Ephesus, Pamukkale and Cleopatra's Pool

Goofing off at museum

For the blog posts for Thursday and Friday, and for today. 

These folks were short!!

On Thursday we woke up really early in the morning and took a van to Marmaris then took a bigger  nicer bus to a ancient city called Ephesus.  Papa and I went to the museum while Tutu and BeBe went to the house of the Virgin Mary.  


Then we ate an ok lunch with the tour group and went to the ruins of Ephesus.  We looked at some old rocks that all looked the same and saw some big gates that looked magnificent and also saw the largest theater out of all other ancient theaters.   The acoustics were amazing.

Baths at Ephesus.  Required for entry to city.

The first thing when you arrived at the city were the baths.  In ancient times everyone who arrived was required to bathe before entering the city.  This allowed men like doctors to look at the stranger's body and see if they had any disease.  It also made them wash off any germs they might be carrying although they did not know about germs back then.  And the most important thing was that it would show if they had any hidden weapons.


While we were looking at some big rocks and columns that all looked the same we looked at the infirmary (ancient hospital) and also learned about some of the gods that supposedly roamed around Ephesus.  If someone got healed in the infirmary then they left a part of themselves as an offering of gratitude to whatever god was responsible for healing them.  Most people who survived the hospital cut off an ear to leave at the infirmary. 

Ephesus -- it was hot!

The umbrella helped

Crosses & Bones game circle on right.
The 6 letters to test if Christian on left.

Taking a break

A popular game was called crosses and bones.  People played this game on stones all over the city.  There were also 6 letters that would be written next to the circle that they played in.  When a stranger arrived he could play the game and people would ask him what each of those letters meant.  If he answered all 6 letters correctly, then he was accepted as a Christian.  They did this because Christians had to keep their new faith a secret.

Backgammon stone

Another stone game board

They also played backgammon on a big stone area.  And some other game we didn't know about.

Gate of Hercules on main pedestrian street

The main road was for pedestrians only.  It was steep and sloped down over 60 feet from the baths down to the library.  About halfway down was the Gate of Hercules.  This was 2 columns placed on either side of the road that made the road get narrow.  This prevented chariots from using the road.

Library of Celsus.  One of only 2 libraries in the ancient world

Then after we looked at the Brothel which is also the first place in the world to actually advertise anything and they were advertising women.  Stones were put in the roadway down near the port.  Arriving sailors could look at the stones and decide which woman they wanted to meet.  The stone would have several carvings like a woman's face and name, a heart that was shattered, a circle that meant money and a footprint shape.  This signified that if a person had a broken heart and some money, he could follow the footprints and have the woman's company.  A sailor would decide which face he liked best and follow that shape footprint to that woman's house or brothel.   World's first known advertising.

Main street going down to Library.  The valley
in the background used to be the harbor.  Dirt has
filled in about 8 miles in the past 2,000 years.

Then later we saw how small were all of the rooms the regular people lived in.  

Our guide in latrines

And we saw the bathrooms that they had, and learned that normally they would have their slave do all of the wiping when a man used the restroom.  Only the men and their slaves could enter the bathroom, and only the men could use the bathroom.   


Then when we learned about all of the gates and about the statues and how long it took to make them. Then after all of that when we went through the magnificent halls to enter the theatre we checked out the accoustics for the largest known theater of Rome Greece and Turkey. After we did that we drove in the bus for another 3 hours and they showed us the hotel we would be sleeping in.  We had a ok dinner and tried to go to sleep.

Swimming in Cleopatra's Pool

A hot spring source that fills Cleopatra's Pool

Then on the morning after a unrestful night of sleep we had breakfast and went to the bus to go to a cool place called Cleopatra's pool which actually has a naturally set temp of 35degrees celcious. 

Top of mountain at Pamukkale

Which after swimming in the pool we left and went to a place that is a mountain that is white which I thought was interesting.  




The Turks call this the Cotton Castle.  There is a lot of mineral deposit from the flowing waters.  I think it is called calcium carbonate.  It is white and looks like snow but it is hard.  There are shallow pools formed from this calcium carbonate that terrace down the mountain.

The fill trench with constantly flowing water to the pools

  

On top of Pamukkale

Then I went climbing down the mountain barefoot because they made you take your shoes off and went into the warm pools in the mountain.  The guide said the waters will be all gone in 150 years and Pamukkale will no longer exist.

Descending the pools at Pamukkale

After that we went back to the bus and went to a onyx making place and looked at how they made the onyx. After that we started the long ride back to Marmaris.

Lots of calcium carbonate deposits over a very long time

What a shame this will all be gone in 150 years

.

Arrived in Turkey for the summer

Well this will be my first blog post for this summer and it will give detailed summery on what has happened to me so far. So when we first arrived in Fethiye we had to wait for our cab to show up then when we got home we fell asleep because it was really late.  Turkey is 8 time zones ahead of my hometown in Texas.


Then the next day we went to a ice cream guy (Turkish ice cream) and he did a show and got ice cream on my face ):. WASTER!!!!!! Turkish ice cream man (we didn't have a camera with us so this is someone else)

Lounging in hammock on foredeck

The bays are very deep right up to the shore.  So we must tie
a stern line to shore to hold the boat with the anchor all night.

Had fun snorkeling behind our boat

 Then we went to the store. When we got back we got some fresh cherries that were Delicious. Then the next day we went to a new place with nothing really all of that special about it. We anchored there 2 nights. 

Rock tombs I wanted to climb up to

More rock tombs up there

Then when we went to the next place there were some Lycian rock tombs there and I would have loved to go climb up to them, but Tutu and Papa were really lazy and never went up there with me (wouldn't let me got on my own because I recently broke my arm and was still wearing a brace).  They said it was too hot to climb up there.
















Then after that we went to a really quiet place and I went kayaking for so long and so far away that I sunburned my right arm where my cast was. That spot was whiter than the rest of my arms and legs.  

Kayaked for a long time and a long way from the boat.  I had fun exploring by myself
and getting away from the family for awhile.

Then later early in the morning we left to go 45 miles across a small gulf. But that plan was a plan gone wrong. The wind was too strong and the waves were against us and were very close together.  It was rough and slowing us down too much.  So we went off course and went somewhere else. 

Love these big red Turkish peppers.  Tutu grills them.

Then the next day that we were there we went swimming and I saw the impossible.... a giant tuna that was the same size as me 5 FEET LONG!!!!!!! I just thought that was inconceivable. 


The next day we took a tour to see some rock tombs (ancient Caunos) which is what we thought.  Turns out that they just drop you off and let you do the exploring with no guide. And the rock tombs were much farther up the river than where they dropped us off.  So we never got to actually see the rock tombs. 


Then after we got back from the tour we tried to leave where we were, but then again the wind and the waves were wrong. Dinner later that day was a disaster because it turns out that if you have meat and you're eating outside a swarm of bees comes and tries to eat the meat. 

Helping Papa polish the stainless steel -- almost every day!

Then the next day we left and got to the marina we wanted to go to, right in the town of Marmaris. We stayed there for 2 days and really enjoyed it.    On the 3rd day we left and went to a neighboring marina.  When we got to the spot they assigned us it really sucked because we were on the other side -- the farthest spot from the marina office and grocery store and restaurant and swimming pool and anything else. 


Well, that's all folks :).