who used Lysimachus's treasure to increase his power.
Take the train from Basmane towards
Aliaga [Cost 4.50T]. Aliaga is the last stop. At the Aliaga Railway station
purchase a bus ticket to Bergema [Cost 4.50T]. It is wise to buy a return
tickets for this journey. The bus will take you to Bergema and back. There is
also a National Museum in Bergema. It is also worth visiting. There are buses
going up to the Old Bergema city [Cost 2T]. Bergema like Ephesus is ancient
ruins as recorded in the New Testament Bible. You can also look around Bergema
city. Make sure you ask the driver where to catch the bus to Aliaga Railway
Station. There are many bus going to Aliaga Railway station. If you are not
careful, you might end up paying double fare.
Ten first impressions on Turkey
1. Turkish people enjoy olives for
breakfast
2. Many Turkish meals comes with bread
3. Many Turkish people smoke cigarettes
4. Many restaurant and fast food outlet
provides free internet
5. Turkish people are good sales person
[Nearly everyone has the same sale dialogue, lol]
6. Turkish loves football [Soccer]
7. Turkish are hospitable people
8. There are cheaper ways to visit
historical sites [avoid private tours]
9. Turkish people find it difficult to
read maps
10. Turkish coffee is the most expensive
coffee I ever drank [20ml costing 6T].
Ten highlights of my visit to
Turkey
1. Visiting New Testament city Ephesus
2. Visiting New Testament city Bergema
3. Visiting New Testament city Symrna
4. Visiting St John’s Basilica in Selcuk
5. Visiting the House of Polycarp
6. Visiting the house of Mother Mary
7. Visiting the coast and Gulf of Izmir
8. Visiting the Kemeralti Bazaar [Izmir]
9. Visiting John’s Coffee in Selcuk.
They make good coffee
10. Visiting Saat Kulesi
Smyrna
Smyrna was the second city to receive a letter from the apostle John in the book of Revelation. Acts 19:10 suggests that the church there was founded during Paul's journey. Due to the fact that the port city of Izmir houses the second largest population in Turkey today, the site of ancient Smyrna has been little excavated. Excepting the agora, theatre, and sections of the Roman aqueduct, little remains of the ancient city.
Smyrna sat 35 miles north of Ephesus, built near the ruins of an ancient Greek colony destroyed in the 7th century BC. Lysimachus, one of Alexander the Great’s generals, rebuilt Smyrna as a new Hellenistic city in the 3rd century BC. The city was later established as a Roman commercial center with a port on the Aegean Sea. Scholars believe the city grew to about 100,000 by the time of the apostles Paul and John
Now these were some highlights of my visit to
Turkey. Now I am off to Kusadasi …
