day 3: troy & kusadasi & ephesus - ancient cities

After a brief 20 mins drive from Canakkale, we arrived at the famous Troy. There's little left of the six magnificent cities (which were built one over another) due to time and the earlier excavations techniques of the treasure hunter.

With a little imagination, it would have been a lovely place to hang out for at least a couple of hours, to experience the rich history of this World Heritage site and enjoy the breeze being 40 metres higher than the surrounding land.

We of course didn't miss the chance to take a photo with the replica of the wooden trojan horse which hid 50 of the Greek's finest soldiers.

Asklepion

The next stop took us slightly under three hours to get there. We visited the ruins of the Asklepion, one of the few cities in Pergamon. It was one of the most famous shrine and health therapeutic centres in its time. The rich would spend their summers here escaping the plagues which commonly spread in the heat. I was pretty amazed by the "bedrooms" and the amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 3500.

Ephesus, an outdoor archeological museum at Selcuk, was the most impressive ancient city we visited today. It is ten times bigger than Troy and Pergamon added together. We took an hour and 40 minutes to cover the site and this is only a tenth of the city! 

The great library at Ephesus

90 per cent of the city remains uncovered. It would take the government years to excavate more of the city because they can only work four months in a year during summer. The 25,000 seater amphitheatre was magnificent and standing in the arena where gladiators fought was indeed memorable.

Ephesus amphitheater

• Costs: Magnum 4 Lira, Nescafe 4 Lira, peaches 4 Lira, mixed nuts 7 Lira, 3 photographs at Ephesus 18 Lira
• Highlight: After watching the popular movies like Gladiator and Spartacus, it was surreal to stand in the arena where the gladiators fought wild animals and other warriors.
• Hotel: Alish Hotel - Spacious room, great spread for dinner and breakfast, and great pool view left us pretty happy. Light sleepers should request for rooms facing the main street away from the pool where the band plays till late.
• Lunch: Bergama - buffet lunch with a decent spread. Variety range from comfort food like spaghetti and meatballs to slightly exotic such as grilled rice-stuffed peppers. 

Buying fruit from a local farmer near Hotel Alish