#11 Selcuk (Ephesus)

The next stop on our tour of turkey was Selcuk, the closest town to the ancient ruins of Ephesus. Selcuk itself is a lovely quiet town with a decent selection of restaurants and shops. We ate dinner in the main square with a view of some ancient arches which several large and loud storks now call home.

Storks chilling

Not very bright and early the day after arriving, we set off to see Efes. Opting out of the 5km walk from town to the top entrance (perhaps a little far in the 35 degree heat) we instead caught a dolmus to the lower entrance ( if ben hasn’t already covered this a dolmus is a minibus which for a few liras will drop or pick you up anywhere along it’s chosen route).

Efes easily tops the list of ruins we have visited so far. Whilst we had read and heard that they are the best surviving ruins on the Mediterranean we werent quite prepared for how extensive they are. Entire streets are still visible and you can get quite a good ides of the layout and feel of this city which some 50 000 people once called home.

View of the 500m walkway to the old pier

Looking back along the walkway

In our typical style we declined to do any official tour or audio guide and instead navigated our own way around, which although very cost effective, means I dont have very many official facts and figures to litter this post with. I can however give you a very detailed description of every piece of shade and point out several nice cool spots to sit down.

Em playing tour guide with preloaded iPad information

Much of what is visible today has been painstakingly reconstructed by archaeologists from the thousands of pieces of stone which litter the site. There are currently some archaeologists from Austria working on one side of the huge amphitheatre which dominates a large portion of Ephesus so I would guess that it will only improve in coming years as a place to visit.

Efes amphitheatre – pretty much the main attraction

The restored library

If any of you ever make it to Selcuk then also on your list of places to see will probably be the Church of the Virgin Mary, which is supposedly where Mary spent her last years, and the Temple of Artemis, though only a single pillar remains of what was once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. These sites however did not make it onto our list since a single pillar would likely have proved to be quite underwhelming, and there is no public transport to the Church of the Virgin Mary and we are above all else cheap and undeniably lazy (though in our defense, it was very hot).

Next stop, Fethiye and a much anticipated swim.