More of the vacation with the folks

After our adventure into Ephesus, our day was not over. Our tour had many other plans for us.


                                  

And the rain decided to stick around as well

Shortly after Ephesus, we stopped for lunch, a buffet of all traditional Turkish cuisine. The biggest takeaway from this point was everyone was very cold and really just looking forward to being somewhere that wasn't pouring down water. Unfortunately, it's kind of common for places in this part of the world to not run the heating, at all. So we mostly just drip dried, ate our food, and moved right on to the next stop for the day, which turned out to be a demonstration on the beautiful rugs of Turkey.

Likely this took 6 months to make

This wasn't a normal stop on the days tour, one that was improvised because of the rain. It was fascinating to learn about the work that goes into making such intricate pieces. Even the material they are made from takes a lot of work.

Sometimes the old ways are the best ways

Here you can see dozens of larva cocoons, placed in ordinary water. This starts the unraveling process, and then you thread the first strands of silk and churn it out.

And that's how silk is born

After watching how you got the silk, we were treated to seeing a few women actually making rugs. The process is entirely done by hand with a few simple tools, but it is an art form that is dying. Many of the younger generation choose not to pick up the trade.

Didn't get a good photo so this is from Google. They weave every line of thread.

This rug, done by a master, can take months to complete.

We were then ushered into a show room, with benches along the walls, served some tea, and given a lesson on why every design is different and illegal to be made anywhere else besides the village that it comes from.

Each design is unique to the village it came from. Every symbol and color on it has a meaning

While interesting, they kept laying out more and more rugs, and asked us to take off our shoes to actually feel the material under our feet. It soon became apparent that, you couldn't really walk out past all the rugs on the ground. In a way, we were cornered.

Most of the rolls of rugs on the side were unrolled for us

These rugs were beautiful, but once they laid everything out, the hard sell was started. Oh the deals they were trying to put on us, shipping would be included, what size and design did you like, and what is in your price range, we can work something out just how much do you have. Heard it all, and it was pretty aggressive to have to wait for every rug to be put up before we could leave. But hey, the tea was good, and the room was heated, couldn't complain too much. Onto bigger and better things.

Just around the corner were the remains of the Temple of Artemis.

Now just one pillar

While it doesn't look like much now, the Temple of Artemis was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Back in the 3rd century B.C. it was around 380 eight feet long by 180 feet wide with 127 columns you see above. Far larger then any structure we'd seen. Impressive, but now it's just one big pillar and it was starting to rain pretty hard at this point, but our guide conveyed some really cool information about it.

The most interesting part of this is what was close to the temple. Turns out, stones from the Temple were actually used to make other religious buildings nearby.You can see below a Christian Church, and Muslim Mosque, and a Pagan Temple all within shouting distance of each other. The Building blocks of the very structures that have stood for hundreds of years since came from the temple. Kind of crazy when you think about it.

Cheaters guide to the landscape

From our short stop at the temple of Artemis, we were treated to another famous aspect of Turkey, the pottery art.

Shameless plug of their shop

This was again, another touristy trap, an attempt to get some stuff sold. But, unlike the rug place, they were nice and very upfront about it. They showed us quickly how they made their ceramics, sadly no one was there to give a demonstration, so just the basics were explained. Then they unveiled their gallery, with the statement if you see anything you like let us know, otherwise thank you so much for coming by. And that was it. With some freedom and manners, as well as some awesome painting skill, they made a few sales. Worlds of difference from the rug people.

Next up we made our way to a town of just a few hundred nestled in the hills. At one time was settled by the Greeks after the destruction of Ephesus,they dubbed  it Çirkince (Meaning "Ugly Village") and now named by the Turks as Şirince ("Pleasant Village"). Just a small little village hidden away in the hills, it reminded Katie and I very much of some of the small towns located on the islands around Greece.

                                    

Finally, the end of our day came with a drive to our hotel, the 4 star Efe Boutique located in Kusdasai, about 45 minutes from where we were.

Taken the following morning with all the sunlight

We didn't really know what to expect from this hotel, but after such a long and full day we were happy to see that it met and very much exceeded everything we could of wanted. The view alone was breathtaking.

They upgraded our rooms to suites, with the bay view out the window

Throw in a Jacuzzi tub, a nice staff, and a bed with the view from above and we were happy as could be. On to the next morning, which happened to be Katie's birthday. *Confetti* the view got even better.

Send that to a calendar maker and I'll take a commission 

The staff even arranged for a double rainbow for Katie.

It's pretty faint in this picture but it's there

Friday called for a three hour bus ride, but seeing the country side of Turkey was quite exciting. You  really got a feel for how the hills and mountains shape the country side.

And the drive was absolutely worth it for the limestone mountains of Pamukkele!

But that, is for the next post. Leave a comment of what you think of what you've seen so far. All the love.
-B