Sunsets, whirling dervishes and naked people.

Picking up from my previous post, our last night in Istanbul was spent over the bridge away from the old city. I had dinner with two new friends in the trendy suburb of Beyloglu on the rooftop of a gorgeous boutique hotel called Mama Shelter. The food was ok but the wine, company and the views were phenomenal! The city looked gorgeous in the moonlight as we walked back across the water.

From there we set out for Bursa. We travelled by bus and the bus boarded a ferry to take us from the European side of Turkey to the Asian side. On arrival we took a look around Bursa which is a more traditional city. A few of us opted to visit a Hamam or Turkish bath house. We paid our entrance fee in the ladies only bath, stripped down to a towel and walked inside. Contrary to our belief and that of our guide, this bath house was particularly traditional and traditional meant very very naked! Confession - I was just not ready for the experience and didn’t stay! I left a few of my very brave travellers to it. Later reports on the experience described a good steam and scrub that left them feeling refreshed and very smooth - if a little grazed!

The most exciting part about Bursa for me took place at 11pm in a Dervish lodge. Unlike the many Whirling Dervish ‘shows’ advertised around Turkey, this lodge was clearly not a tourist attraction. Locals congregated in the courtyard to listen to the words of a respected religious leader and afterwards many gathered inside for the ceremony. As tradition commands, the ladies sat upstairs and the men gathered at the bottom of the lodge. The singing was live and powerful. The Dervishes entered the room and began to twirl immediately. As they turned their right arms raised towards the heavens and their left pointed down towards the earth. Their heads tilted at a 23 degree angle which supposedly mimics the angle of the earth. The method is clearly an art form. You could see the focus and determination on the faces of the very young boys that were clearly still learning. The men on the other hand seemed to transcend into a trance like and meditative state. The ceremony lasted around 40 minutes. In this time the whirling was continuous and perfect. As the Dervishes finally knelt in prayer, the onlookers prayed along with them - many moved to tears by the beautiful and powerful sights and sounds.

The next morning we set out on our 7 hour journey to Selcuk. When we arrived we set out into the mountains for fruit wine tasting and dinner. The wines were great but very sweet, including flavours such as blueberry, pomegranate, melon and my favourite, quince. The location for dinner was stunning and the sunset incredibly beautiful. We proceeded to get an early night to prepare for a big day ahead.

We arrived at ancient city of Ephesus as it opened at 9am. It was already well over 30 degrees by then! Built in the 10th Century BC it was surprising to me that it has only this year been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. After becoming part of the Roman Empire, the city was eventually abandoned some time before the 15th century and my understanding is that a combination of landslides and earthquakes contributed to it being mostly buried under a substantial amount of land. Even today, the site we visited is supposedly only about 20% of the city. Archaeologists a continuously working to uncover more of the ancient city. The amphitheatres and the library are extremely impressive. Less impressive but pretty amusing was the famous footprint at the door of the brothel. It’s said that if your foot was bigger than the footprint you could enter through the door but if it was smaller (because you were young?!) you could seek an alternative entrance through the tunnels!

The experience was amazing but it was incredibly hot and there was very little shade. These factors made the Lemon and Mulberry slushy consumed on exit maybe one of the best things I’ve ever tasted!

Tomorrow.. Pamukkale!