![\"Izmir](\"http:\/\/imgur.com\/uQ9C55r.jpg\")
<\/a><\/br>Izmir Airport Train Station<\/p><\/div> It’s safe to say that railway transport in Turkey didn’t exist, except for the Izmir-Selcuk-Denizli route. We planned the time of our final flight of the day into Izmir so that we could safely catch train 32261, last of the day, to Selcuk.<\/p>\n Izmir Airport Train Station is primarily served by local train services that, if I was correct, went as far as Cumaovas\u0131, which was how most local residents of Izmir get to\/from airport. We waited for quite anxiously (mostly because it’s the last train of the day) for some time, as our train was delayed for a couple of minutes behind a local train. <\/p>\n Upon boarding the train, we were a little bit frustrated to find all the seats been occupied, so we stood all the way to Selcuk. Although it’s only an hour, it’s not the most comfortable way to end the day after three segments of flight. The good thing was, at 5TL, the train ticket was fairly cheap.<\/p>\n <\/br>Fences of Izmir Airport<\/br>It seemed that there were Turkish Air Forces based in Izmir airport, which meant that the airport should be well-guarded.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rural Torbali<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n We booked our hotel near \u0130sa Bey Mosque, which meant after getting off the train we’d got to pull our bags all the way across the little town of Selcuk, with hilly streets paved with tiles. I shall admit, tiles did make a town appear historic, but they were also a nightmare to trolley bags. <\/br>My Dinner: Chicken, Rice and Fries<\/br>Except for the chili, I’m quite fond of this food. Yet my father couldn’t stop complaining about the stranggeness, if not awfulness of the rice.<\/span><\/p><\/div> Before dinner, our hotel manager was eager to show us the major attractions around Selcuk from his hotel rooftop, and lent us a traveler’s guidebook about Selcuk and Ephesus. <\/p>\n Then it’s officially August 19th, the first day of our vacation in Turkey. <\/br>Turkish Tea for Breakfast<\/br>It seemed that the Turks were crazy about this tea, not me though.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>(Part of) Our Breakfast<\/p><\/div> <\/br>\u0130sa Bey Mosque from Hotel Rooftop<\/p><\/div> <\/br>House of Virgin Mary on Distant Summit<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Country Road to the Ruins of Ephesus<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n At the entrance to the ruins of Ephesus, we purchased the Turkish Museum Pass at 185TL per person, which turned out to be quite powerful in the days that followed. <\/br>Thermes and Gymnasium<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Unearthed Artifacts and Marbles<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Basilike Stoa<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bouleuterion and Basilike Stoa<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Passage to Bouleuterion<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bouleuterion<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Doorway to Prytaneion<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bouleuterion<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Bouleuterion<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Basilike Stoa<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Basilike Stoa<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Prytaneion<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Basilike Stoa<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Archaeologist’s Workdesk<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Memmius Monument<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Relief by Domitian Temple<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Stone Tablets by Domitian Temple<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Temple in State Agora, with Bouleuterion in the Background<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Hudrekdocheion (Water Reservoir)<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Sculptures on Columns<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Entrance to Domitian Temple<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Stone Carving of the Goddess Nike<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Stones for a Fountain<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Headless Sculpture on Curetes Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Hercules Gate<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns along Curetes Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Curetes Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Mosaic Floorings on Terrace House<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns along Curetes Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Temple of Hadrian<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Temple of Hadrian<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Mosaic Floorings on Terrace House<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n Then there’s this Terrace House which was essentially an archeological site with a roof on its top (only site with roof in Ephesus). It should require a separate ticket, but was covered by the Museum Pass. <\/br>Archeology Workshop at Terrace House<\/br>Where we could witness archeologists piecing together the broken tiles.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Terrace House Water Fountain<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pattern on Terrace House Walls<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pieces at Terrace House Archeology Workshop<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Mosaic Floors at Terrace House<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Mosaic Floors at Terrace House<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Terrace House Hall Restoration<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Pottery Unearthed at Terrace House<\/p><\/div> <\/br> <\/br>Lion Mosaic at Terrace House<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Rooms in Terrace House with Mosaic Floors<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Terrace House Archway<\/p><\/div> <\/br> <\/br>Bath in Terrace House<\/br>With distinctive piles of tiles supporting the bath floor.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Top of Terrace House overlooking Marble Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Gate of Hadrian<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n <\/br>Group of Young Men Danicng before Library of Celsus<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Remains of Library of Celsus Interior<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns of Library of Celsus<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Sculptures in Library of Celsus Facade<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Sculptures in Library of Celsus Facade<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Sculptures in Library of Celsus Facade<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Library of Celsus Facade<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Tetragonos Agora (Commercial Market)<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Neronic Hall (Roman Pedestrian Stoa)<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Gate of Mazaeus and Mithridates, and Library of Celsus<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Detail of Column Tip at Tetragonos Agora (Commercial Market)<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns around Tetragonos Agora (Commercial Market)<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Library of Celsus and Its Surrounding Ruins<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns at Marble Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Arch along Marble Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Marble Street Overlooking Tetragonos Agora (Commercial Market)<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Warning Sign Turned Artwork<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n <\/br>Theater<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Theater Stage<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Theater Backstage<\/br>It’s damaged enought that it’s off limits.<\/span><\/p><\/div> <\/br>Arcadian Street<\/br>Leading to the harbor.<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Fountain near Theatre<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Arcadian Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Cat Resting on Rock<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Theatre<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Theatre Gymnasium<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Arcadian Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Theatre and Arcadian Street<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Tombs Arrayed in Circle<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Excavation at Harbor Gymnasium<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n <\/br>Church of Mary<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns and Choir at Church of Mary<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns at Church of Mary<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Original Church of Mary Design<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Doorway to Church of Mary<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Church of Mary Fountain<\/p><\/div> <\/br>Columns and Choir at Church of Mary<\/p><\/div>
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\nThe images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.<\/span><\/p>\nArriving in Selcuk<\/span><\/h3>\n
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Farmland outside Menderes<\/p><\/div>
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\n(And near the end of this post one should see how terrible the train station of Selcuk was during our visit, which added fence-scaling to our little journey to hotel.)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nHaving put down our bags at our hotel room (and not having eaten anything for 9 hours), we finished our dinner at a nearby restaurant. I didn’t know whether this had anything to do with the decrease of tourists to Turkey, but the local mosquitos seemed they also hadn’t eaten anything for hours, and the outdoor restaurant with lighting and three adult humans turned out to be a carnival for them.<\/p>\n
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\nThe hotel manager helped called us a taxi and took us to the South-East visitor entrance of the ruins of Ephesus, at standard market price of 20TL per cab covering 3.75KM.
\n<\/a>Ephesus Ruins<\/span><\/h3>\n
\nAnd of course, I covered myself with sun creams, which didn’t turn out as useful as the museum pass.
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Archeological Excavation Underway<\/p><\/div>
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Cat Resting in Rocks<\/p><\/div>
\nThis lovely kitty resting on rocks gave us a prelude for the many homeless cats that roamed this nation. But rarely were dogs seen.
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Curetes Street<\/p><\/div>
\nThe good thing about entering through the South-East entrance was that, we could walk down Curetes Street. Everybody prefers to walk downhill.
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Fountain of Trajan<\/p><\/div>
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\n<\/a>Terrace House<\/span><\/h4>\n
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br>Terrace House Interior<\/p><\/div>
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\n<\/a><\/a><\/br><\/a><\/br>Rooms in Terrace House with Mosaic Floors<\/p><\/div>
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\n<\/a>Library of Celsus<\/span><\/h4>\n
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\n<\/a>Theater<\/span><\/h4>\n
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\nMost people took the North-West exit here, but I saw a sign that read there’s a trail leading to the Church of Mary that was close by (not the other one on the mountain aforementioned). So, why not pay it a visit?
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\n<\/a>Church of Mary<\/span><\/h4>\n
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\nThen we exited the Ephesus site by its North-West exit. After that, there’re some cabs waiting offering standard market price of 20TL per cab back to Selcuk. We, however, decided to make our way back on foot, which turned out to be a mistake.
\nThe good thing about walking back was that, we got to view the ruins on the outskirts of Ephesus, like its old stadium, over a fence though. And unlike the South-East exit, the D515 route from Selcuk to Ephesus North-West exit had bicycle and pedestrian lanes covered with trees, which was quite useful in the scorching sun. Also, we got the chance to stop by (the ruins of) Artemis Tap\u0131na\u011f\u0131, which was 500 meters West of Selcuk downtown. But from the exit back to downtown it was a 3 KM hike, with few Pokemons to catch.
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