One can never tire of a view over the white houses and Aegean Sea of Bodrum! After breakfast and a bit of school work we packed our day packs for an overnight adventure.
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| Down hill to the bus station in Bodrum |
We walked to the bus stop and bought our tickets for Soke (15 Lira each), boarded our Metrobus and off we went. Clear blue skies made the hills around Bodrum look even ore spectacular. The countryside is stunning. Each bay along the route had the same clear blue sea and we even saw some flamingos fossicking in the shallows. Very beautiful. There was a huge wind farm just outside of Soke.
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| Scene from the bus |
The Metro bus host did his morning tea rounds with drinks and biscuits. All very nice for a 2 hour journey! At Soke, we stopped for lunch and enjoyed pide with mince meat and cheese and a fresh salad for 6 Lira each.
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| Pide for lunch |
The next part of our trip was by two mini buses. The first bus to Kusadasi was a bit of a hoot. It was full and the driver and several passengers who came to his assistance finally fixed the broken sliding door and someone else pointed out to him that he'd left his toolbox outside! And we were on our way! The journey down to the coast was very pretty but there are gallons of hotels and water parks indicating summer invites crowds.
At Kusadasi, we changed buses again and filled up another minibus...guess they don't expect 5 extra people on their buses at this time of year ! As we approached Selcuk, the closest town to Ephesus, we just happened to glance over and see Ephesus Theatre built centuries ago for Greek plays. Luke recognised as "one like we saw the other day in Bodrum." On ancient history's door step again!
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| 14th century hammam or bath house |
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| Township of Selcuk in late afternoon sunlight |
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| Selcuk nestled at the foot of the hills |
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| "No. Pat. No! Don't sit on that! (Dr Suess) |
We arrived in Selcuk and promptly found the Tourist Information and very helpful staff there. Our hotel (181 Lira for adjoined family room), the Amazon Antique Hotel, was only a short walk away. Ruins are scattered everywhere and the town feels so old. The dwellings are ramshackle and quaint and the streets narrow.
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| Amazon Antique Hotel |
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| Kids' room at this very old hotel |
We checked into our rooms and set out for a walk before sunset. We wandered through the Isabey Canii (mosque). One of its minarets had been destroyed in an earthquake - a reminder of the geology/geography of this area. There have been a number of large earthquakes over time. We had a good look around and headed for town passing the Basilica of St John and the remains of a sensational aqueduct.
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| Arabic inscription |
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| Isabey Mosque |
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| Inside the mosque...it has survived many years including earthquake in 14 th Century |
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| One remaining minaret |
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| The Greeks have been here.. |
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| View from Mosque |
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| Drinking water and pool once supplied by aqueduct | | | |
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| Loving the ruins! |
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| Handstand dwarfed by aqueduct |
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| Aqueduct ruins going through the town |
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| Roman aqueduct with stork nest on top! |
Dinner was kebabs, the best yet, at a cute little cafe. We walked back in the dark to our hotel and buried ourselves in the warm rooms! Annika and I enjoyed drinking our ayram (buttermilk) and Karl bought what we thought was custard but turned out to be a lemony curdy drink!
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| Delicious dinner! |
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