Selcuk seemed to be a nice little town, setup to cater both for the tourists going to Ephesus ruins and also for the locals, making it a perfect place to find somewhere to stay. Behind the Museum there were a raft of Pensions all competing heavily. They seemed to compete on features like breakfast, laundry and internet rather than price but we haggled two of them off against each other and got a private room in a pretty place for the price of a dorm. The place was filled with wrought ironwork which the guidebook explained was made by the owners.
We asked him what time the ruins closed at but he helpfully suggested forgetting about it for the night and checking out the weekly market in town instead. We wandered over to discover the town centre packed with local people trading just about everything you could imagine. I noticed one guy repairing some metal teapots with an oxy-acetylene torch in the middle of the chaos. Brightly coloured herbs and spices jostled with shoes and vegetables for space.
The next morning we went to Ephesus as suggested and looked around. It is apparently the best preserved Roman ruins. The library and amphitheatre in particular were impressive and gave some idea what the place must have been like, but truth be told it was not as good as Acropolis since it was swarmed with people. Perhaps someone more acquainted with the history of the place would appreciate it more than we did which is a shame really. Perhaps we were getting sucked into the tourist trap.
Its good to realise that with this post appearing today, you are both well 🙂 Is there a time lag going on?
Hi Deane, Yes there’s a bit of time ag as we’re now a week on and in Iran. Not always easy to get internet acces unfortunately. Hope your own plans are coming on!
Helenx