Selçuk and Kaş

Above: The library at Ephesus, a well-preserved Hellenistic/Roman/Byzantine city in southwestern Turkey. You can get an idea of the hordes of tourists here. It makes it feel like it's a still-inhabited real city. And then below: A bored tour guide from a day-trip for one of the big Mediterranean cruises standing around in the heat tapping his fingers on a column probably worth more than the lives of him and his entire family.

Mare and I spent the last couple of days in Selçuk which is near Ephesus before heading down to Kaş where we are now. The bus trip on this leg was only 8 hours, which was a relief, since the previous bus leg from Istanbul to Selçuk was brutal. I think this was mostly because it had been overnight, so there were surreal ferry crossings of the Marmara and what seemed like 800 different bus stations. Contrary to what life is like in America, the bus is a great way to get around inter-city Turkey. The middle class uses it all the time, and since trains have never really caught on here, it's the way to go. Also, cars are sort of a luxury item and the mountains and narrow roads here are treacherous which makes trusting the driving to someone else make more sense for folks. It's pretty funny to get beverage and snack service on long distance bus rides though. In many respects, the services are better than on American plane rides (albeit, obviously longer trips for shorter distances).

Anyway, we toured the big ruins of Ephesus, no longer inhabited now for various reasons, one of which is the silting up of their harbor. This place is also earthquake-heaven, so that may be another reason why people left in addition to the fact that the Seljuk Turk influx probably really overturned the area quite a bit in the late 11th century. The basilica where supposedly St. John the Apostle also died and is buried was crushed by several earthquakes as well. Although, oddly, the home where supposedly the Virgin Mary last lived on top of a local mountain is untouched and looks very well reconstructed, er, preserved.

Below: A wall outside the Mary House where locals (and foreigners) tie a bit of string or other tie-able refuse for a wish. Some tourists were genuflecting inside the house too - sweet.

Kaş is a big resort town, but the views are tremendous, since most of the town is built up the side of a mountain, and it's a good center from which to tour ruins for the local pre-Roman Lycian ruins. Yesterday, we spent all day on a boat cruising around the under-water Lycian ruins of the Kekova area. Great way to spend the day, snorkeling and swimming, and hanging out on the water catching rays. There were a few Turkish folks and a Russian couple on the boat as well, so everyone got to know each other a bit in broken English when not using their native languages. Naturally the Russian guy wore a Speedo. Why is this necessary?

The mezes - small Turkish dishes similar in nature to tapas (developed apparently by the Ottoman Sultans after studying their Persian predecessors who made their servants taste small amounts of their food before they did - in case the food was poisoned) - have been excellent wherever we have gone. One particularly good place in Selçuk also served this terrific irmik helvasi dessert. Sugar, milk, butter, semolina, pine nuts.