On Thursday, we set out from Salihli and after a bit of difficulty we managed to find the ruins of Sardis, which were very badly sign-posted. Lewis had a bit of a problem with his chain, which a mechanic fixed free of charge. What used to be the rich capital of Lydia under kings such as Croesus is not the impressive city it must once have been. At the end of the Persian Royal Road, it was an important place for Alexander the Great to secure, which he did with no difficulty at all: the locals surrendered when they knew he was coming, sending envoys to him. The remains of the temple of Artemis were set in beautiful surroundings, but not too well preserved. The main site that survives 1km from the temple- including a synagogue as well as Roman baths- wasn't as interesting as we could have hoped. Our experience was spiced up a bit by a Bible group from the deep South of the U.S. To quote their preacher: 'You can act like a Church and you can look like a Church, but if you don't have the heart of the Church..' Not really sure why they were there!
To avoid a steep mountain pass, we chose to continue our journey by retracing our steps as far as Turgutlu and then continuing onto to Kemalpasa. The going was tough; motivation hard to come by. Tired from the previous day's exertions, the busy main road and the honking of trucks did nothing to help!
We spent the night in the hills of Kemalpasa, a few kilometres off the main road. We awoke yesterday to floods of rain outside. Decided to wait for a couple of hours before leaving. Turned out that the skies cleared and normality returned with the sun coming out. Setting off, the first half hour was an uphill battle: one incredibly steep hill in particular. Had to take a breather halfway up, and nearly couldn't get moving again!
The clouds ahead looked ominous, and after a while the rain started to bucket down. 15 mins later and we reached Torbali, deciding to wait it out, simming on Turkish tea served in small glasses. A guy came up to us and told us the best places to stop off and stay the night along our route, which was very helpful! We weren't so lucky with the rain; we had to get going again and brave the conditions..
It didn't stop pouring until we reached Selcuk (near Ephesus) and we got absolutely drenched. On the plus side, it brought the best out of our cycling in our haste to arrive at our destination: we covered the 40 miles in exactly 3 hours. Fantastic chicken kebabs for lunch, and we cycled the few kilometres to Atilla's getaway, where we are staying at the moment.
Today was our first rest day; we needed half a day to see the remains of Ephesus. Just a pity that I led us the wrong way, against Lewis' advice, walking up a massive hill and then hitching a lift only to reach the house of the Virgin Mary instead! Very kindly, the same Canadian couple drove us back to Ephesus. Much appreciated!!
Ephesus did not let our expectations down. The library of Celsus and the terraced houses (where the splendour of the lives of the Roman elite was displayed to full effect) were particularly good. The site that we walked around was the city that was founded by Lysimachus, Alexander's general- the original was located nearer the modern-day town of Selcuk, where the one lonely pillar of the Temple of Artemis still stands (there used to be 127, and it was one of the seven wonders of the Ancient World- how time has changed it!). As an aside, Alexander, after Ephesus had surrendered without conflict, recalled the exiles who had supported him (and had been chucked out for that reason) and restored democracy (deposing Persian oligarchy) and then halted a massacre of the pro-Persian population by their own people. As Arrian puts it, 'his popularity never stood higher than it did on this occassion.'
Rain forecast for tomorrow!!
Rory & Lewis
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