Bodrum and Ephesus, Turkey

Today we caught a 6 am flight out of Istanbul to Bodrum. Our cab driver to the airport was insane.  No regard for speed limits, stop signs, or even lights. Red doesn't mean stop here. It is insane. Organized chaos or something like that. The flight was uneventful besides the fact that we were the only females on the flight besides the stewardesses. It is a male country here. Getting to Bodrum! we picked up the car we have rented for the next five days to cover more of Turkey. It is easy to drive here if you are aggressive with a lead foot. I love driving here.

Bodrum is a quaint little port city that typically hosts the ferries to Greece. We will return here on the 5th to go to Kos, Greece. Driving around too pre-book our ferry tickets, we found an adorable little cafe on the sea/ocean/whatever for breakfast. They barely spoke English but a lot of pointing worked to get ourselves breakfast. Turkish pancakes are not breakfast food for anyone who decides to go to turkey. They are a mix between a crepe and a grilled cheese sandwich. Coffee here will knock your socks off it is so strong. You only need one a day else your stomach will burn a hole in them.

It pissed rain for part of the drive but nothing stopped us. The two hour drive from Bodrum to Ephesus was painless and filled with law school gossip. Upon arriving in Ephesus we dropped our bags at the Boomerang Bungalows. It is an amazing hotel run by this Australian Turk couple. It is clean and nice and super welcoming. Then we immediately walked to the ruins, which are part of the seven old wonders of the world. Incredible architecture that has been around since about 92 AD. It is in the process of being restored by the Amerindians. We walked the entire 8 km stretch both up and down it. My feet are burning from all of the walking. My nike step counter says I have done 67 km of walking since I left Canada. I believe it.

Ephesus is a bunch of ruins that we could have dine then headed off to Pumukkale and stayed the night there but we decided to keep it tame today.

Dinner was freshly chosen from the market across the street then cooked by our hotel owners for us. For a stir fry with baby corn, bamboo, Broccoli, red peppers, and chicken with orange juice and a bottle of water - it cost $7 total. Delicious and fresh. Tonight is an early night because we are driving to Pumukkale then to Antayla tomorrow. It will be amazing to sit in hot pools for a while the. Sit on the beach for a couple of days this trip so far has been very go go go. All of the history and ruins is done as of tomorrow until May 5 when we go to Santorini, Greece.

AFN