I drove in Turkey!

We returned from Cairo with a couple days to spare in Turkey. Jeanette had arranged for us to fly down to Izmir to see some sights nearby. We arrived in Izmir and went to get our rental car. Gotta admit I was a bit apprehensive about driving in Turkey after spending a few days in Istanbul and then seeing drivers in Cairo. Admittedly, driving in Izmir wasn’t quite as bad as Istanbul, and nowhere near as bad as Cairo, but it did have some challenges until we got out of Izmir proper. Once out though, we headed toward Pamukkale. Along the way Jeanette decided we should visit the ruins at Aphrodisias. That was the best decision of the day by far! It was AMAZING!!! You have to see the pics to appreciate the ruins. I am still amazed by the stone carving. One guy carving the top of a column to be perfectly symmetrical is one thing; but realize that there were 40+ columns that were EXACTLY the same and things get outstanding. I am sure they had to have some jig or template.

After Aphrodisias we went to Pamukkale. While it is an incredibly interesting geological formation, I was disappointed by the commercialization of the sight. Still was cool though.

We managed to drive to our hotel that evening after navigating the streets with no names. Check Jeanette’s posts for more details about that!

Today we went to Ephesus. It was fascinating as well. To think that we walked on the same street as St. Paul as well as Marc Antony and Cleopatra was kind of cool.

While we were there we stumbled upon a professional model shoot. I called it “Izmir’s Next Top Model” but I think they were Italian based in the guy shouting ‘pose’ in what I believe was Italian.

All in all a good trip to Izmir. Tomorrow is a travel day to Istanbul, then on to Bangkok the next day.

Enjoy the pictures of Izmir and the surrounding areas!

Izmir, Turkey