Reminiscence from Anatolia- Part Seven: At Ephesus!
“So that makes you a Muslim or a Christian”…
“Actually both- I am equally comfortable being in a Church and a Mosque… and believe me, I am unable to decide”… a pause… “Actually the two religions are so close to each other… if not the Catholic version, which is followed by my mother… then, of course, the Orthodox version… that you hardly seem to have any trouble following both of them at the same time”
“And how are they so close… of course both of them are from the books… have same lineage… but today they seem so apart”
“The values… perhaps”
“But values are same for most of the religion… I mean I am a born Hindu… but don’t have any problems in conforming to a lot of values of Islam and that of Christianity… for me they are so universal in nature… I can be a good Hindu… while following an Islamic principle”
Hoda, I noticed, was very pretty… she was a perfect mix of sharp Arab features and English elegance… while on the bus to Selcuk, we sat together. The bus passed by the Bosphrous Bridge… which by night was illuminated by blue lights… and it was definitely a beautiful sight.
Later, at around 12 the bus crossed the Mediterranean…atop a ferry… from Yeveza to Yalova. We went into the restaurant of the ferry and had a Turkish coffee together. She was rather unsure about her itinerary… Selcuk stay for 3 days… and didn’t have any hotel in her mind… she asked me- where do I plan to go… ANZ Guest House… I had written them an email some few days ago and had booked a bunk bed… she said that she would try the same place.
The journey was uneventful… I couldn’t help noticing though, the perfect roads all over the place… I told myself… Turkey is definitely a developed country… little did I know that within a week I would see another Turkey which is as impoverished as any other developing country. In the morning the bus stopped at out-skirts of Selcuk town… where we got down to have breakfasts or use lavatories… I was aghast to find that one needs to pay 1 Lira (around 30 Rupees) to use a urinal… it must have been the most expensive way of relieving myself by answering nature’s call…
We reached Selcuk town in the wee hours of morning… without much of help around… we had some difficulty in tracking down ANZ Guest House… but after half hour of looking around… we were able to track down this place… the owner, who was sitting with a few of his guest house… welcomed us and tried to give a double room… thinking that we were a couple… it was an embarrassing situation… but then soon he realized his folly…
While leading us to one of his dormitory, which had a separate room exclusively for girls, if they wanted it… he told us as to why he named this place ANZ… apparently, he had lived in Australia… and first few guests who arrived at his guest house were Australia and New Zealand.
While at the breakfast room, we met a British lady Andrea… a Spanish couple… and a Malaysian girl… Andrea, perhaps, was a Jew… she recounted her experience of living in a Kibbutz near Haifa… I whispered- are you a Jew… she just smiled back. The Spanish couple was funny… they broke into a dance at the drop of hat… and the Malaysian girl was having loads of attitude and was very attractive… we discussed on ways and means to get to Ephesus… the owner told me that he can offer a free ride to all of us… the Spanish couple, Hoda and I… agreed to hop in.
The ride to Ephesus is a short one… about 15 minutes… it passed through the beautiful country side… while we were leaving Selcuk town… I saw a board announcing the site of Artemis… one of the seven wonders of ancient world… now lying in rubble… but once used to evoke amazement. I promised that I would come to see it.
Ephesus is one of the most celebrated Greco-Roman sites in Turkey… in fact Ephesus Library has often been used as a poster for promoting Turkish tourism… Yusuf told me that apart from Istanbul and Cappadocia… Ephesus is the most often visited tourist site in entire Turkey… he said that the site was over-rated… but then if one had to pick just one Greco-Roman site in Anatolia… it has to be Ephesus.
Ephesus was one of the most prominent Roman cities in first century BC… in fact, many claim that it was the biggest Roman city after Rome itself… and had a population of about 3 lacs… it boasts of one of the largest amphitheatre of its times… which could house almost 25000 people… the Ephesus Library was one of the most celebrated libraries, next only to the Alexandrian counterpart.
Roaming among the rubbles of Ephesus… I couldn’t help pondering about the waxing and waning of civilizations… a huge city of Ephesus that was used by the Romans to control their Eastern subjects… and was their second most important city… lies in rubble… one day after a thousand year… we may see the same fate of New York, and San Francisco.
I was particularly by a engraving on stone… perhaps by one of its erstwhile emperors… which talked about taxing the more endowed subjects and areas and channeling the money to develop the less endowed areas and subjects… the earliest development economics…
All of us- Hoda, the Spanish couple and I separated our ways… I for one wanted to walk down to Selcuk city after seeing Ephesus… taking a detour to Grotto of Seven Sleepers and Artemis… others wanted a quick tour of Ephesus and take a free ride back to ANZ.
While walking towards Grotto of Seven Sleepers… I met my others fellow travelers towards their way to Selcuk… they didn’t know as to what they are going to miss… I also didn’t know that this 4-5 kilometer walk would be the most wonderful walk.
“Actually both- I am equally comfortable being in a Church and a Mosque… and believe me, I am unable to decide”… a pause… “Actually the two religions are so close to each other… if not the Catholic version, which is followed by my mother… then, of course, the Orthodox version… that you hardly seem to have any trouble following both of them at the same time”
“And how are they so close… of course both of them are from the books… have same lineage… but today they seem so apart”
“The values… perhaps”
“But values are same for most of the religion… I mean I am a born Hindu… but don’t have any problems in conforming to a lot of values of Islam and that of Christianity… for me they are so universal in nature… I can be a good Hindu… while following an Islamic principle”
Hoda, I noticed, was very pretty… she was a perfect mix of sharp Arab features and English elegance… while on the bus to Selcuk, we sat together. The bus passed by the Bosphrous Bridge… which by night was illuminated by blue lights… and it was definitely a beautiful sight.
Later, at around 12 the bus crossed the Mediterranean…atop a ferry… from Yeveza to Yalova. We went into the restaurant of the ferry and had a Turkish coffee together. She was rather unsure about her itinerary… Selcuk stay for 3 days… and didn’t have any hotel in her mind… she asked me- where do I plan to go… ANZ Guest House… I had written them an email some few days ago and had booked a bunk bed… she said that she would try the same place.
The journey was uneventful… I couldn’t help noticing though, the perfect roads all over the place… I told myself… Turkey is definitely a developed country… little did I know that within a week I would see another Turkey which is as impoverished as any other developing country. In the morning the bus stopped at out-skirts of Selcuk town… where we got down to have breakfasts or use lavatories… I was aghast to find that one needs to pay 1 Lira (around 30 Rupees) to use a urinal… it must have been the most expensive way of relieving myself by answering nature’s call…
We reached Selcuk town in the wee hours of morning… without much of help around… we had some difficulty in tracking down ANZ Guest House… but after half hour of looking around… we were able to track down this place… the owner, who was sitting with a few of his guest house… welcomed us and tried to give a double room… thinking that we were a couple… it was an embarrassing situation… but then soon he realized his folly…
While leading us to one of his dormitory, which had a separate room exclusively for girls, if they wanted it… he told us as to why he named this place ANZ… apparently, he had lived in Australia… and first few guests who arrived at his guest house were Australia and New Zealand.
While at the breakfast room, we met a British lady Andrea… a Spanish couple… and a Malaysian girl… Andrea, perhaps, was a Jew… she recounted her experience of living in a Kibbutz near Haifa… I whispered- are you a Jew… she just smiled back. The Spanish couple was funny… they broke into a dance at the drop of hat… and the Malaysian girl was having loads of attitude and was very attractive… we discussed on ways and means to get to Ephesus… the owner told me that he can offer a free ride to all of us… the Spanish couple, Hoda and I… agreed to hop in.
The ride to Ephesus is a short one… about 15 minutes… it passed through the beautiful country side… while we were leaving Selcuk town… I saw a board announcing the site of Artemis… one of the seven wonders of ancient world… now lying in rubble… but once used to evoke amazement. I promised that I would come to see it.
Ephesus is one of the most celebrated Greco-Roman sites in Turkey… in fact Ephesus Library has often been used as a poster for promoting Turkish tourism… Yusuf told me that apart from Istanbul and Cappadocia… Ephesus is the most often visited tourist site in entire Turkey… he said that the site was over-rated… but then if one had to pick just one Greco-Roman site in Anatolia… it has to be Ephesus.
Ephesus was one of the most prominent Roman cities in first century BC… in fact, many claim that it was the biggest Roman city after Rome itself… and had a population of about 3 lacs… it boasts of one of the largest amphitheatre of its times… which could house almost 25000 people… the Ephesus Library was one of the most celebrated libraries, next only to the Alexandrian counterpart.
Roaming among the rubbles of Ephesus… I couldn’t help pondering about the waxing and waning of civilizations… a huge city of Ephesus that was used by the Romans to control their Eastern subjects… and was their second most important city… lies in rubble… one day after a thousand year… we may see the same fate of New York, and San Francisco.
I was particularly by a engraving on stone… perhaps by one of its erstwhile emperors… which talked about taxing the more endowed subjects and areas and channeling the money to develop the less endowed areas and subjects… the earliest development economics…
All of us- Hoda, the Spanish couple and I separated our ways… I for one wanted to walk down to Selcuk city after seeing Ephesus… taking a detour to Grotto of Seven Sleepers and Artemis… others wanted a quick tour of Ephesus and take a free ride back to ANZ.
While walking towards Grotto of Seven Sleepers… I met my others fellow travelers towards their way to Selcuk… they didn’t know as to what they are going to miss… I also didn’t know that this 4-5 kilometer walk would be the most wonderful walk.
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