All 8 of us were going to do the same tour today so planned to meet up in the lounge and get on the same bus. However, when the 4 of us arrived we were channeled through quickly and then had to wait in the corridor. Later we found another boat had arrived in so we couldn’t get off the boat until it had berthed. It meant we were on different tours to the other 4 although we did see them at times on the site.

Our guide was known as Amy . John was less keen on her as she was loud but the rest of us were very happy with her commentary. She had been an English teacher, retrained in archeology, spent time in New York studying and had been a guide for 18 years. She referred often to Holland America as ‘our cruise line’ so we suspect she mainly does tours for them. Later she said she and other local guides had pushed for the ‘recommended shopping program’ here so people did not buy fake carpets. She taught us to say Sheerefat (cheers) and was impressed that John knew to say tea-sugar-drum for thank you.

She told us that the port name meant Bird’s Island and the 900 cruse ships had stopped here last year. The country is part of Asia Minor. The main agricultural products are cotton and mulberries (for silk) and Turkish silk is ‘better’ because it is white as the cocoons are on female rather then male plants. One mile of silk comes from 1 cocoon. We were also told about the local drink, raki or lions blood, which is very strong and also tastes like licorice if diluted . She told us that the country is officially secular although Islam is the main religion.

The Ephesus site we were to visit was the 3rd city site. The 2nd site was used from 700 BC until 300 BC. The 3rd city was here for 1000 years, before the silting up of the port area and the subsequent malaria it brought meant the settlement moved. The 4th site was used from the 7th to 14th centuries and the 5th was then set up by the Christians.

It is believed that 40% of the city has been unearthed. It is the best preserved Aegean ancient city, mainly because it was covered with silt. Archeologists are uncovering it slowly and Amy kept mentioning the international nature of the work which began in 1868 with a German and is now lead by Turks. She moved us fairly quickly at the start so we were ahead of the worst of the crowds. It was also not too hot so we were very lucky with our visit.

Like almost all visitors we started in the top city . This area had mainly Greek ruins and Amy explained that the Greeks didn’t have mortar so there were no arches here. She showed us how the columns were locked together with male and female faces and said they would have been joined with lead but that would have been looted over time. Of course, many of the original blocks would have also been taken but the lead was the most portable. The main building material was the local marble so we did have to move with care because it was slippery.

We saw the Temple of Isis which was in the original market place. Amy was good at setting the scene and pointed out that there was a thriving industry selling silver and gold images of the Gods to visitors so honouring them made commercial sense as well as religious sense. The site of the Parliament was here, with space for its 500 members. The area is now far from the sea but in its heyday the port was where the road is now. It looked like about 50 feet of silt had covered the city.

As we moved down the Roman buildings became evident . We were shown the statue of Nike and the part where the Nike swish symbol has developed from. She was also the goddess of gambling. When we commented on the size of the buildings we were reminded that the Romans had plenty of 2 things, time and slaves. We also saw the remains of the statue of the Emperor standing on a ball which represented his power over the Earth, suggesting that maybe the Romans thought the world was a sphere.

This area had the remains of the public baths, then latrines and what was allegedly a brothel. The latrines had clean water running in footbaths and the used water from the baths ran under the ‘toilets’ into sewers. There were also public fountains, and Trajan’s fountain named after the emperor. The Greeks had to carry water, but the ‘posh’ houses here had running water. These terrace houses are still being excavated and there was a tour which would have taken us in but it had very restricted numbers and a very high cost.

We saw the area where shops would have been with the original mosaic floors . These were protected over the years by the silt so there is a lot of discussion about how to both show them and also protect them. Hadrian’s temple was opposite, with Medusa on the front and Fortuna on the keystone. At one side there were carvings of the Amazons from Lesbos.

The most impressive structure in this area is the library. It was the 3rd most important library in the world at the time, with the one in Alexandra being the largest. Books were scrolls and customs duty at the time was often paid by presenting a scroll. When competition between the libraries grew, Egypt stopped the export of papyrus so the others had to find their own ‘paper’. The 2nd library was at a place I can’t remember but the name parchment came from here and goat skin was used for the scrolls in Ephesus. The size of the building is impressive but then you focus on the details and they are even more impressive.

We were told a building in the area was either a gymnasium or the house where St Paul stayed . Paul tried to preach here from 53AD to 57AD and hence upset the local merchants who made a lot of money from selling merchandise that represented the pagan gods. He was allegedly imprisoned for some time in the area. A silversmith called Demetrious is credited with stirring up the locals to oppose him.

We had to promise not to peek as we walked past the theatre, (which is still being excavated) until we got to the best view point. It is estimated that one third of the seats are still missing because it is believed to have held 25,000 people. This estimate is one tenth of the population of the city at the time, the standard size for such theatres. The acoustics are meant to be great with people like Elton John, Sting and Pavarotti singing here.

I had paid 4 euro for a book about the site and as we left we were told to pay no more than 3 euro. The others learned from my mistake and got cheaper books later. After this we drove past the area where the common people had their latrines and bathhouse. The final stop was the carpet sales pitch. On the way back to Kusadasi we were told how the original Turks came from Mongolia and were nomads. For this reason they learned to weave wool for warmth. The oldest hand-woven item in the world is 3000 years old and from Turkey. Amy said the local rugs are all double knotted so don’t pull out and woven by women not children. Weaving is supported by the Government because it is an extra income source for people in country areas hence supporting agriculture. The amount of work involved and the authenticity of the carpets bought from the store we were to visit was emphasised. She told us to check the traverse side, known in Turkey as the party side.

We had Turkish delight and a choice of drinks while we watched the various carpets being displayed. The presentation was very similar to Tunisia although here there were also some modern rug designs. Then the harder sel camel, with extra people coming in to talk to individuals. We had no intention of buying and didn’t.

After lunch on board and a bit of a break Irene Raewyn and I wandered the market for a couple of hours. We didn’t buy much and even had to search to find the Post Office. The shops on the cruise pier were fixed price and that gave us an idea of prices. John used the Internet here and although he had a frustrating time with the speed he did get some pictures uploaded.

We had booked a meal in the Italian restaurant for the 8 of us at 8.30pm, however, by then John was not feeling well so he had a room service dinner in the hope he would be better for Athens in the morning. The rest of us enjoyed the change, especially the desserts.