Exploring Inland to Ephesus & Pamukkale.

So 11th September, with a non functioning bow thruster (not a easy fix) and forecasted high winds in the area we decided to turn up our sailing toes for the season, and start putting Seaclusion to bed for the winter interspersed with some exploring! I have to say that putting Seaclusion to bed in the water is considerably less arduous than when we have her lifted, it was brilliant, even though our plan is to leave her immaculate and ready to set sail next year!

So after a couple of days of cleaning, polishing and generally decluttering her, we set off to Milas Bodrum airport to hire a car for a couple of days, and then onto Ephesus where we found a wonderful gem of a hotel with views over the town and out to sea, all in time to watch a fabulous sunset and the bunnies running across the gardens, and yes I do mean bunny rabbits!

Our room, well suite which the hotel very generously upgraded us to was amazing, pure luxury after the confines of the boat over the past few months. Suffice to say we did make use of the double sunken bath!

The following morning, we got up early and after a hearty Turkish breakfast set off to Ephesus, the plan being to visit it early before the hordes and the midday sun! Easier said than done, as having parked up we got chatting to a lovely attendant who advised us that it was much better to get a private car to take us to the top to then walk back down, rather than doing both ways. Thinking this was a great idea we said Yes, only to the find out it entailed a little detour to a Turkish Carpet Manufacturer. Well you never get anything for free do you! It was actually much more interesting than it sounds, seeing how these amazing carpets were spun from silk and how they changed colour according to the direction you looked at them from. Needless to say, it was rather hard to extricate ourselves, the salesman clearly wanting to reach his target that day! Thankfully we did without burning a hole in our pockets, but we arrived at the top much later than intended and had to fight the hordes a bit!

Our lesson in Turkish Carpets

Ephesus lies on the Plain of Cayster. The original site predates 1000 BC, but really began to thrive when it was made the capital of the Roman province of Asia, supported by an excellent harbour, (since now completed silted up). In it was erected 1 of the Wonders of the World, the Temple of Artemis which has been rebuilt many times over the centuries and still stands in part today. The site is impressive not just for its size but how clearly you can envisage what life was like there once upon a time.You walk down the marble street to see the ruins of the Agora, library, Odeon, stadium, gymnasium and apparently a so called brothel!  Its ultimate sad decline was brought about when its harbour finally silted up for good.

And the main event, the Temple of Artemis…

We even had a wedding there! Joining all the Japanese tourists, a photo had to be taken!

On our return to our car, our lovely chap in the car park gave us a cup of apple tea which was so delicious we ended up buying some, no doubt that was his ploy, and some saffron… unlikely to be the proper stuff mind you!

We then made our way to Kusadasi “Isle of Birds” which once upon a time was a tiny non-touristy place but now is a booming tourist town, full of souvenir shops, carpet shops and restaurants designed to accommodate the popular cruise ship destination, indeed there was a Silversea ship docked as we approached the town. Definitely no bargains were likely to be had in the shops with that clientele!

After a wander around we decided to go to the marina to see if we could get our emergency dive tank sorted and pick some bits and bobs up we needed for the boat. Having walked all the way round to the back of the marina where, according to Google the dive shop was meant to be, with David carrying the not so light gear, we found we were very much in the wrong place. Luckily David spied a dive boat in the marina and we approached them for help. As seems to be the Turkish way, instead of directing us to the Dive shop the gent took our gear, had a look and pronounced we just needed to remove a part the previous shop had left in, and produced the right tool for the job. Not such a wasted journey after all! Very appreciative we made our way back to the car and then headed inland to Pamakkale.

We had wanted to arrive in time for sunset, but as you will see below, there was little point as the clouds gathered and blackened the further inland we went. We were soon regretting our shorts and t-shirts, as the rain hit and the temperature plummeted to 18 degrees!

On arrival we made our way to our hotel, after a few photo stops of course, only to find that on this occasion, we weren’t so lucky. Gone was the wonderful spacious room and plunge bath… instead we had a tiny room, with plaster falling off the walls, stale food in the fridge, a full bin and a bath with so much mould I didn’t even fancy having a shower in it. Fortunately they had a wonderful and clean hamman with a masseur downstairs which I took advantage of! Dinner wasn’t much better either, not helped by the fact that it was outside and we were clearly under-dressed for this much colder region!

However it was all worth it for the main attraction we found ourselves in early the following morning!

Pamakkale meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is a natural site in Denizli in southwestern Turkey. The area is famous for its shimmering, snow-white limestone, shaped over millennia by calcium-rich springs, dripping slowly down the vast mountainside, mineral-rich waters foam and collecting in terraces, spilling over cascades of stalactites into milky pools below. Legend has it that the formations are solidified cotton (the area’s principal crop) that giants left out to dry. I will let the pics do the talking, my only comment being that it might be better to come here in spring, when the majority of the pools would be full of water as opposed to at the end of the summer.

We then made a weary way home to Seaclusion, a 3 1/2 hours drive southwards, a small part following a novel mode of transport and were grateful to be back to believe it or not warmer evenings!

We spent the following couple of days working on the boat again and then with an afternoon with little to do, decided to set off exploring again, this time to the head of Gokova Korfezi, to the town of Gokova itself. Over the last few weeks the forecast always showed the winds petering out before you got to the head of the bay, I would however argue that they were wrong!

The seaside town itself was a bustling place, full of character and a small inland waterway full of tourist boats ready to ferry people along them.

and some unusual named bars…

and a packed beach with some brave swimmers!

With the day drawing to a close, we made our way home again to spend our last night this year on Seaclusion, after 104 days on board travelling 1254 nautical miles from Samos, down to Crete and then across to Turkey. Just in case you didn’t get the vibe from our blogs, we have absolutely loved Turkey hence our decision to leave Seaclusion here this winter and we are very much looking forward to coming back next year, not that this is the end of our Tour, next stop (and blog) is Istanbul!

Seaclusion, all clean and tidy, in her 2018/19 Winter Home.