Travels in Turkey

Our walk on the St. Paul Trail.

Chapter 8: On to Ephesus

Day 8 Journal: Kusadasi

Friday                                      10/7/05

We arrived in Izmir at about 6:30 a.m. Jeff and Ang were able to sleep about 5 hours on the bus. We got off the bus and ate breakfast at the Peron Cafe. Ang ate a type of flaky cheese croissant and Jeff ate a salami, cheese, and ketchup sandwich (he thought he was ordering plain toast). We both had a cup of Çay. Our waiter was very friendly. We joked that he was a “Turkish Gentleman” according to his coworker.

Sisan tours was to meet us in Izmir to take us on our tour of Ephesus. We could not find them, so Jeff called them again. They sent our tour guide to find us and with our “Turkish Gentleman” waiter’s help Sisan tours found us. We all three got on a bus that took us to Selcuk, where we met a driver, who took us to Ephesus. 

Our tour guide (private tour — us and him) was very knowledgeable about Ephesus and we were able to learn a lot. 

From Ephesus we had lunch in a quiet and pretty little restaurant outside. We had salad with olive oil, salt and lemon juice dressing; yogurt with cucumber; orange-yellow paste salad; crispy pastries with cheese in the middle of them; and bread for starters. Then we had our meal: Turkish meatballs, chicken kabobs, grilled lamb, rice and peas, and tomato. Fruit (melon and white grapes with seeds) followed. 

We then stepped into the carpet school, which was right next to the restaurant. We were able to see how the Turkish carpets were made. Ang was even able to tie one knot on a carpet. We also saw how they unwind silk into  thread. Next we went into a room with many rolled carpets. The different carpets were unrolled and placed on the floor in front of us. A salesman explained the differences between different types of Turkish carpets. Jeff and Ang were able to walk bare footed on the carpets to feel the difference in the types of carpets on our feet. 

We talked about buying a carpet and ended up buying a carpet that Jeff was able to barter down to $675 from about $900. Ang was freaking out about paying that much for a rug, but later realized that it was fine. 

From the carpet school we went to Artemis’ temple and then to a Turkish pottery studio where the pottery was made and decorated. Our guide then took us to the House of St. Mary, where they think Mary lived and died after Jesus’ crucifixion. The house had a place you could light candles, pray, drink holy water, and make wishes by tying something old to wires on the wall. 

We then went to a museum to see statues of artifacts taken out of Ephesus and placed in  the museum. By this time Jeff and Angela were tired (it was about 5 p.m.) We went to Sisan Tours’ office to pickup the rest of our package and pay the last installment of our tour price. 

Our hotel was nice with an actual toilet, shower, and bed (Conveniences we had not really had in about four days). We had a view off the balcony of Kusadasi and the Mediterranean Sea (very pretty). We had a buffet dinner at the motel, packed for tomorrow and were ready for bed. We had a very good and interesting day. The tour guide and driver were very nice. Now off to bed.     

                                            — Ang

All pictures and information on this site are the property of Jeff and Angela Lindsey and cannot be used in any way without their written permission. Some information came from signs and tour guide descriptions.