Turkey Over Eid Holidays

The Coast

We covered parts of the Mediterranean and the Aegean coasts. The coast is absolutely beautiful, and reminded me a lot of the California coast. The weather was also very much LA-like: low 80's daytime and high 60's to low 70's nighttime. Everywhere we went, we found lots of pomegranate trees and jasmine trees. As far as I am concerned, pomegranate juice, baklava and Turkish chai are a great addition to any diet!

More pictures of the drive here.


Antalya


We started out in Antalya. Though this is a rather large city, we spent most of our time in the old town area. Hadrian's Gate is probably the most famous remain of the Roman period here. The old town is still surrounded by the remains of the Roman city walls. Inside the walls are the old, narrow streets, lots of street vendors and of course hotels. There is also a really nice park alongside the water, which was my favorite part of this city.

More Antalya photos here.



Phaselis

The ruins at Phaselis are mostly from the Roman era. However, the city has a much more fascinating and complex history. It originally was a Lycian port city. The Greeks bought it and built an extensive town with three harbors around an acropolis. Then, it was a Roman province, which was raided by the Arabs and Seljuks. All this history makes for a rather interesting place.


More Phaselis photos here.


Kas

Kas is a beautiful city, set adjoining a peninsula. The hillside along the ocean is where most of the hotels are located. The town was one of our favorites, with narrow streets developed in natural formations around and through the hillsides. There are lots of great restaurants, independent shops, local artists, cafes and bars. We enjoyed pide, or Turkish pizza, while sitting outside amidst the crowded streets, for dinner.

More Kas photos here.


Pinara

Pinara was my favorite ruined city, primarily because it is not as popular and organized for tourism as the other sites. When we went, we were amongst a total of five people there. Because it is not a "tourist spot" per se, we were able to climb up the hillside amongst the ruins, and hike our way up to the Lycian tombs and the ruined city. Yes, the holes you see on the hillside are actually the Lycian tombs; and we were able to hike to and around the theatre, baths and agora as well.

More Pinara pictures here.


Marmaris

Marmaris is a wonderful bay city. Our favorite part of Marmaris was the Old Quarter, where they have restored the old Greek homes incredibly well. The streets in the Old Quarter are narrow and go up and down the hills in a natural formation. Some of the old buildings have also been restored and made into restaurants and bars with excellent views of the city and the bay.

More Marmaris photos here.


Bodrum

Bodrum was the city with the most tourists, but it still has places you can enjoy without being bogged down with too much tourism. In the old town, for example, the main streets were filled with tourists, but as soon as we walked away, we found the quaint character-filled neighborhoods. The walk along the harbor was also very nice.

More Bodrum photos here.


Ephesus

Ephesus is one of the most well-known and largest ruined cities. Ephesus was a great Greek city, but it became the chief port city on the Aegean under the Romans. Most of the surviving structures are from the Roman period. Highlights include: Library of Celsus, Theatre, Temple of Hadrian, Gate of Hercules and Colonnaded Street.

More Ephesus photos here.


Izmir

Izmir was the city where we saw the real Turkey, as opposed to the beach towns designed for tourism. The locals all come out in the evenings and hang out at the Konak square, which is also where the Konak clock tower and the Konak mosque are located. Street vendors sell muscles, nuts, etc. and the locals sit around, picnic or go for walks. Unlike the other old towns we saw, the old town in Izmir is actually where the poor people live, and the neighborhood is all rundown. You do see that this may be changing as the lower parts of the old town are already starting to look more developed and cleaned up. Izmir also has its own set of ruins, including the agora; the interesting thing about the agora here was that there were ruins from not only the Roman era, but also the Ottoman & Seljuk eras with Arabic writing on them. Overall, a very eclectic place.

More Izmir photos here.