Fleeced ın Turkey? You be the judge!
Tuesday 26th of June
Ok. So in what might seem like slight madness, we ditched our pre-bought package tour of Ephesus and went for a ride with a friendly Turk named Ali. Here’s how the day went- judge for yourself whether we were sold up the river or not:
Yusuf- the very helpful and quite persuasive owner of the Anzac Golden Bed Pension where we are staying offered to try and get our money back- to no avail…
“Oh well”, he says, “you come with me at 9am”
“But why don’t we just go on our tour?” We say
“It be very hot and very busy then. You come earlier with me”
“Hmmm…. Ok, I suppose that makes sense.” Rip-off tour is abandoned.
“And I take you to my carpet shop after.”
Well… we wanted to see some carpets (you saw this coming, didn’t you….)
So. At the duly appointed time, Ali arrives to take us to Ephesus… he drops us at the gate, loans us a book and arranges to meet up with us again 2 ½ hours later. All good so far.
We had a fabulous time wandering around Ephesus (see later in post)… it really as worth the trip… but HOT! The temperature was due to go over 50 degrees today and the marble around Ephesus certainly didn’t make things any cooler.
A quick cold drink, Ali arrives back and we are off to the carpet shop.
The man at the carpet shop shows us his range. He keeps telling us that he is not giving us tourist prices- just his best price (are you laughing out loud yet?)
After some umming and ahhing, we narrow it down to a (comparatively) cheap rug or a kilm. We suggest a lunch break to consider, so kind Ali drives to a great lunch spot. We have traditional Turkish fare, enjoy a chat with Ali… it’s great to get a local perspective…
Finally, we decide on the Kilm (see photo).
So. We part with our cash. It’s probably the cheapest item in the shop but it still feels like a lot to us!
We’re still not sure whether we just had a great day out and made a cool purchase or whether we had a really expensive great day out J Anyhow, which ever way, we had out own local tour guide for the day, saw some things we wouldn’t have seen on our own… and are now the proud owners of a genuine (not ‘genuine fake’ we hope) Turkish Kilm.
Walking around Ephesus was an outstanding experience. There are all the elements of a full scale city and you can begin to get a glimpse of what it might have actually been like. Apparently the Ephesians even had hot and cold running water on tap!
We seem to be following in the footsteps of the apostle, St Paul. Apparently, he spent several long periods of time in Ephesus and even died there. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a great time here and apparently when he tried to speak to the people, they spent 2 hours yelling “Great is Artemis” at him…
We’re off to Canakkale tomorrow. The Turkish government has declared a day of holiday as it is predicted to reach 58 degrees. Oh dear. Will let you know how our 7 hour bus ride goes.
Ok. So in what might seem like slight madness, we ditched our pre-bought package tour of Ephesus and went for a ride with a friendly Turk named Ali. Here’s how the day went- judge for yourself whether we were sold up the river or not:
Yusuf- the very helpful and quite persuasive owner of the Anzac Golden Bed Pension where we are staying offered to try and get our money back- to no avail…
“Oh well”, he says, “you come with me at 9am”
“But why don’t we just go on our tour?” We say
“It be very hot and very busy then. You come earlier with me”
“Hmmm…. Ok, I suppose that makes sense.” Rip-off tour is abandoned.
“And I take you to my carpet shop after.”
Well… we wanted to see some carpets (you saw this coming, didn’t you….)
So. At the duly appointed time, Ali arrives to take us to Ephesus… he drops us at the gate, loans us a book and arranges to meet up with us again 2 ½ hours later. All good so far.
We had a fabulous time wandering around Ephesus (see later in post)… it really as worth the trip… but HOT! The temperature was due to go over 50 degrees today and the marble around Ephesus certainly didn’t make things any cooler.
A quick cold drink, Ali arrives back and we are off to the carpet shop.
The man at the carpet shop shows us his range. He keeps telling us that he is not giving us tourist prices- just his best price (are you laughing out loud yet?)
After some umming and ahhing, we narrow it down to a (comparatively) cheap rug or a kilm. We suggest a lunch break to consider, so kind Ali drives to a great lunch spot. We have traditional Turkish fare, enjoy a chat with Ali… it’s great to get a local perspective…
Finally, we decide on the Kilm (see photo).
So. We part with our cash. It’s probably the cheapest item in the shop but it still feels like a lot to us!
We’re still not sure whether we just had a great day out and made a cool purchase or whether we had a really expensive great day out J Anyhow, which ever way, we had out own local tour guide for the day, saw some things we wouldn’t have seen on our own… and are now the proud owners of a genuine (not ‘genuine fake’ we hope) Turkish Kilm.
Walking around Ephesus was an outstanding experience. There are all the elements of a full scale city and you can begin to get a glimpse of what it might have actually been like. Apparently the Ephesians even had hot and cold running water on tap!
We seem to be following in the footsteps of the apostle, St Paul. Apparently, he spent several long periods of time in Ephesus and even died there. Unfortunately, he didn’t have a great time here and apparently when he tried to speak to the people, they spent 2 hours yelling “Great is Artemis” at him…
We’re off to Canakkale tomorrow. The Turkish government has declared a day of holiday as it is predicted to reach 58 degrees. Oh dear. Will let you know how our 7 hour bus ride goes.
1 comment:
All puts new meaning to the term turkish delights doesn't it!! Smile on and enjoy the heat - NZ has cooled considerably with new snow making its presence felt in many places, including the Naki, CHCH and Marlborough, but especially Queenstown. Take care. Dx
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