Road Trip
We started out early this morning (as Angela so likes to do). At 7:00 am, the rental car we arranged for today arrived at the hotel, and after a few minutes of paperwork (written entirely in Turkish) we pick up our wheels. As we give it a quick once over to note existing damage, it’s hard to miss the custom paint job all along the driver’s side.
We hope to see a couple places today and the theory is we can do that faster on our own than if we arrange for seats on tours, which we would have to do over multiple days. Before getting on the highway however, we stop to experience one of the unique gifts of Turkey – $10 a gallon gas.
Our first stop is Pergamon, which lies about an hour north of Izmir and two hours from our hotel in Cesme (or, as it turns out, three if you get lost). As historical sites in Turkey go, it is less well known than Ephesus, but both of our guidebooks recommend it, so it seems like a worthwhile trip.
The actual site sits atop a hill that you get to by gondola, and in many respects, the location is as impressive as the city itself. On the summit though, there is no break from the weather, which is freakishly cold and windy, with some rain mixed in once in a while for good measure.
In general, sites like these have undergone far less restoration in Turkey than in other countries, so, while some structures have been partially rebuilt, much of what exists are just ruins of old buildings and foundations for what was once there. Overall, we find it interesting but not spectacular, a clear indicator of just how spoiled we have become.
Our next destination is Ephesus, which unfortunately sits about an hour south of Izmir. This has been on my list of places to see ever since we were in Greece, but after Pergamon, I’m a little nervous that it won’t live up to my expectations. I take it as a good omen though that by the time we arrive, the sky has cleared and the sun is shining brightly.
Even by our unrealistic standards, Ephesus is amazing. The site itself is huge, and while most of the buildings have long since collapsed or been destroyed (including the Temple of Artemis which was one of the original Seven Wonders), enough remain or have been restored to give a good sense for just how big it once was. Several of the main streets still exist, and it’s not hard to wander down the marble avenues and imagine how it looked as a vibrant city thousands of years ago.
For me, the two most fascinating buildings are the Grand Theater (the picture below is a stitched together panorama so looks better if you click it and blow it up to full size – for a sense of scale the tiny blue spec on the very left side is Angela), with its 44,000 person capacity (the largest in the ancient world), and the library, which in its day was the third largest in the world (after Alexandria and Pergamon). Even the community bathroom is interesting in its own weird way – a place where you could hike up your robes with 40 or so of your neighbors and catch up of the day’s gossip while taking care of your business.
By the time we drive back to Cesme it is almost 7:00 pm. We have no further need for the car, but there is still a bit of the $125 worth of gas we put in the tank left, so I feel morally obligated to drive aimlessly around town until we’re on fumes. My quest for value loses out to my innate laziness though, so we drop off our custom ride and head back to the hotel.
It was a good day, a despite the dodgy weather to start and several hours of driving, I’m happy with the result. There are only a few specific sights that we have left on our list (Pamukkale and Olympos) which we will tackle from Antalya once we move there in a few days.