Today’s Efes day. Ok, Efes is Turkish for Ephesus. And the beer tastes like Tiger, but much cheaper. Waking up in Urkmez Hotel is like all other days; Jo’s alarm goes off, Kiat’s alarm goes off, my alarm goes off and I wake up while the other 2 laze in bed. Wow. They didn’t have long to laze, we have got a breakfast to go to. Heex.
Urkmez breakfast up in the terrace is something supposed worth looking forward to. And it is. The terrace itself, on the rooftop, holds only a few tables for some 10 people to have breakfast. And we got seats in the wonderful sun. The view spans from hilltops where House of Virgin Mary is located to the Selcuk castle and St John basilica on the other side. A good start to the morning, compared to 4 white walls. Breakfast is Turkish traditional. However, the manager made an omelette for us instead of hard boiled duck eggs. And he complemented it with a lovely fruit plate to give breakfast a nice, sweet end. It is undoubtedly the best breakfast we had, even better than Kalendar’s breakfast. Woot.
We told the manager where we were up to next, and he offered a free service into Ephesus. Wow. We were led to a carpet shop, where the owner actually collaborates with Urkmez like brother hotels to provide collective services for their customers. Ok, it sounds like we were duped into the shop, for me and Jo bought cushion covers for 5 YTL each. Being hand made, the needle work and patching are more coarse than usual. But that’s evident of handcraft itself. 5 YTL is pretty decent I guess.
The ride into Ephesus is a breeze. 10 minutes of on-road sightseeing overseeing plains and agricultural fields. But alighting from the vehicle is a nightmare. Stalls and shops lined the road, with locals all too eager to show you their wares and looking forward to digging to the bottom of your pocket. Ouch.
At the ticket office, we sought to use our trump card again, the ISICs. But this time round, it didn’t work. Despite the notice that says foreign students get free entry into Ephesus, the officials deny it all. So those of you who is going to Ephesus, maybe let me just remind you that top attractions like Ephesus give students no chances. Only less known ones like Bodrum castle and Mausoleum of Halicarnassus can close one eye on us. Haiz. What the hell. And the worst thing is, this attraction is expensive. 10 YTL. A hole in the pocket no doubt. But on account that we saved 15 YTL on the free entries, let it be.
Entering Ephesus like the troops of Korean and Japanese tourists holding big umbrellas, we can’t help feeling sorry for the sun being treated like a nemesis. It’s beautiful sun, and we appreciate it after getting grey gloomy skies in London for months. Ouch. And this is the start of our loathing for such tourists. To tell it simply, they and their umbrellas spoil pictures. In the end, me and Jo were challenging to take pictures without people in them. Or at the very least, without umbrellas. Ha.
I must say, Ephesus is a well preserved city. It reminds me of the ancient city in Rome. But here, there’s no one to rip it of its white marble. That’s the bare minimum respect people have of their history I guess. The contrast with the brown barebones of Roman ancient city as well as its glorified Monument of Vittorio Emmanualle is huge. Here, I feel less of the sadness. I could only feel how majestic it would have been had the city been still existing now, less the urbanisation of vehicles and communications. At peace and at ease. That’s it.
To make full use of the 10 YTL that we painfully paid for, me and Kiat had decided to do the unforgettable. We started climbing towards the top of every higher ground, taking photos where no others would have similar ones of like those in postcards. And I assure you, taking these photos are much more memorable that normal ones. For all the buzz about making us pay for our entry, there were actually no guards or working personnel within the compound. It seems like Ephesus is nothing but a money raking fluke for the Turks. Well, there are lots of no entry places with chains up and the red no-entry signs. But unwilling to concede to these stupid signs, and to make our 10 YTL worth its value, we started trespassing. Believe me, the excitement is worth it.
Entering forbidden areas where it’s relatively more dangerous to walk and climb has its value. In our cameras, we embed spectacular views and perspectives that we doubt any other umbrella holding tourist out there possess. But what’s more spectacular is that Jo followed us through the vegetation and rocks on her slippers. You hear that? Slippers that she only wear in her room back there in LSE Bankside Residence is now equipping her with the ability to trespass into forbidden lands. No doubt she’ll get a burn mark from the sun on her feet, but Jo, you don’t mind the memory right? Do treasure your slippers! Sometimes I just feel ashamed that while this sister of mine is in slippers, I was climbing in Clarks Gore-Tex boots. Maybe I should have gone barefooted. But nah, too late.
The most unforgettable climb would be in towards the end. After visiting the Grand Theatre which was very much a disappointment with all the fencing and a gigantic crane, we followed the path to the former harbour. It says so in my map anyway. And no prizes for guessing what’s in our way: another no-entry sign. And to hell with it, we were in the forbidden zone in no time. Walking along the gravel path with folk songs to accompany us, it feels like a holiday all over again without the disgusting tourists. Ok, you may argue that we are tourists too. But at least we don’t brandish ugly looking umbrellas, we’re out to get a good tan in the good old sun.
The funny thing about this former harbour is that there seems to be no sign of water anywhere we turn. This former harbour may well be a former seaside city as well. Now lands abound east and west. But actually, Ephesus is indeed a marine city. But I guess the sea retreated over the few thousand years. Here, we found city buildings where the stones in the wall looks like its about to topple off and end its misery. And this is where me and Kiat decide we would wanna have a final go. In the end, it was easier to see him out at the peak on the pillar than to see a red me beside a taller pillar. And putting on the red Bodrum T-shirt that says Hotel Kalendar does not make it any better. Ha. I’m like a walking advertisement. Well, maybe they did deserve to be recommended. As I like it.
Beyond Ephesus is the famed 3km walk back to Selcuk. Basically, out of Ephesus, you’ll come to the touristy market selling souveniors and ‘genuine fake watches’. I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry, for Kiat saw the same thing and was trying to decipher if he should believe the word ‘genuine’ or ‘fake’. In the end, he had a picture of that for keepsake. Ha. I think the most characteristic feature to look out for is the bus bay cum carpark. It doesn’t only park cars, but also horse carriages with handsome breeds munching at tasty tall grasses. We had to follow the path of approximately 1km out of this place, then follow by the 3km walking route along the main road. It’s a Sunday, and the Turks can be seen taking children out for picnics and such. Heart warming and nice, it reminds me of how my mum used to take me out for walks when I was much younger. But somehow, I’m glad I grew out of my childish stubbornness that was much characteristic of my behaviour then.
Ephesus was our pre-determined last stop in Selcuk, and we decided to proceed with Izmir next. We gathered our backpacks from the hotel reception, which very kindly kept for us. On reaching the bus station, we went back to the Metro uncle who offered his help yesterday. And the coach ride to Izmir is surprisingly cheap. we expected some 10+ YTL, but the final price was 6 YTL each. Woooo.
The ride wasn’t too long either. But on reaching the bus station, our worst nightmare started. You see, the Izmir bus station wasn’t exactly the most strategic place in Izmir. It’s a good 1.5km off the main activity area, which is the Basmane (pronounced as Bas-ma-ni) train station. And that’s where our next hotel is as well. We took 1 hour to find out where to take the free shuttle service to the area, but guess what? We missed the stop! Being 1st timers in Izmir, we know shit about the place and the driver didn’t even had the helpfulness to take note of our destination. For one thing, people in Izmir doesn’t even care to speak English. That shows how isolated this place was from tourism. And to think that this place has the International Expo is an absurd idea. How do you promote trade without even educating the public in basic words of one of the world’s most commonly spoken language? Luckily, there’s a young man who came to know of our trouble with the wrong stops, and managed to negotiate a free ride to Basmane for us instead.
That isn’t the end of the nightmare, for goodness sake. The hotel which we went to, Guzel Izmir, deserves our worst rating despite being the most expensive up to now. 14 euros a night compared to 7 euros in Selcuk and Bodrum is daylight robbing. The receptionist, whom I presume is also the manager, doesn’t understand a single word of English at all. And for the 1st time in Turkey, I had to resort to sign language. Finally, I used the guide book to read to them the name of the airport, and then try to convey that we need a cab to the airport at a particular time. After all the shit that we had to go through, he seems to finally understand.
I do not wish to write down what further shit we had to go through in Izmir. It’s a terrible experience, and all I can say is fellow travellers out there who wanna pay Izmir a visit, it’s a bad idea. It’s the worst city I’ve ever experienced in my travels up till now.
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