From Pamukkale, we travelled south to Kusadasi. Once again we drove on good but mountainous roads. We were now seeing lots of olive trees - and fig trees. Roadside stalls sold dried figs. How I wish the figs were ripe now so we could try them.

From the starting point of our drive at Goreme we have seen changes in the fruit types grown. At Cappadoccia it was apple trees, then along the south coast lots of orange groves. We saw bananas growing near Side and pomegranate orchards as we moved west. There have been plum trees, and we tried the hard sour small green plum sold here at the moment. Very sour, and even with the sprinkle of salt, as suggested, still not palatable to us. Everyone seems to have a loquat tree and strawberries grown in the plastic hot houses are in season. So no shortage of fruit here.


 
We stopped to have coffee at a roadside restaurant and asked about the water gushing from an overhead pipe at the front of the shop. It seems that patrons can wash their car there, though we wondered if it was to cool cars as well. There must be no water shortage here. The road side place was huge - lots of chairs, playground equipment etc. We have seen this type of place packed at weekends, but that morning it was just us for coffee.
 

 
On the way south we diverted through Sirince. Once settled by Greeks, it is a mountain village of white washed houses surrounded by fruit tree orchards. This area is known for its fruit wines - blackberry, mulberry, strawberry, pomegranate and more. The many stalls lining the road sell mostly olive oil and these wines. There is a massive restaurant overlooking the valley which was crowded with groups, but we found a spot across the road under shady trees. Had salad and tried the mulberry wine. Very nice.

 
And then to Kusadasi. I had booked a hotel for A$26 a night and had wondered what we were getting. Well, for the money it was good, though not flash. Two biggish rooms, a comfortable bed, a living room, wifi, and a Turkish breakfast. There were only a few travellers here, mainly residents, but for us it was fine to put our head down at night.
 

 
Kusadasi is a busy port city because it is here that the cruise ships berth so that their passengers can visit Ephesus. As we did the next day. Ephesus is called Efes in Turkish, and we had seen that word many, many times here, but not relation to this ancient site. Efes is the name of the most commonly sold beer, and its name is on every second shop and cafe.

Ephesus was in Greco-Roman times home to 250,000 people, and was the capital of Asia Minor. It was built on the seafront but is now kilometres inland. Worship of the fertility goddess Artemis was a focus here, and a temple in her honour (no longer standing) was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, but Ephesus is also known for its connections with Christianity. 
 

Only a fraction of the city has been excavated, as focus in recent years has been more on renovation. What is visible today was once six metres underground, so a lot of work has been done.

This was the place where we saw more tourists than anywhere else, as for bus groups and groups from the cruise ships it is an accessible site. Both in that it is only 15 kilometres from Kusadasi, and that the site itself has stairs but is otherwise not a scramble to visit. Even so, making our way through large numbers of people posing every few metres, and also managing to bypass pushy guides who herd their people with no regard for others meant we had to watch where we stepped.

We started out at the Baths. Each ancient city had baths at the entrance so travellers would enter clean. After that we saw the massive Grand Theatre which could seat 25,000 people. It has been rebuilt with outside help. The Library of Celsus is the most visited building here as it does make a good photo opportunity. It once held 12,000 scrolls and was the third largest ancient library.

It was interesting that in the midst of such history that there were two things that caught my attention. The first was seeing close up the flowering of a pomegranate tree. I had not seen
this before. The hard buds elongate and open up, and the soft flower opens from within. It can be seen that from the bud the recognisable shape of the fruit forms. Beautiful. The second sight were fig trees laden with fruit. I had no idea they bear could so much fruit.



 So, we came, and we saw. The crowds made it feel a bit crazy, but the history and importance of the place is really quite stunning. 

 Nearby is a cave called The Grotto of the Seven Sleepers because of the legend of 7 persecuted Christians who hid here, were sealed in for 200 years, and when the cave was opened they believed they had been resurrected. It has been a good excuse for locals to have set up a neat lunch place. Women sit making Gozleme which is served with the customary Ayran, a drink they say is water and yoghurt but tastes just like buttermilk. Strange combination but it makes a good lunch.


It was now raining lightly so we did a drive around Selcuk, the nearest town to Ephesus and made our way home. At the many cafes we passed we saw the same sight we see every day, everywhere - men sitting in the cafes. The do drink tea but most of the time just talk. Sometimes they play cards or other games. A  guy we talked to says his father goes to the café all afternoon and evening everyday. His mother calls the café his ‘second wife’. But then he said Turkish women do not want the men sitting around the house. Probably women in some other countries would feel the same. But I do think this companionship that men have in southern European countries is a good thing.