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| Kusadasi waterfront |
I arrived in Kusadasi on Monday evening – Oct. 21 – the
apartment that I booked was actually 20 min. away from downtown Kusadasi. There was a small store nearby and the beach
was a 2 min. walk away. Beautiful beach
with palm trees and soft sand. There are
many minibuses called dolmus that go between the area and downtown Kusadasi –
from 0700 until 2300 hrs. I spent a
couple days this week, exploring the city, in between my day tours to Ephesus
and Pamukkale and hanging out at the local beach.
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| The Bazaar |
The markets are filled with scarves, rugs, pillow coverings,
t-shirts, leather jackets, handbags, and trinkets. I found some beautiful scarves – 70% cashmere
+ 30% silk. In an attempt to find fabric
for a friend who quilts, I met some local shop owners who were very
helpful. After I got the message across of
what I was looking for, they unfortunately didn’t have any in their shops, I
was given information and directions on what area of Istanbul to look in for
the fabric and where to find a good deal (rather than the more expensive prices
in the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul). The
locals that I met were kind, helpful and understanding, a very different
experience to the markets/bazaars that I went through in Egypt 3 years ago. I found it so much more enjoyable shopping
in Kusadasi, because the owners were not pushy at all.
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| near Ladies Beach |
I ventured to the
“Ladies Beach” which was about 15 min. away on another Dolmus – not sure where
it got its name. Beautiful beach where
people were suntanning, swimming and sitting in cafes on the boardwalk. I discovered unfortunately after looking
around and talking to some people that snorkelling was finished for the season
and there was no more boats going out for diving or snorkelling in the area.
Kusadasi is a port city – where cruise ships dock daily –
which is about 20 km from Ephesus. The
people are very friendly. On Tuesday and
Saturday this week I ventured through the city. The waterfront is filled with people. Saw fishermen, people walking, people
swimming, some men snorkelling and spear fishing. There was a castle on a peninsula that I
wanted to explore, but the gates were closed up when I got there on Saturday
morning. The food is quite enjoyable – I
bought food at the markets and stores for my breakfast and dinner and would eat
a big lunch in one of the local restaurants.
I tasted Sea Bream – a type of local fish, that is caught daily from the
Aegean sea. Was delicious – pan fried - Also
had some great Chicken donair kebab. All
meals were served with fresh baked bread with 2 dips – one was like a tzatziki
– creamy white dip with greens in it, and the other fresh cut up tomatoes with
herbs. Very yummy. I tried apple tea for the first time – and
really enjoyed it. I had a try at the
Turkish coffee and not surprisingly, I didn’t like it. My first time even smelling Turkish coffee
was in Yugoslavia in 1988, and I didn’t like the smell of it then. I also discovered I didn’t enjoy the regular
Turkish tea either.
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| Downtown Kusadasi |
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| Many pretzel stands lined the streets all over Turkey |
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| Kervansaray Hotel |
On Saturday while walking around – I passed by the local
municipality office, which had a band playing.
There was a poster up that stated there was a festival on this weekend –
which had sister cities across Europe celebrating as well. The brass band was very good and there were
also girls and boys dressed in traditional costumes that performed some dances
later on.
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| the local beach where I stayed |
On Thursday and Sunday this week – I spent time at the local
beach. The days were long and sunny and I
enjoyed relaxing and reading my book.
The water was actually cool at first, but then I got used to the
temperature and enjoyed swimming in the waves.
Some locals sit by the sea all day – and provide chairs and umbrellas to
the tourists if they so desire – along with cold or hot drinks for a
price. There were very few people around
– maybe 5 people on the beach on the days I was there. I was able to see some beautiful sunsets as
well. The coastline is gorgeous. A great vacation spot.
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| The neighborhood where the apartment was located |
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| The apartment on the bottom left |
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| Beautiful flowers on the front porch |
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| Sunset on the Mediterranean |
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| Castle that I didn't get to see inside |
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| Kalikadesi |
On Sunday while walking around the neighborhood, I
discovered an excavation site that is still being uncovered. It was fenced off, but it did have a board
with information about it. While I was
reading, one of the locals asked if I wanted to go into the site, which of
course I did. No photos allowed
inside. There were very large pottery
jars, mosaics on the floors, and marble stones.
They were uncovering what was a church and there was a baptismal font
there as well. Pretty cool find, it was
maybe 5 min. walk from where I was staying.
Upon returning to the apartment and sorting through my stuff to pack up
for the flight the next day, I discovered a writeup of the site on the back of
the map of Kusadasi. The site is called
Kalikadesi. I will have to do more
reading about it. In the description it
says it dates back to about 3000 BC – and the area was known as Anaia.
On wedneday October 23rd I had a day tour to
Ephesus. The tour didn’t start until
9am, so I enjoyed a café latte at one of the local restaurants in central
Kusadasi, before being picked up. We
went to 3 areas on the tour – the Virgin Mary’s house and final resting place,
the ruins of Ephesus and the ruins of the Temple of Artemis (Greek Goddess of
Hunting). The Temple of Artemis was one
of the Ancient Wonders of the World (of which only the Pyramids of Giza in
Egypt are left standing to this day).
Ephesus was the city where Paul the Apostle preached to the Ephesians,
and wrote his letter to the Ephesians in the new testament of the Bible. The modern city of Selcuk is located quite
near Ephesus, where we picked up our guide for the tour. At the time Ephesus was inhabited, it was
located by sea, but due to erosion and earthquakes among other things, it is
now located 12km from the shore. The
tour group was very small – just myself and family from Pakistan and our guide
Guray. Our driver was Ismai. 
