Time to see a big wooden horse! And Troy didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t the most authentic looking beast, but it sure was fun.
This was my first look at proper ruins. Those are some pretty old rocks. It was great hearing the stories again from the guide, I wish I’d had more time in school to learn all this stuff. If I had, I’d have known Troy was rebuilt upon itself many times, and digging down through the layers reveals an even older Troy below the last. There’s some pretty smart building techniques happening there too.
As this was all part of our previously unplanned journey, we had little idea what to expect from Pergamon, our other stop. But whoah! It’s a long drive up a pretty huge hill, quite amazing how they got rock and water flowing all the way up there. It’s all just stunning. And we had a new guide that was very relaxed and chatty to our small group, which was now really just us and the Australians paying attention.
It was easily a highlight of my entire adventure. There were very few other people up there too, something we weren’t used to enjoying from the tour routes. The photos can speak for themselves, it’s all pretty breathtaking.
The Australians were looking tired.
After a few hours walking around on top of the hill in the sun, and once Bex had apologised for knocking over part of someones stall, we headed to our guides home. We we taken in to the business on the property, a carpet co-op, where they get in elderly women for a while to make carpets the old way. I got to see silk being spun for the first time, and we were ushered in to a room to have carpets thrown at us with hints to buy. Pretty cool, and very pretty.
We headed on to Selcuk as night fell. Sunset in this part of the world is pretty amazing. Stopped for dinner in Izmir and ate far too much again at a place our driver knew, very epic meals. Our hotel was fun, no one spoke english, and we somehow ended up being put in to rooms that were already occupied – mine had someone in the bathroom. That got sorted with some hand waving. Then sleep!
From August 24, 2010.