View across the Agora, looking up to the city's ancient citadel atop Panos Hill, now Kadifekale.
Ephesos • Day 1
Türkiye
September 21, 2023
Where Carla travels by train from Izmir to Selçuk, with the goal of visiting legendary Ephesos, only to find much more than they bargained for. In the evening falls into conversation with a very learned tour guide, who gives them much good advice.
OK, so to get things clear from the start, my plan to take the train from Izmir to Selçuk was only to get to my real destination: Ephesos.
What amazing surprises were waiting for me!
Gar Basmane, Izmir’s main train station, located just around the corner from the hotel where I was staying, is under redevelopment, so the temporary entrance was on one side. Regulatory bag check later, I bought the ticket at the old style booth, where the window is set so low the staff have almost to bend over to speak with you. Ticket bought, I looked for the notice board for departures and the platform numbers. Notice OK, platform numbers not so much – as in none. I walked up to the station master’s office to ask which train to take.
A young, burly, bearded man with tousled auburn hair stepped out and pointed to one: “That one – and I am your driver!” I clambered aboard the large windowed train, sat down on one of the comfortable seats and a few minutes later I was on my way.
The train slipped past Izmir’s sprawling suburbs and soon enough I was travelling through a great plain full of maize, cotton and small settlements, low mounds scattered along its edge and rimmed by high mountains. Eventually the encroaching hills pinched the plain into a valley, its fields now fruit orchards.
After tightening a little more the valley opened up again; we were close to Selçuk. I glanced out of the window; one of those conical mounds stood close by. I looked up and saw, to my amazement, its summit was set with a most wonderful crown of imposing castle walls. The train stopped. This is Selçuk!
I stepped off, followed the directions to the hostel I was booked to stay in, and found myself waking through caféd streets, beneath the arches of an ancient aqueduct, and up a steep hill that took me to the end of the aqueduct, high gates and the great castle walls to my right. I was to discover all of this in the two days to come. But first, to Ephesos!
The easiest and cheapest way to get to Ephesos of the Greeks and Romans is to grab a minibus; they run every few minutes and the site is only 4km from the center of Selçuk.
A short distance out of the town and there it is: a sign signalling “the Artemision” to the right. I look through the rows of oleander, but I can see nothing of this famous temple, one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient World.
You can see clumps of ruins well before the minibus drops its passengers off in a great open space with its small village of tourist stalls and the ticket office for Ephesos, where you buy whatever combination of pass you want to get in.
Strolling down the main path from the toll gate, first glimpsed through sturdy, tall and dark pines, the great theater, cut into a natural curve in a steep hill. Soon enough I’m on the main road that connects the city centre to its port, now completely landlocked by the filling in of a great bay that once came right up to city. From here I can only let the photo gallery below speak to Ephesus’ graceful beauty. Enjoy!
At mid afternoon of an autumn day, the sun sits above the hills beyond the plain and narrow valley in which the heart of Ephesos sits; by 7pm it has disappeared, leaving Ephesos in a cool light.
Inevitably, given its fame, there are tourists everywhere, some solo travellers like me, most part of organized trips and from all over the world.
Exhausted, I retired to the soft cushions of the hostel’s roof terrace, with a gentle, warm sunset playing over the surrounding hills. Come dinner, I decided to go for pide kiymali (that’s the one with ground beef and onions), plus an Efes beer (well I’m in Efes-us, no?). One place looked promising, so I grabbed a table.
I reached into a conversation started by people on another table, to find they are local tour guides. Good Efes, no pide. So I went for köfte, which were very good. One guide came over to my table; we talked and shared some beers until it was closing time. You will hear of Timucin Sahin, for that is his name, later.
One gentleman taking in the late afternoon sun as he sits on the sea breakers fronting Izmir's long promenade.