Ephesus and Foça (Posted by Megan)

After our time in Kaş, we headed west along the coast to Foça, a seaside town on the Aegean Sea. But first, a day in ancient Ephesus!

When we arrived on a cold, rainy afternoon, we walked from our little hotel to the ruins of the Temple of Aphrodite. We didn't realize it at first, but this was actually a temple to a different Aphrodite than the one we know from Greek mythology. Instead, this Aphrodite was a local goddess of fertility. Nonetheless, it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world - so imagining it while it had been standing was impressive.

The next (cold, rainy) day, we had a blast exploring Ephesus. The city was one of the largest and most powerful in the region during the classical Greek and Roman eras; as the port slowly silted up, it fell into ruin. For Christians, it's likely most famous for being the target audience of the Pauline epistle that became the book of Ephesians in the Bible. The amphitheater, marble roads, ruined buildings, and reconstructed library remains were spectacular. (And looking on the bright side, the rain just meant that we had large parts of it nearly to ourselves.)

From Ephesus, we headed a few hours up the coast to Foça. Our time in town was full of seaside walks, exploring the old windmills and cannons up on the surrounding hillsides, playing lots of games in cafes, and finally getting back into a routine of cooking for ourselves (after mostly eating out in Vietnam and India). In between the rainy days, we also managed to enjoy some blue skies over the Aegean coast.

We're almost a month into our time in Turkey now, and the road trip portion of our trip is about to wrap up.  Next up, Gallipoli and Istanbul!