Our flight from Kayseri, Cappadocia to Izmir was due to arrive at 6.30pm thus we had a tight connection with the last train to Selcuk leaving the airport train station at 7:30pm. A late airport transfer from Goreme and delayed flight departure added to our concern about whether we would actually make it.

Our landing at Izmir would be the roughest we have experienced in a jet aircraft – ever. The 737 touched down hard and actually bounced back into the air, flew for another 2-3 seconds before touching down again.  David expressed his concern to me later that he only hoped the runway was long enough for the aircraft to make the two landing attempts; meanwhile I just remember thinking woo-hoo – what a ride!

After grabbing our bags, finding the exit and eventually the right direction for the airport train station we made it with 10 minutes to spare. Phew!  Especially as we didn’t have a contingency plan – funny how we always think things will work out for the best, and if they don’t, it just becomes another adventure! An hour and a half train ride down the coast got us to Selcuk. As we pulled our bags single file through the city past some very friendly locals enjoying their al fresco dinners who were only too happy to offer directions to the ANZ Guesthouse/hostel. We finally arrived at about 9.30pm. Run by an Aussie expat (Harry) and his Turkish mate (Simon), we had booked to stay at the ANZ for two nights. Our room was a twin share plus bunk beds – a novelty for the girls.

After a very filling breakfast the next morning, this time with cornflakes plus all the great Turkish inclusions Simon directed us to the local kebab shop that offered free transfers to and from the Ephesus ruins, about 3 kilometres out of town. Over the centuries, a succession of empires—Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine and, finally, Ottoman—ruled over the city of Ephesus. Yet no matter how many times it changed hands, the city remained one of the most vibrant metropolises of the ancient world. At one point it was even considered second in importance and size only to Rome.

Ephesus was the first real ‘ancient ruins’ I had been to when I came this way 20 odd years ago, so I was looking forward to seeing it again.  They have definately spruced it up a bit with much better signage.  It was great to walk down memory lane…

The driver dropped us at the top gate entrance to the ancient city and we wandered down the main street, overhearing bits and pieces of information from the tour group guides. The weather was bright and sunny – just glorious. We had borrowed a couple of books from the guesthouse about Ephesus and both girls enthusiastically looked for ruins to match the photos in the books. One of the books had artists impressions of how the buildings would have originally looked superimposed over the current ruins which also helped keep the girls interested.

Once situated on the edge of a shallow harbour, Ephesus is now several kilometres inland after the bay silted up. For two and a half hours we wandered through and marvelled at some of the greatest ruins in the western world. First recorded history indicates the city was established by the Greeks in 1000 BC, but most of the surviving structures date from the time of the Romans. If only the stone blocks could talk they would have many stories to tell. It is said that Jesus entrusted the care of his mother to his favourite disciple, St John the Evangelist, and they both arrived at Ephesus in 37AD after the crucification. Mary lived out her life in a modest stone house in the city which can still be seen today.

We paced our visit perfectly and met our trusty kebab driver right on time for the return transfer. We repaid our new friend Ali Baba for his transport by having a scrumptious antipasto plate and some glorious fresh Turkish bread at his restaurant.

After lunch we walked the short way to the site of the Temple of Artemis (or what’s left of it). Ephesus’ greatest claim to fame was its temple to the goddess Artemis. One of the ‘Seven Wonders’ of the ancient world, it was almost four times larger than the Parthenon in Athens. Little remains of the temple now as the stone blocks were used to build the castle on the nearby hill in medieval times.

Finally we made the trek up the hill to Basilica of Saint John. Built atop the hill overlooking Selcuk where St John supposedly lived out his life, spent his final days and was laid to rest, the once large church is another jumble of stone in a state of excavation and restoration.

John was equated with John the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of John (presumed also to be the same person as John the Apostle, beloved disciple of Jesus). Legend had it that John wrote his gospel in Ephesus at the request of other disciples, and then died in the church named for him on Ayasoluk Hill.

By late afternoon on this 19^th of November, we were happy we’d seen the major sights of Selcuk and Ephesus and were ready to move on.

We still had another day before we were due to check in at the Fethiye apartment on the 21^st and it was too far to travel in one day. As the train line finished in Aydin (well short of our final destination) we would have to tackle our next moves by bus.  After looking for hours at possible connections to go east to Denizli to see the limestone formations at Pumukkale (which I had seen on my last visit), or south to Bodrum and continue along the coast we elected the latter. We could visit the Marine Archaeological Museum and stay the night before following the coast east to Fethiye.

The next morning, we discovered that the only direct bus service to Bodrum departs Selcuk daily at 8am (which we had zero chance of making).  So, after breakfast around we made our way to the local bus station and dolmuş-hopped our way down the coast from Selcuk to Kusadasi to Soke to Bodrum.

The dolmuş is a small bus or minivan, and Turkey literally has fleets of them running all over the place. It is essentially a shared taxi and operates on a set route.  With no fixed timetable, the drivers wait at dolmuş stations until they have enough paying passengers to make the journey viable. More passengers are also collected along the way at either designated dolmuş stops or simply by the waving the driver down. Some drivers will even stop without being asked and offer transport, if you just happen to be walking along.  It really is a most efficient system and they really go to some out of the way places. A seat on a dolmuş costs commonly costs between two and five Lira ($1-$3), depending on the distance you wish to travel. We needed only pay for three seats if Immi sat on my lap, which for short journeys was ok.

So after two seamless dolmuş rides, virtually off one straight on to the next, we arrived in Soke and completed our journey with a larger Metro bus taking us the rest of the way to Bodrum. The large coach style buses in Turkey are modern with headrest mounted TV’s, an attendant serving drinks and snacks by way of a trolley rolling down the aisle, and some even come with wi-fi.

Bodrum is a thriving city on the coast and said to be one of the first Turkish towns to experience a modern day tourism boom. Bodrum also lays claim as home to another of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world: the Colossal Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Construction of the mausoleum began in 355BC and it stood for about 1500 years.

Alexander the Great lay siege to the city of Bodrum in the 4^th century BC and all but destroyed the city walls. The Castle of St Peter is Bodrums most distinctive landmark located on a small headland next to the entrance of the marina. This ocean front fort was built in 1406 by the Knights of St John during the Crusades and materials to build the fort were sourced from the Colossus, which by this time lay in ruins.

The city is now popular with the younger Turkish generation and celebrities. It has a thriving upmarket shopping area along the waterfront and a marina filled with very large, very beautiful and very highly polished timber mega-yachts. OMG – a lot of oohing and aahing went on here!

Arriving at the Bodrum bus station mid-afternoon we made use of the wi-fi in a café to hunt down a good pension nearby. After taking a taxi and dropping off our bags at the accommodation (it was raining lightly), we then quickly made our way on foot to the Fort of St Peter, just next to the marina. We hoped that the two hours remaining before the 5pm closing time would be sufficient time to see everything contained in this fascinating building.

The fort now contains the Turkish Marine Archaeological Museum and we were all interested in the items on display. Originally starting out as a place where the local sponge divers could drop odd bits and pieces from the ship wrecks they discovered during their work, the museum has now grown to include some very old and fascinating artefacts, especially many ancient coins. Bodrum was once part of an ancient trading route so the museum displays include former cargo recovered from the wrecks.

Items on display at the museum include bronze ingots, glass, gold, and clay pots (amphora’s) once containing olive oil or wine. The girls really enjoyed exploring the fort museum and we even managed to make it down into the dungeon.

We stopped for a light dinner at a bakery on the way back to the pension and sampled some of the wonderful Turkish sweets on offer – their display cases are a masterpiece of colour and temptation! In the morning, we had breakfast on the roof terrace before heading back to the bus station for our four hour bus trip to Fethiye and the long awaited two week stay (which we extended by another few nights after arrival) in a privately owned apartment. This would be our longest stay in one place since the apartment in Chiang Mai, and also the very first time the girls would have their own bedroom since leaving Australia!! Yay for everyone!