Ephesus, from the Library of the Ancient World, the Seven Wonders of the World to the last home of Our Lady

I visited Turkey for the second time in June 2020 which coincided with the month of Ramadan. So the story is I have a business trip to London and after googling here and there, I get the cheapest ticket deals for 1290 USD from Turkish Airlines with flights Singapore - Istanbul - London - Istanbul - Singapore. Well, then I thought why didn't I just stop over in Istanbul on my way home from London to Singapore. Turkey is like that! Even though I have visited Istanbul in January 2015, it looks like I will suffer a huge loss if I don't take advantage of that opportunity.

My first visit to Turkey in 2015, I visited Istanbul and stayed for 5 days there. On my second visit to Turkey, I designed the Itinerary to explore other cities, such as Izmir - Ephesus, Cappadoccia and Sanli Urfa, the hometown of Prophet Ibrahim, the father of Samawi religion. But because I had to go back to Jakarta, I had to cancel the visit to Cappadoccia and Sanliurfa reluctantly, even though I had already booked a plane ticket to that city. Only a visit to Izmir can be achieved. Okay, hopefully someday I can explore remote areas of Turkey, to explore the culture and heritage of extraordinary history.

The flight from London to Istanbul on the Turkish Airline takes only 4 hours, the flight departs at 10:30 pm from London Heathrow and arrives at Attaturk Airport just before dawn at 4:20 am. Once arrived at the International arrival, I then rushed to the domestic departure terminal. It's quite far and it's pretty boring because I have to walk fast so it's not too late, because the next flight to Izmir with Onur Air will take off at 07.05 am. Flights from Istanbul to Izmir can be taken in less than an hour. Once I landed at Izmir's Adnan Menderes Airport, I immediately sought transportation to get to the city center. There are two options for using public transport, namely by bus or by Izmir Metro. And I chose to use the havas bus with tickets for 16 TL.

Izmir, offering views that are far different from Istanbul. Izmir city center, not as bustle as Istanbul. I see the population here as if they were mainland Europeans. Perhaps because of the long history of the past, where Izmir or formerly called by the name of the Greek was part of a long history of Greek civilization before it later became the territory of the Ottoman Empire in the 15th century. thousands of years ago. Be mixing this culture produces people with a physical appearance that is pleasing to the eye, beautiful women who are bright and many who have blonde hair. While the guy with a pretty face (sorry I never said he was handsome to other men hehe) with a solid body. It seems like if they go to Indonesia, they will be sold as soap operas. Although my arrival coincided with the month of Ramadan, in Izmir the nuances of Ramadan seemed invisible, even though Turkey is a country with a majority Muslim population. I see many people eating and drinking everywhere. And the most surprising thing was that when I walked down the road from the hotel where I was staying to the train station, the nightclub club remained open in broad daylight. People can see women in minimal clothing still waiting for guests to come visit. Oh, if this happened in Jakarta, it would have been raided by Satpol PP hehe. Actually there is a lot that can be seen in Izmir, heritage buildings and the beauty of the beach there. However, because my main goal to go to Izmir was to visit Ephesus, once I arrived at the hotel and rested for a while, I immediately went on a trip to Ephesus. Traveling from Izmir to Ephesus can use the train going to Selcuk, which can be taken only one hour away from Izmir with the ticket price of 10 TL oneway. Then from the Selcuk station, I immediately headed for the bus station which will take me to Ephesus for only 2.5 TL.

"I have set eyes on the wall of Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labor of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, "Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on aught so grand"

Ephesus was also an important city in the early development of Christianity. In fact, Mary is believed to have lived in Ephesus at the last moment of her life. Legend has it, Jesus asked one of his followers, John, to take Our Lady to Ephesus from Jerusalem. Unfortunately, due to limited time, I did not have time to visit the last house of Our Lady, which is only 7 km from the Selcuk.

From Ephesus, I then decided to return to Selcuk station to catch the afternoon train to Izmir. I then decided to go to Istanbul the next morning with the earliest flight, skip the initial plan to go to Istanbul by bus because the duration of the trip reached 7 hours. Too bad indeed, I could not stay longer in Izmir. However, hopefully that is the reason so I can come back to visit here again.

Teşekkür ederim Izmir, Selcuk, Ephesus. See you again Istanbul!