Ephesus, Izmir, Turkey

We walked to Ephesus from our hotel in the nearby village of Selcuk.  It was only thirty minutes, a pleasant stroll in the unexpected sunshine along a track bordered by olive groves and past a pond home to a large population of small tortoises. We got there before the morning’s tour buses started arriving and had the place largely to ourselves for a few minutes.

The first establishment of the ancient city of Ephesus can be dated back to 6,000 BC, but the centre of today’s Ephesus was established in 300 BC by one of the generals of Alexander the Great.  Migrants from Greece had begun to settle in the area from as early as 1,000 BC. Around 100 BC Ephesus became a Roman city and the ruins that can now be seen date from Roman times.

It’s an astonishing place, arousing feelings of time travel, much like the feelings one gets at Cambodia’s fabulous Temples of Angkor.  The highlights of Ephesus are undoubtedly the imposing facade of the Celsus library (117 AD), and the open air terraced theatre with seating for 25,000, the greatest theatre of the ancient world.

Ephesus had its golden age around 200 AD, and with a population of about 200,000 at that time, was one of the world’s largest cities. Chariots rolled down the marble streets, and occasional gladiatorial contests thrilled the crowd gathered in the theatre. But around 300 AD a series of devastating earthquakes struck the city.  This brought life to a sudden halt for many people, including the wealthy residents of the terrace houses in the city centre.  Some of these 2,000 year old dwellings have now been excavated to reveal domestic utensils of the period, and wall paintings and beautiful mosaic floors in the structures themselves.  

Over the millennia various luminaries have visited Ephesus.  Marc Antony and his wife Cleopatra spent the winter here in 33 BC, and in 50 AD or thereabouts the Apostle Paul arrived to preach but the audience wasn’t impressed and following a rebellion led by a Greek trouble maker, the silversmith Demetrios, Paul hot-tailed it to Corinth.  And now us in 2013 AD. Perhaps I should take a leaf out of Paul’s book and pen my own Letter to the Ephesians.  “Now listen up Ephesians, I have a new deal … ...”

Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey

A six hour coach ride from Istanbul brought us to Eceabat on the shore of the Dardanelles, just a few kilometres from the World War I battlefield of Gallipoli.  We joined a small tour group to see the latter.  Bill the Turk (real name Bulant) was our Guide for the afternoon; he was a history enthusiast and what he didn’t know about the Gallipoli campaign of 1915 probably isn’t worth knowing.

He took us to many of the significant Australian sights, from the initial landing points of Ari Burnu and Anzac Cove, to the Australian and New Zealander cemeteries that dot the area, and to places where some of the 300 km of trenches dug by the Australian “Diggers” still cut across the stony hill slopes that became the final resting place for 10,000 of them.  But these are just a small proportion of the total dead of 140,000 (including 90,000 Turks) buried in the 30 or so cemeteries scattered across the Gallipoli peninsula, now an historical national park.  

With such a huge loss on the Turkish side, this area remains important to Turkish people too, and there were many local visitors walking around the Turkish cemeteries and memorials.  Australians come here en masse each Anzac Day, with more than 10,000 gathering for the annual commemoration service at Anzac Cove.  The last of the Anzac diggers died recently, but it seems, rightly, that they will not be forgotten.   

By 4pm our own Gallipoli campaign was winding down and like the surviving troops of 1915, we were evacuated from the battlefield without incident, although in our case in much happier circumstances, and only as far as Eceabat where we spent a comfortable night in a waterfront hotel preparing for tomorrow’s dawn crossing of the Dardanelles, and journey on south to the ancient Roman ruins at Ephesus.

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul is instantly likeable.  We based ourselves in the old town (formerly Constantinople in the Ottoman days) and spent four days walking, watching, eating and drinking in this wonderful, friendly, fascinating place.  Aya Sofia (Istanbul’s most beautiful building), the looming Blue Mosque, ancient intricate mosaics, the Sultans’ palace and harem, the Grand Bazaar, freshly squeezed pomegranate and grapefruit juice on every street corner, olives and crunchy bread galore, glistening sardines and sea bass fried under the Galata Bridge, boat ride on the Bosphoros Strait separating Asia from Europe, friendly helpful people, and too much Turkish Delight.       

Blue Lake, Mt Gambier, South Australia

I was back in my hometown for a day for my sister’s 60th birthday party.  The Blue Lake is at its best this time of the year.