Day 25 - Ephesus

My tour guide's mood and excitement level was distinctly low today, the day after the terror attacks. He told us that this group is probably the last tour group for him, and that he and the driver would probably be unemployed very shortly. The whole day felt a bit awkward for me, as everyone in the tour group wasn't shaken up as much as he was, still in our vacation mode, giggling and joking around, while our guide explained things with noticeably less enthusiasm.

We started off the tour by visiting a Turkish carpet weaving center. We were greeted by a man speaking very good english (something rare in Turkey), and he explained to us how the carpets were made, from start to finish.He explained to us how the silk was collected from the cocoons and how it was woven into silk threads. There were several ladies working the loom, and some of us got to try making the knots on the carpets. Then the knots were packed, trimmed, and the next row starts. Each 'pixel' of a carpet was woven manually by hand, and a large size carpet with elaborate design could take several years to complete, costing tens of thousands of dollars. And as expected, at the end, we were shown several carpets, and the sales pitch started.

Turkish carpet weaving.

Somehow we got separated into 3 groups: me, the American couple, and the 4 New Zealanders, and each group were assigned a Turkish carpet sales guy. I was in this situation before, but because these carpets were so expensive, and because I was with a group, and because I was sent here through our tour, I didn't feel that much pressure to buy. The sales guy "taking care of me" tried to narrow in on what I was interested. I picked out a few medium sized carpets, then picked out a few designs and colors I liked, then he transferred me to another show room, with another young Turkish guy who rolled out several carpets of similar size, design, and color. I finally picked one out, and he offered $2450 for it. I didn't show any interest in buying. The prices went lower by 500, then final offer of $1500. When I still didn't bite, he simply said thanks and I walked away. It was a decent experience for me and I didn't feel that uncomfortable in the process.

Then we went to Ephesus. I was surprised to learn that only 15% of the city has been excavated, and it would take about 400 years to complete the rest of the 85%. Even still, there was enough of the city exposed for us to get a feel for the place. We saw temples for Hadrian, Domitian, gates for Hera, and statues Nike, Athena, and Hermes. We were able to walk around the baths, the latrines, the parliament, the theater, the main streets, and finally the library of Celsus (the govorner of Ephesus). The library is the most impressive structure of the site, and it's the 3rd largest in Antiquity (first two in Alexandria and Pergamon).

Ephesus.

A lot of tourists today. There was a giant cruise ship docked in the nearby port, so that's where these people are probably coming from.

View of the theater. 220 degrees of seating.

Vomitorium - leads to the upper seats in the theater.

When I was in the Art History museum of Vienna, I remember seeing room after room full of beautiful artifacts -- statues, columns, tombs, reliefs --  and the description said they were from Ephesus. In fact, it was a huge section of the museum only for Ephesian artifacts. It was very awe-inspiring to walk in the same city that produced these magnificent works of art.

Library of Celsus.

Sitting in front of the Library of Celsus.

Columns in the agora of Ephesus. There would be a roof overhead on top of these columns, and these would hold the various shops. In the center (left of the columns) would be the area for animal and slave trade.

Got stuck in a torrential rain. Lasted for about 30 minutes, non stop -- these kinds of rain in Georgia lasts about 5-10 minutes, max.