22 October

The alarm went off at 0600 and I reluctantly got up ten minutes later. The washing was not dry, so went onto the hangers in the wardrobe, so I could have my shower without making them wetter. By the time I finished my shower, the wake-up call came at 0630 – thank goodness for phones in the bathrooms!
I checked my email again, but the reason why I had dropped the connections was in force again, so the search for the pages hung. This is the first place this has happened, and I hope it is the last. I went down for breakfast and was again able to have my Vegemite on toast (but sliced stick, not slices). I ended up sitting with Carol and an English couple, so the story of my trips got rehashed again and I ended up having to get up to my room, clean my teeth and pack for the day fairly quickly. Not having too much sleep made me a little slower than I would have liked.
I got down to the bus, but a few didn’t make it – some came late (they are starting a habit which will annoy) and four decided not to come, so there were spare seats. I had the seat to myself.
We headed straight off to Ephesus (and I just realise that I’ve misspelt Ephesus on all the pictures).
We arrived about half an hour later and got a few dire warnings about what would happen if we got lost – head downwards and find the exit. Fortunately no-one did get lost, but it was both informative and visually interesting to walk through the ruins as they originally housed 350 000 in the second century A.D.
If you look at the photos for today you will find quite a number – although they also cover the visit to Mary’s house and the Temple of Artemis, as these were in the same town area.
The systems in place, the organization and the politics were not too far removed from those in place today in democracies.
We left Ephesus about 1230 and went into the modern town of Ephesus for lunch, but Robert, Sue and I walked around and had a look at a light industrial areas which had one building which had not been completed – yet looked very interesting. The bus left again at 1330 and we went up another mountain to see a chapel which was supposed to be the house where John (disciple) took Mary (mother of Jesus) after Jesus’ crucifixion. After a time there, we went back into the modern town again to see the ruins of the Temple of Diana (Artemis). This was interesting in a number of ways – the cost people paid for books and postcards, the state of the area, the use of the area and the number of children selling things while it was school time!
We left there and got back into Kusadasi by just before 1600. I took the option of getting off in the centre of town for three reasons – so I could explore a little more, so I could have tea in town and also to research a person for a friend from Derrinallum. I started by doing that, and the first place (in the Town Bazaar) directed me to a place in the Grand Bazaar which in turn directed me to a place in the Main Bazaar and finally I got directed to a store where the part-owner said the other part owner was his uncle, the person I was looking for, and he often worked on his farm in Ephesus. He then described that he had written the letters for his uncle to this friend and gave a few details, and showed me an old photo of his uncle in a group. I took a photo of that (and his email address) and then went on to look around, explore more of the town and then have some (early) tea before heading back to the hotel.
At the hotel I transferred the photos and started charging the batteries. Then I processed the photos out on the balcony (cooler, because I was warm from the day and walking around and up from town) and had a chat with Carol and Christine, then with a fellow from Adelaide (Port Adelaide) who was here with a different tour group. Then I went inside and chatted with another fellow on our tour until the laptop battery was nearly flat, so I had to go back to the room and plug it in.
The photos were being uploaded to Flickr and I heard a noisy group, which turned out to be the chap from Adelaide and others on the Fez Tour (all Australians) on the balcony of 103. I chatted with them a little, then went in, found I could now get GMail (but now not the Blog site), so sent some emails, processed photos for some others on the tour who want copies of some that I have taken) and wrote up my blog. Then, after a while, I went to bed and hoped I catch up on the sleep I lost last night.