Selcuk

Friday the 7th of March

Got up, caught a bus to Selcuk, got off bus and walked to the hostel.Sat in courtryard...another long day of doing almost nothing

Saturday the 8th of March

Today I went to Efes. It’s 3kms away and although the hostel has a free shuttle service I decided to walk there.

I entered the site just before 10 am and was lucky to have the place almost to myself. This lasted for only 45 minutes before the 1st of many coaches disgorged their contents and the masses tumbled down the main street like an angry river in full flood. I would hate to come here during the summer!

The site itself is very well preserved. The two main streets are intact with the original flagstone surface. Both of the theatres have been well looked after. For me, the best place was the library. The front facade was huge and richly covered with statues and intricate stone work.

I spent a hugely enjoyable three hours or so there. Afterwards as I made my way back to Selcuk I stopped off and the Temple of Artemis.

This was once one of the Seven Wonders of the World but now it’s mostly a big hole in the ground. Out of the 125 pillars only one remains, complete with a stock nest on top.

From there it was a short walk to the small but beautiful museum located near the hostel.

Monday the 11th of March

I have stayed an extra day here in Selcuk.

Yesterday morning after being woken up at 6 am (again) by the nearby Imam calling the faithful to prayer (which I have to admit I don’t mind at all) I dozed for an hour and then decided to go for a jog. As it has been about a month since my last run I did an easy 4km up and down the main road to Efes.

Later in the morning ( 1 shower, 2 coffees and 5 fags to be precise) I meandered over to the Basilica to St john., stood at his tomb (said hello) and then went to walk to the nearby castle, only to find, as I reached the boundary of the Basilica a sign saying “castle closed”…bugger! Therefore I went to the IsaBey mosque instead…nice!

For the rest of the day I sat in the armchair located in the hostel courtyard. Read a book and dozed. (My cousin Vikki could learn a lot from me)

Today, was a day to do things, well two if you want an exact number

1) Post some stuff back to England. If it gets there I’m sure those nice customs men will levy a heavy tax

2) Make a laptop bag! This took me back to my “blue peter” days. For this you will need the following:

A) Bubble wrap
B) Pair of scissors (ask an adult to help you with those)
C) Some shiny metal sticky tap
D) A laptop

If you want to know what the result is, email me and I’ll send you a picture.

Once I had gotten over my post completion
high of the laptop bag I checked my emails.

Happy news…those lovely people at the Iranian ministry for foreign affairs said yes. I have my visa to Iran, which I can pick up from their consulate in Istanbul (went to have a beer to celebrate…yes I can do irony quite well thank you)

My Turkish visa runs out on the 7th of April. Time to plan things. The general idea is this

Tomorrow of to Canakkale for 4 nights
Istanbul for a week ( need to get an Indian visa as well)
Ankara for a few days
Head to Goerme in the highlands for 4-6 days
Then to Van for the trip over the border to Iran (and yes sister if I see a Van cat I’ll take a photo)

However, plans always change so this explains why I rarely bother to have them.

So tomorrow, wake up at 6am! Pack my now slightly lighter rucksack (sure it’s just a mental thing really) and have a coffee. (If you like coffee, don’t come to Turkey. Turkish coffee is at best a poor espresso and if you go to the café and ask for a coffee you’ll get a bloody Nescafe and don’t even get me started on the cappuccinos I’ve had) then walk the 200m to the bus station to get the bus to Canakkale