I thought we had left high fashion behind, but as I had booked rather a swish Western Style Hotel we found ourselves right back in the heart of Wedding dresses and Evening gowns.
I had read in Lonely Planet that the Castle was the best place to be for the sunset. So as it was Roger's birthday we hired a cab and set off the steep hill overlooking the Bay. We were surprised that no cab wanted to take us there. We thought the trip was just too short.
We were even more surprised when we got there that the Cab driver didn't want to leave us there. He offered to wait, but we explained we were going to enjoy the sunset, have dinner and then get a cab or a dolmuş back. He shook his head in disbelief.
We walked happily through the castle gates and this is what we saw!
I have to say it is the only time I have felt unsafe in Turkey.... gangs of youths roamed around, accompanied by scungy looking dogs. There was of course no candlelit restaurant.
Roger made the best of things by posing next to the water canon which was next to the heavily armed and protected police station... next to the bomb blast barrier! Everyone apart from us was on high alert. "No surprise I can hear you saying."
Luckily a dolmuş came by and we crammed on. We discovered we needed a transport card, they didn't accept cash (Errol where were you?) The driver just shook his head, waved us on and put his foot to the floor and we sped down the steep winding road at what seemed like 100km a second! Phew! I sure know how to give a guy a good time on his birthday!
Back to the safety of the harbour, where we joined hundreds of others as they enjoyed the coolness and the setting sun.
I particularly liked this photographer, who would take shots of people, print them from a portable printer. They would purchase them and show them proudly to family. The photographer declined my kind offer to sell him his photo!
Dinner on the seafront ended an interesting day... Ephesus tomorrow.
Hey! Still mangled to escape buying a carpet!
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