Turkey (day 17 – 20)

“I can’t think of anything that excites a greater sense of childlike wonder than to be in a country where you are ignorant of almost everything. Suddenly you are five years old again. You can’t read anything, you have only the most rudimentary sense of how things work, you can’t even reliably cross a street without endangering your life. Your whole existence becomes a series of interesting guesses.”

Bill Bryson

Thursday (3/31). Thank you Bill for perfectly describing life outside one’s “comfort zone.” We were, however, very much in our comfort zone on our perfect hillside perch. Out across the Aegean Sea, the Greek island of Samos was visible. Most times the only sound came from waves on the rocky shore far below. It offered the best night of sleep since leaving the U.S. After the dog pound the night before, we needed it.

By noon we arrived at the site of ancient Ephesus. Stunning! Walking along the ancient main street you can easily picture life in Ephesus 2,000 years ago. I can’t think of any modern city that could hope to match the beauty and “wow” factor of ancient Ephesus. And then to think we walked the same streets and strolled around the same Agora as the Apostle Paul and possibly other famous historic figures…powerful stuff.

The word ‘awesome’ has almost lost all meaning through over use. Ephesus inspires awe…it truly is awesome. Once again we are very happy to be here before tourist season.

By the 7th century, Ephesus had been sacked, hit by earthquakes, and fallen prey to a silted up harbor. Despite its previous glory, Ephesus pretty much ceased to exist. Most people had moved to the nearby town of Selcuk, which is where we enjoyed more local cuisine and hot showers.

Friday (4/1). I have been bicycle touring since high school. I’ve never been manhandled by the wind like today. Several times a headwind brought us to a complete stop! Other times the sidewind was a giant hand sweeping us completely off the road. As an added bonus, this particular wind coated us with a fine layer of sand being carried all the way from Africa. We we’re inching dangerously close to “not fun” territory. Still, we managed to claw our way forward for twenty-five miles before calling it quits. There was no way our tent would survive this wind, so we took shelter in a pension room for the night.

Saturday (4/2). Biking south from Guzelcamli and Soke, Gursoy parked along the road and motioned for us to stop. He and his mother had just arrived for a stay at their summer home near Akbek. He invited us for dinner and to spend the night. It was farther than we wanted to travel, and not in the direction we had planned, so of course we said “YES!” Best.decision.ever! By evening’s end we had enjoyed a lovely meal. We met family friends and neighbors. We learned so much about life in Turkey, and had so many of our questions answered. Thank your Gursoy, Mother, Turhan, Elwun and Fertik for a most wonderful evening.

Sunday (4/3). We enjoyed another meal as guests of Gursoy and mom before heading out. What a great experience. And based on the collective wisdom of last night’s gathering, we chose a backroad over the mountains and through the woods towards Bodrum. Beautiful, interesting…with lots of 2.4 mph uphills! We were thinking our new ‘friends’ were playing a cruel joke on the gullible foreigners.

Tonight we’ll attempt to avoid sheep and an angry shepherdess and get some sleep. Tomorrow we head toward Bodrum to start checking off the “must see” list given to us. It has been an awesome first week in Turkey!