Turkey - Ephesus & an insight into the prices

Years ago, a loyal reader wrote to me disappointedly asking why we hadn't visited Ephesus. It was one of the most beautiful archaeological sites. Yes, maybe she was right, but we were fed up with old stones at the time. Besides, we were travelling by motorbike and it was almost 40 degrees. We just couldn't take any more.

But this time it had to be done. When we were planning our route, we thought that this would probably be the last archaeological site. (Incidentally, we were very wrong about this, but more on that in one of the next posts).

So we drive to the car park very early and put on our warm clothes. The nights are still really cold here and when the sun isn't shining so strongly in the morning, 7 to 10 degrees feels very wintry. But we will regret it, because Ephesus is huge and after three or four hours the sun shines and warms the air to 20 degrees. And then we're lugging our winter clothes around. What professionals we are!

Ephesus, an ancient city in Ionia, Asia Minor, was famous for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Originally located by the sea, geological changes have shifted the coastline so that the ruins now lie inland. In 2015, UNESCO declared Ephesus a World Heritage Site.

The archaeological exploration of Ephesus began in the 19th century with the search for the Temple of Artemis. The first excavations were carried out by John Turtle Wood and David George Hogarth. The Austrian Archaeological Institute has been carrying out systematic excavations since 1895, during which public buildings and well-preserved private dwellings ("hillside houses") were discovered. (There is a very informative text on the subject of excavations by the Austrians on Wikipedia)

Incidentally, we learn that only about 17 % of the city has been excavated and rebuilt. The whole thing must be a huge endeavour and we wonder how you can even see through all those old stones. It would be nothing for us. It's grand-puzzle-de-luxe.

These so-called hillside houses are covered, cost extra to enter and were the highlight for us alongside the large gate and the two "theatres".

As we want/need to watch our budget, we walk through the city without a human guide. In hindsight, not the best idea. But we console ourselves with the audio guide, which is really informative and this time even available in German. We learn a lot about the different eras, the excavations and the "supposed" life in Efes, as Ephesus is called in Turkish.

Here in Ephesus, we are once again amazed at how much was built here for public use. The theatres, for example, were the newspaper, the talk show and the internet of antiquity, where information, discussion and entertainment took place. The large theatre, for example, holds around 2/3 of today's Wankdorf Stadium in Bern. And anyone who has ever been inside knows how many people that can be.

At some point, after more than two hours, we take a little break, drink a cup of tea, eat a few sandwiches and realise that we have to go through the whole city again to get to our Felix: We have to cross the whole city again to get to our Felix. Phew.

Down here, at the south entrance, there is a multivision show. It's supposed to be really good. But it costs again. We ask about it: The whole site is privatised. This means that each area is run by a different company. And so, all in all, we would have gladly paid over 50 euros per person for it. We don't want that.

A few words about the prices here in Turkey.

First of all: we don't want to complain. The prices here are fine for us, diesel, restaurants etc. are affordable for us. Since 2021 (our last visit), Turks have been suffering from inflation of around 60 %. That's tough. But since the Turkish lira has lost so much value against the franc (and probably also the euro), it balances out well for us. However, the entrance fees for museums and cultural events have risen many times over. Two years ago we paid 200 lira in Troy, today it's 800 per person. Here in Ephesus we pay 950 per person, and the multivision show would cost another 800. We wonder how the Turks can afford this. We learn that people who work in a factory, for example, earn around 11,000 lira a month.

And now a quick word about us: we have decided to work less in favour of our trip. This means that we have a smaller daily budget than perhaps people who go on holiday once a year for three weeks. And we already have this budget in mind a little. It's a very conscious decision that we try to see and experience as much as possible, but we don't do everything. In hindsight, we sometimes find that sad (we still regret not going to Riverdance in Dublin). Nevertheless, we look back with gratitude and realise that what we were able to experience was more than we could ever have hoped for.

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Merci for "travelling with us

We are thinking about taking another break from travelling in the summer and visiting our families in Germany and Switzerland. One of the ideas is to organise a Lecture about our long journey to the Persian Gulf to prepare. If you would like to, what would interest you the most? We will also tell stories here that don't find a place here on the blog. We're thinking of the Bern and Berlin area - simply because we have family there. But other places are also conceivable. Feel free to write to us.

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