The Incomprehensible Magic of Turkey: Fetiye and Ephesus

FETIYE and EPHESUS

Fetiye is a small town on the Mediterranean. It has...

Rocks

Feet

Naked feet

Long term boat parking

Water cars

Trees

Sand

More sand

Other trees

Ghost town. No ghosts though, so just… town. It was forcibly abandoned by Greek settlers around WWI. Sad… The whole thing is crumbling rocks being retaken by nature. Sad…

Hang-gliding. It only costs $30-40 so it’s a popular activity here. In high season there are supposedly whole flocks.

Fetiye is the main town, but there are many other beaches and attractions nearby, such as Butterfly Valley (the place with my feet hanging over the cliff) or Oludeniz (the place with the pale blue water). The dolmush (minibus) goes to most of these places and only costs $1-2.

Ephesus is an ancient town along the Mediterranean, in Western Turkey. It was once a major trade hub, and is one of the most historically important places in Western civilization. Razed and rebuilt by more people than I care to research, it has…

Cats

More cats

 

SO MANY CATS!

It’s got some old rocks and stuff

Lots of old stuff

There’s a murder-torium. Also used for plays. The people in the middle were having private conversations and I could hear every word. Great acoustics.

The coliseum was used for council meetings too. But most people just know it as a murder-torium, which supposedly sat over 20,000 people. Want to hear quotes from the movie, Gladiator? It’s all people say here.

There’s a high literacy rate in Ephesus

There’s this thing

Here’s another angle

It was actually a library, but archaeologists used to think it was a brothel for a long time. Oh, you naughty books…

If you want to visit Ephesus you'll take a bus to Aydin, then take an hour-long minibus to Selcuk. Get a hostel in Selcuk- Ephesus is only a ten minute mini-bus ride away. The entrance fee is about $10. Bring food in with you, because there are no restaurants inside, and there's only ONE bathroom. I went to the far side of the archaeological site, by another entrance and asked where the bathroom was- they said I had to go back to the other entrance on the opposite side. I pointed to the bathrooms right outside this gate and asked, "Can I use that one?" They said, "Sure, you can exit and use those bathrooms, but you'll have to buy another ticket to come back in." The old stuff is cool, but the new things... not so much.

Ephesus also has a tomb for St. John, the Apostle, and a graveyard for gladiators. I didn't see these things, however, because I had to run to the bathroom, and needed food. Plan your day accordingly. Don't miss things because the site was planned poorly.