Saturday 27 June, 2009. Day 9

I had breakfast, packed my stuff, left it at the hotel and then biked to Ephesus (3.5 kms.) The diversion was well worth it, as you will realize by looking at some of the photos.

The guards were very accommodating. As soon as I asked if I can park the bike they took me by the hand and showed me a safe spot where I could leave it.

Soon I realized that there are two ways to enter the site. And that explained why I was constantly going against the flow. Busloads of tourists were unloaded at the other entrance. So, I was walking against the grain.

Be that as it may, The first thing you see from the entrance that I entered, is the great theater. see it in the photo below:


and a view from inside the theater

A little walk further will give you a view of the agora

and from the theater you can also have "prime time view" of the port avenue, which used to lead to the port, which was half a mile from the theater. Today, due to the silt deposits, the water is 8 kms away. They say that Marc Anthony and Cleopatra walked down that avenue in their honey moon trip.
The next place I walked to was the library. Very impressive, I must say.
I believe that we can learn a lot from the ancients. What was really educational and our culture can benefit from is the following: right across from the library there was a brothel (see it below) that communicated with the library via a tunnel. People in those days knew that the needs of the spirit and those of the flesh are equally important and should be catered sımultaneously. This explains why that culture reached the heights that it did. Obviously, this is something that has been long forgotten by our culture.
Next I walked up the sacred way



going by the temples of Hadrian and of Trajan. Went through the Gate of Hercules
which finally lead to the odeum

After all that tour, I walked back to the bike and back to the hotel. Got ready and hit the road by 13:00. The destination was Aydin, which was 50 km away. The ride was smooth and uneventful, with only one incident. As I was riding on 550, which is not a main highway but rather a sort of rural road, two cars had stopped at the side of the road. Their passengers had gotten off the cars and were eating water melon. I asked them whether I was headed in the right direction. They answered and then "forced" me to share water melon with them. After eating the water melon and thanking them I biked on. I stopped at the next gas station to fill up w/ water. The attendant took me at the back of the building and showed me where I could fill up with cold water. People have been really nice so far (except that bus driver.)

Finally, I made it to Aydin
I easily found a hotel near the center, which was something of a dump, but the price, which I did not bargain down, was a mere 15 TL.

After washing up, I walked around town. It is beautiful but not impressive. It has wide avenues and parks but nothing special.

Here is photo near the center


See you tomorrow.