We woke up in our sleeper train and by 7:30am we have arrived in Izmir, a big modern Turkish city that is on the Aegean coast. This is the part of the journey that we will be taking a lot of local trains. Our plan is to first see the ancient Smyrna in the morning, then take a train to Selcuk, where the ancient Ephesus is located nearby, and hopefully by late afternoon we can catch another train to Aydin, where we will spend our night. Let’s see if we can succeed with our plan!
Izmir (ancient Smyrna)
We visited the ancient Agora of Smyrna, which is the location of one of the seven churches of RevelationCarina on the lower level of the ancient Agora, which was built during the Roman times. They built an upper and a lower level, similar to how we build a multi-story shopping mall nowadays. The lower level would be cooler in the middle of a hot day. It is filled with shops, and in the middle is a water channel.The pillars of the building, likely a basilica, on the upper level of the Agora
The Ancient Ephesus
We then took a local train to Selcuk. The ancient city of Ephesus is located on a hill about 15 minutes from the modern city of Selcuk. We checked our suitcases at a local travel agent, had some lunch, and then took a taxi to see the ancient Ephesus.
The Roman streets and shops are still visible as you walk in this sprawling ancient cityOne can easily spend half a day in ancient Ephesus. It was pretty hot (34C) when we visited. It would have been a lot enjoyable if we come during a cooler month.St Paul stayed in Ephesus for more than two years and brought many people to Christ. When many abandoned their idols, it meant declining business for the local idol makers. Some fellows started a riot at the sight of Paul, and as a result he was removed from the city by the Roman soldiers.The front of an ancient building with beautiful relief on the archThe floor mosaic and wall decoration inside a private homeThe Library of Celsus
Akyaka
In the morning, we picked up our rental car from Aydin, and drove 2.5 hours to a coastal town called Akyaka.
We had lunch near a creek in AkyakaAfter a nice meal in a hot summer day, the kids and I dipped ourselves in the cool creek with a water temperature of 12C year round.
Dalyan
We left Akyaka and arrived in Dalyan by early evening. We stayed the night at Dalyan. The next morning we took a good look at the Tombs of the Kings built by the Lycians and then took a boat out to swim at a secluded beach.
Turkish breakfast by the river in DalyanA small boat sailing in front of the Tombs of the Kings, believed to be tombs carved by the Lycians to honor their kings and the royal families. There are about 200 of such rock-carved tombs in this part of Turkey.
