Turkey! The beginnings

So I got up nice and early, had some cheerios in my room, and headed to the port. The boat was easier to find than expected, and so I did the whole customs thing, got on, and passed out with my face down on my bag. I awoke to my named being called over the boat intercom.. That's the only part i understood.. So i jumped up and headed to the captian box and handed them my swines flu form.. Assuming that's what they were looking for. O you were the girl passed out. Yep. Cool. I guess the imprints on my face didn't help give it away or anything. So lookin around turkey is green!


Nice green and desert combo.. It's actually quite pretty. I got to marmaris where I had to buy my €15 visa for turkey and then pay another €5 for the cab to drive me to the bus station... Dumb. I knew it couldn't be too far, but I couldve easily walked.. Turkey doesn't throw 34 maps at you like the rest of Europe so I didn't really know which way to head. But I got to the bus stop right in time to be hurried onto the spaceship looking bus to head to Aydin.. I had missed the only bus straight to kusadasi.. Said something like soosadawsi.. But the bus was legit... Wifi and drinks served.. It was nicer than most of the airplanes I've been on. So the 2.5 hours flew by so quick and luckily I asked if I was supposed to get off.. As soon as I did everyone was "cuse me miss, where u go?" I pointed to the name on a bus and about 5 men showed me to the right minibus to jump on.. Def not the same luxury.. A little more authentic.. Hot and almost squished.. Stopping to pick up whoever needed a ride. There's no bus stops, just a bus route.. And u get on or off where you like.. Kinda what I expected.. Something between Egypt and Asia.. With a European twist. Actually it's not all that different to Greece either. It's one of the first countries I've imagined correctly.. Almost dead on... The spaceship bus threw me off a bit. So i eventually got to kusadasi.. And i made a 2 liyra phone call to get picked up.. Had i known to get off driving by the town center i couldve walked... Guess i shouldve followed the crowd on that move.. Oops. But after a while someone came to get me and i made it to the hostel.. $10 a night! With breakfast! The dude liked me.. Of course.. So I got upgraded to a private room for free.. This one isn't spooky cuz it's just for me! So I have a double bed and my own bathroom instead of a lonely dorm. Ok! The hostel dudes uncle was bbqin.. And he wanted me to join.. 12 liyra..(~$8) Hmm no thanks.. Im still on a budget and i blew way more than my budget just getting here today. So I went out for a walk.. Found the harbor and the bazaar with a million things to buy.. I gave in a tiny bit!! Im pretty sure its safe to say jaqi isnt reading my blog, but just incase, i got her a present and one for myself for 50 liyra and upgraded both for less than the starting offer of one. Maybe it can be done cheaper but def not by much.. Im such a haggler now! Haha I know theyll have all the same everything in istanbul so hopefully i can wait for the rest so I won't haveta lug it around. It's very touristy.. This place is really just a harbour side tourist trap, but it's not so bad. Theres prayer being blasted five times a day to keep ya in check.. I think it's the same recording from Cairo, They must share the tape! And I found a spot with kebabs, now Turkish style! For 1.5 liyra. Bomb. Not really too much meat, but you can't complain for a dollar. So I wandered some more getting back by dark, and the monkeys uncle was at me again to buy his BBQ. No! I cleaned up.. Myself and my laundry, and then went back downstairs. The hostel man kept babbling on and on and eventually I went up and joined the Dutch tour group who was learning to belly dance. I'm a natural at one move.. And can't do any of the others. It was good fun though.. I don't k ow what was better.. Seeing these tall lanky boys dressed in little pink hip scarves with beads, or watching them try to shimmy their chests.

The next morning I got up pretty early, I wanted to get to Ephesus early to beat the direct sun and maybe have time to see something else. I enjoyed my prearranged breakfast.. By that I mean it was kinda like Bali again where our fruit was precut, with exactly 4 bite sizes on each plate and then tea and juice. It was pretty good though.. Got a small piece of meat in there, cheese, an egg and bread. Way better than any hostel free for all carbo load. Then i asked when the bus to ephesus was.. Online it said the hostel gave rides, but I've learned that what's online isn't always true.. So the monkeys uncle was there again trying to give me a very good deal for a personal ride around, making it seem like the only way there was by car.. Skeptical I said ok for a bit, but I knew there was no way I was giving him 50 bucks... Thats waaay over budget! He said we had to wait til 11:30 to go.. Fine. I read a bit about it and the ancientness of it all, mary's house is just up the road and you can also see this hole where 7 men slept.. Maybe you've heard the story of the seven sleepers? I haven't. And one of the columns in Ephesus is the only remaining piece of one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.. Sweet. I found gramps and asked him if there was a bus to Ephesus.. Of course, just 4 Turkish liyra.. That's a bit more my style. So I peaced on the uncle and made my way to the "bus stop". Or the roundabout down the road...


I went to the wrong roundabout of course, but the nice bus man drove me down the road to the right one for free, because I am beautiful girl. Bah Im already sick of hearing it. Then I jumped on the correct bus and got to the crossroads between the highway and the road to Ephesus. Awaiting our arrival were 3 taxis, trying to sell us rides to mary's house on the hill.. I told them she would have to wait if they really wanted 50 liyra. She's been waiting 2000 years, I think she can hang on a few more for me.. Shell understand I'm sure. It's funny how intimidated I use to be by these guys, and now I just mess with them. So i stepped into their office.. Haha a little fold out table and chairs on the side of the road and negotiated. There was this couple there from New York who were only in their first week of their world adventures, and they wanted to share a cab to the top so you only haveta walk one way through "the city". Fine. For 3 bucks, I joined in... As I walked back though.. It probably wasn't even worth that.. It was an easy, plesant walk, but you never know til you do it wrong. So cab to the top of the hill, another freaking 20 TL to get in and then it was all good. You can literally climb on half the monuments or whatever you want to Call them.





15 bucks means youre free to roam as the cats do. So I climbed a tiny bit, then decided to respect the reallly old pillars and rocks and wondered for a solid three hours, going into the wrongly named brothel, the library, down the columned paths and taking pictures of tons of roman ruins and theatres that might as well have been Athens. Well, these are cooler than Athens though, so I'm glad I saw those ones first!





They are so old and cool, but in the end, it's all just really old marble rocks. I found myself at the end, not unimpressed, but not overwhelmed with excitement either. Glad I saw it but was mad I forgot to find the wonder of the world pillar! Dumb! After I walked back to the bus stop.. There actually was a stop for the way back where this little old man radioed the next bus comin through to see how many seats were available.. I coulda handled that on my own, but whatever. I tried to ask him about the one special column, then the reallllly very old column, then I pointed out ancient, wonder, and world in his dictionary.... All we ever got were yes many many columns in Ephesus. Yes alll are the same and all are ancient and wonderful. So maybe I got a picture by chance, maybe I didn't.. It's not a big attraction clearly as it wasn't marked, and I more or less followed all the different guides and tour groups to listen in on info and no one pointed out anything special. Maybe the books lie like about the brothel. Before I got to the bus stop I had to pass the taxi office again.. They offered me free rides back home, but I told them my mother taught me that nothing in life is free.. They thought that was hilarious. And said well yes just free for your wallet. Hmm no thanks. They also couldn't comprehend why my boyfriend back in California would let me leave.. I dont need his permission? (my boyfriend cant be in turkey because it isn't believeable when I'm wondering around alone) These guys have wives but would never let them go anywhere.. Especially without them or their permission.. Guess that's one way to put a perspective on what being free really means... So anyway, I delt with the creeps and the silly radioing bus man, and eventually got back to kusadasi to roam the shops a bit more.. My next bargain is a sweatshirt.. But even the beautiful girl price isn't what I want to pay.. The standard 40 TL, which is 5-10 less than the regular cheap price I've deducted. So hopefully I can at least get the beautiful girl price in istanbul.. For some reason I feel I'll be alright, and they will have the one I want somewhere even If it's sold out of every store in kusadasi.. Which it wasn't.


I got another 1.5 TL kebab and talked to some more shop dudes.. Making up new stories about my life, where I live, my boyfriend and so on depending on where the conversation was going. I learned that it'll be cold in cappadocia, which I expected, and I need to face the fact that I am going to get asked out every night from here on out at least 3 times a day. I also learned that it's less touristy and I will Lear. More about the culture inwards.. I guess the cruise ships in the harbor towns have built up the disgusting tourist atmosphere that I see here, and well, so many other places in the world too.


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