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From Pamukkale, we took a three-hour bus ride to the Aegean coastal town of Selçuk (the 'ç' is a 'ch' in Turkish). It's a sleepy town of about 23,000 people, whose claim to fame is the ruins of Ephesus, located just outside town limits. Ephesus is the best-preserved classical city in the eastern Mediterranean. Roman Ephesus was the capital of Asia Minor and had a population of 250,000 people. It was the home to one of the most significant early Christian communities, and Paul lived in the city for three years. His letter to the Ephesians is considered the most profound of his epistles.
The ruins of Ephesus are awesome to see, and seen by thousands they are. After having the acres of Volubilis essentially to ourselves back in Morocco, we felt like we were simply one of a herd at Ephesus. The opportunity to simply sit and reflect had to be taken amidst tour guides loudly pointing out significant features in various languages, whilst their lemming-like bus tour groups quickly snapped pictures. We got our fix of 'English' while in Selçuk as well. An English-speaking couple ran the guesthouse where we stayed – she was a Canadian and he was a Turk raised in Australia. We got to watch some of the Olympics in English, and the kids even saw some English cartoons. Most of the guests were Anglophones as well, so Bram & Sharon could drink their evening tea and chat with other adults without having to worry about translation issues. A real treat!
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