15 December ’04, Wednesday. We couldn’t find a campground last night, so we opted for a gas station. Now we have had some varying stays at gas stations and this one was another story. It was a story only because it was really cold outside and they said no to us using the electricity, even though I offered money to off set the cost. Well anyway, we absolutely froze before we got to bed. Now when we did get into bed, and it was early (8:30 of so), we went in fully dressed PLUS… I mean it was COLD !!! Sleeping was good, and we both got a good nights sleep, but getting out of bed this morning…well, that was tough. We got underway even before breakfast or, even washing our face. We wanted the heater on and we wanted it on NOW !!! We drove for about an hour and then stopped in the SUN !!!, washed up, made coffee, and had breakfast…all nice and warm. I forgot to mention, we had made it to the parking lot of the ruins of Troy (Truva). When we pulled in, there was a tour bus already there and unloaded. By the time we were just finishing up breakfast, the bus was loaded and pulling out…we were now the only ones there. This winter traveling and sightseeing has it’s pluses and minuses. The weather has continued to stay..bright sun in the morning to night, COLD to start the day and warming till you step out into the wind and then you recognize that the sun coming through the window has fooled you again…it is still COLD !! So we bundle up again like Eskimos.
Everything we have read about Troy has said that it is a very confusing site to go through. Well, they were right. It seems that there has been so many cities built on top of the other, that they kind of blend one into the other. Also there is no prominent rebuilt area that just stands out. The only prominent thing that stands is the Trojan Horse that an Italian architect thought the wooden horse might have looked like. This is the most photographed item on the site, and every shop for miles around is selling a 2” replica to as much as a 6’ wooden horse. The drawings from the site do have some merit to them, but even those are “educated guessing”. It is too bad that the governments of all the countries can’t pool together the finances to fully, or a close as possible, complete one of two of the most important ruins in each of these countries. What a marvelous thing that would be. Off to Greece or as close as we can get before it gets dark on us. Well, we got as close as 5km or about 1 mile and we pulled into another gas station for the night. This one had electricity for us so we can use our heater tonight….mmmmm.

14 December ’04, Tuesday. On the road this morning and heading north. We will visit Pergamum at Bergama and then head on. We will have a fairly long drive up to Izmir and then head up the coast about another 45 minutes to Bergama. The last time we were in Bergama, we were with Bonnie and Doug and we needed to find a bank-o-matic…no one had any money and it was dinner time. Well, we found the cash and we had our dinner. Today we have a little money left so we passed the machine and headed for the top of the hill. Pergamum is high on the hill overlooking the valley and Bergama. In the glory days of Pergamum, all the valley area’s now were the sea and sea ports. Pergamum was a large city of about 15,000 people immediately in the city area and many more spread out in the hills below. The site is laid out pretty well, but as far as the ruins… there is very little rebuilt. It does have a fairly large amount of columns standing and they have cross members on most of them. Other than that, you have some foundations, books, information boards, and your imagination. The weather today was sunny, windy and cold as heck up on top. The way were dressed, you would think we were looking at some ruins in the farthest north of Alaska instead of Turkey. The drive back down the hill and into Bergama was really interesting in it’s self. The streets and the roads were very narrow and as we approached the town the buildings came right up to the side of the van. The buildings are very old and give you the feel that there has been a community here for a long time. In fact Bergama (Pergamum) has continually been occupied since 3000 BC. That is a long time… As we pulled into town there is a large brick ruin right next to the road…The Red Basilica. In Revelations, St John he Divine wrote that this was one of the seven churches of the Apocalypse, singling it out as the throne of the devil. It has a hole in the podium in the center which allowed someone to hide and appear to speak through the large cult statue. This was originally a temple to the Egyptian gods in the 2 century AD. Tomorrow…on the road to Troy

13 December ’04, Monday. 41 degrees, my feet are freezing, and I’ve got to find that heater fast ! That was first thing this morning and then it was fried eggs, toast, and coffee for breakfast. A quick wash up of the dishes, re-pack the van for travel and head off for our second visit to Ephesus. We visited Ephesus in October when Bonnie and Doug were here with us, but it had so much to see and offer, we decided that we had to make another visit while we were close. Kuºadasi is just 15 km away, so it was an easy morning ride. Just a little recap: Ephesus is among the best places in the world to get a feel for what life was like in Roman times. This time we started out where we finished and made an afternoon of it. As we passed the gymnasium of Vedius (2nd Century AD) we came upon “Harbour Street” which ran from the bay to the “Grand Theatre”. Last time we were here, Harbour Street was closed (this time someone had removed some of the tape) but today we wondered all the way to the end. The “Grandest Street” in Ephesus was all large marble slabs that were laid out to make this wide street very impressive to say the least. There were shops along the sides a nymphaeum (fountain and pool) and the triumphal columns that all added to make this a grand site for it’s visitors and merchants. When we made it to the end we found a path that we followed through some tall weeds and plants and then right in front of us we came across The Church of Mary (or the double church). It wasn’t one the list of places to visit as they had it kind of “out of bounds”, but we just happened to find it through the “back door”. This was the find of the day as far as I was concerned. It was wonderful. As you come through one of the entries, you are met with a large “Baptismal”…it is absolutely stunning. Then, we saw some of the first signs of “Christianity”, a cross. We have been in a lot of ruins in Turkey and have only seen but a few. This church definitely had some to show. As we wondered further into the ruins, we came across the “Baptism Pool”. It was set in a 6 or 8 sided room with a rectangular pool in the center. Steps led down into the water from each end. At each wall around the pool was a large cross carved into the slab marble walls. Louise mentioned that “this would be a wonderful church to have a wedding in”,just as it stands today, and it would. In our tracking through the undergrowth, we came across a young man who was hunting for mushrooms. He said that during the summer he worked at the Ephesus site as a digger for the researchers. He was telling us about his work and his young family with 2 children and how hard it was to keep food and clothes on their back during the winter, and that is why he was out hunting for mushrooms. He was showing us some special locations that we might normally miss and then we were saying our good-bye’s and he dug out this little sack. In the sack he shook out about 6 or 7 coins. “I find these coins when I dig, and the museums have so many of them, they don’t want to give us anything for them any more”….”I need the money for my kids, and I will make a offer to you…” Wellll, we bought some….you know, we had to help. After we left, we were heading down the road and Louise was reading out of one of our travel books, and she comes up with this; At Ephesus, you may be approached to buy “ancient coins”, which, despite their grimy appearance, are actually modern. Some genius discovered that when coins pass through the digestive tract of a sheep or cow, them emerge looking convincingly aged….WHAT ??? Why that dirty…WHAT DID WE PAY ???? I’m going back to find him !!! Well, we knew that someday, someone would get to us, and it might as well have been him…you know, he’s got these kid’s…

12 December ’04, Sunday. For the first night in “Bumble Bee” for a month, we both slept great !!! It was good to get back “home”. We stayed in bed until just before 9 and then we almost tossed a coin to see who was going to get up, start the heater and make coffee…I lost. The van is so small, it doesn’t take much for it to warm up (also to cool down as there isn’t much insulation to hold the heat in…). After a great cup or two of coffee and a warm breakfast we headed out to explore Kuºadasi. Kuºadasi is a town of about 50-60,000 and is right on the Aegean Sea. In the summer it is a huge cruise ship destination. A few real good ruins are not too far away, and the water front is all set up to handle the souvenirs and the beaches that they may be looking for. It is amazing how many 1960 Chevy Impalas here that are used for taxi services for them. Stretching out into the sea, but tied to the mainland by a causeway, is a well taken care of fortress that dates from the 16th century. There is a wonderful walk all around the grounds that is taken in by all the locals on a Sunday like this one…sunny, and a little cool (about 65 degrees). For us, we took most of the day with a long walk out to the island, then around the boardwalk, and through the “Bazaar” area where we sat and had a very nice lunch. Finishing, we headed back to the campground and off to the showers before they cool off too much. The best time for showering is about 3 in the afternoon as the sun has had a chance to warm the solar panels and stored enough of the water to keep it hot long enough to really enjoy a little pampering.

11 December ’04, Saturday. 10:10am and we were saying our “Good-bye’s” to our friends in Yalikavak. The last 30 days have really been a great addition to our journey and it wouldn’t have been the same if it weren’t for the people of Yalikavak and everyone else we have met in Turkey. I have said it once and I will say it again…”You’ve just got to take the time to visit Turkey if you haven’t yet been here !!! Of course there are always regrets, and ours is that we didn’t have a chance to visit the eastern end of Turkey… maybe some other time. Even though we have just left our friends, we have just finished one heck of a exciting day. The sun has been with us all day, but it has been cool and the wind has certainly made its appearance. I think it topped out about 65 and with the wind about 40 degrees. Other than that, we had a grand time. All the sites that we visited today, we were there by ourselves…no lines, no one standing in line of site for your picture taking, and no peddlers. We visited 4 sites and the total admission was 16 million Turkish lire ($11.00US). Our first stop happened just by chance…as we were heading down the highway towards Didyma, Louise just happened to see some Roman ruins along side of the road. Then she let out this “Hold it…Turn around !!!” Back in the woods there was a wonderful series of pillars standing high, and she wanted to see them. Euromos… The remains consist of 15 tall columns and some look like they were never completed. Most were fluted totally and others were partially or not at all. This was a temple that changed deities more than once. With the coming of the Greeks and then the Roman culture. The Romans worshiped the God of Zeus here. This was constructed by Mausolus in the periods of 376-353 BC. Mausolus was the King who moved the capitol to Bodrum and built the enormous white marble tomb for himself in Bodrum that we wrote about late last month. The remainder of the city is found further up and down the hill, but we opted not to explore any further as there apparently isn’t much left to see except a lot of ruins spread all through the olive trees now occupying the land.

Our second stop was Didyma. Didyma was the site of the stupendous temple to Apollo. Apollo has had a number of great temples dedicated to him, and we have had a chance to see at least 4 or 5 of them here in Turkey. This site was managed and lived in by the priests who specialized in oracular management. This temple was originally destroyed by the Persians in 494BC and then reconstructed by Alexander the Great. The temple porch held 120 huge columns with richly carved bases. Also there is a huge head of Medusa (she with the snake hairdo). There are two covered ramps that lead down into the court where the oracule sat and prophesied after drinking from the sacred spring…we can only speculate as to what the water contained to make the prophesies possible. Didyma is a very large site, but as the day goes along, we will see others that will make it look small in comparison. The enormous diameters of the columns, and the height of them was spectacular. You keep asking your self…”How Do They Do That ???”. The stone carvings of Medusa, the small details around the walls, the faces of cattle, and on and on…beautiful work even if it were done today with all the modern machinery and tools that we have available. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have a digital camera with me. If I had to make this journey with a “film camera”, I would either be broke and have to head home now or I just wouldn’t be able to take all the photos. I don’t know if you have any interest in the galleries, but I just keep filling the pages up. I feel I probably have too many pictures there, but I only keep about 1 or of 15 or 20 that I take.

Miletus (Milet)…the great theatre rises up to meet you as you approach. This is just the beginning of a grand city from the 7th century BC to the 7th century AD. This was a grand harbor city that unfortunately lost it’s harbor by it being filled up with silt, and the commerce dropped right off the cliff and dwindled to nothing. The theatre was originally a Hellenistic building, but the Romans reconstructed it extensively during the 1st century and it held about 15,000 people in the seats. As we walked out of the theatre, we saw ruins in every direction we looked. This was a huge city… The remains of the harbor, called Lion Bay after the stone statues of lions that guarded it. The Agaras, the vast Baths of Faustina, constructed for Emperor Marcus Aurelius’ wife. It was interesting, when we were visiting the Pergamum Museum in Berlin, we saw the “Northern Gateway to the Southern Agora” that was originally from this site. It was not only extremely beautiful, but is was so large it was another one of those questions…”How did they get it here ???).

Priene…an important city from 300 BC. It was definitely smaller than Miletus (Milet) and it didn’t have the importance of Miletus either. The advantage to this was, the buildings did not vanish beneath the newer Roman ones. Of the buildings that remain, the 5 standing columns of the Temple of Athena, designed by Pythius of Halicarnassus. The Priene site sits high on a hill looking out over the flat plains which once were the back waters for Miletus and are now plowed fields of agriculture and the Aegean Sea far off in the distance. The Priene is interesting, but what will probably stick with me most, is the setting of the ruins beneath the steep Mt. Mykale and, the finely carved front row seats for VIP’s in the Grand Theatre. Who else in history sat right there in that very seat that I just sat in ???? By the way, it was still warm…
The day was a full one and it is getting to the hour that we had better start looking for our next “camp-site”. Ralph and Susan from Calgary has emailed us about a campground that they stayed in at Kuºadasi which was about 35 minutes away. It was about 3:30pm then, and the sun just doesn’t last too long this time of year. As we pulled into Kuºadasi, we were surprised as to it’s size. Finding that campground just could be a bigger challenge that I had wanted for the first day out. According to them and our book, it was about 1 km north of the marina, now to find the marina. We took a left…after about 20 minutes, we found we were wrong on that decision, so back to that same intersection and go right. As luck would have it, we did find a campground and just as it was getting dusk, we were able to plug in. After setting up we walked into town and went looking for something to eat. Today was a GREAT DAY, and it continued through dinner. We had a wonderful Turkish dinner and it didn’t cost us an arm and a leg either. The atmosphere was good, service wonderful and the food…wow…

7 December ’04, Tuesday. What started out as just another sunny day in Yalikavak, ended up with even more. We were out of bed by 8:30, had a great breakfast and walked down the stairs to see Emrah for a Turkish Shave. Now, I’ve mentioned getting a Turkish shave before, but every time I have one it makes the last one less memorable. For me, it is like….well, close anyway, maybe…well, not quite that good…but you’ve got to try one. One of the benefits of being in a small village is you get to meet a lot of people really quickly. If you haven’t met them, you still know them by reputation or rumor. Anyway, the other day when I was in to see Emrah for a haircut (shave) and a shave, I was introduced to Hakký (Hacurr). It just so happens that he gets a double shave (head and face) every third day, and there I was in the chair getting mine. Hakký is about 26-30 and is one of the lead crew members on a 75’ yacht here in Yalikavak. His boat is registered in Istanbul and is a beautiful craft sitting out here at the marina. Anyway, he invited us out for a tour after lunch. Louise, Emrah and I were on our way. Hakký was waiting for us at the gangplank and made us feel as if we were “the honored guests” about ready to leave for an extended cruise. We toured the boat from top to bottom, stern to bow…it was and is “BEAUTIFUL”. We were also entertained by an electronic grand piano while we enjoyed “Cay” ( (Chee) Turkish Tea) and a long talk. Then, we had to get back to the apartment, because Emrah was preparing a sit down dinner for Louise and me. This dinner was absolutely wonderful, and he had prepared it all on his own, under pressure of time and business demands (his shop was still open and he was “on call”). We ate until we were ready to burst and then Emrah and I had to leave for a soccer match in which Hakký was playing. This match was played on one of these soccer fields that is enclosed in a fence. It was a good time. The team Hakký plays with, was right on, and finished the game with a score of 9-0. Hakký scored 3 of the 9 goals. It was a good game, and the opposing team was better than the score showed. Tomorrow…more of the same….