So my flight to Izmir leaves at 6AM. That meant I had to wake up at an ungodly hour. I just had a quick breakfast of cookies and milk, then I took a quick shower. The tour agency arranged a van pick up for me, which arrived promptly at 4:30 AM. I was at the airport before 5AM. Check in was quick, and i was at the boarding area before 5:30. Sucks that the Atlasglobal flight was delayed for more than an hour. I slept through the whole flight, i just ignored the flight attendant who offered an sandwich and a drink. i was surprised that a budget carrier included complimentary food and drinks on its flight, but i was too sleepy to eat. Besides, it was gonna be a long day and i needed the energy.

Upon arrival in Izmir, i quickly searched for the exit.  There was a guy holding a huge sign with my name on it. it wasn’t hard to find him since he was the only one there. I guess most tourists opted to take later flights. A young couple from Ethiopia joined us, and we all walked toward his car. The drive to Selcuk took about an hour. I wanted to sleep but the driver went into tourist guide mode, spewing tiny bits of information every now and then. When we arrived in Selcuk, we joined a bigger group. So all in all there were 9 of us in the group. Four pairs and i was the odd man out. So naturally, I paired up with the tour guide. LOL.

Our first Stop was the Isa Bey Mosque. Unlike most mosques, it’s built in an asymmetrical style. This makes the structure distinct. The courtyard houses twelve columns taken from another ancient site (The Temple of Artemis), and they stick out like sore thumbs. Their distinction from the Mosque is very apparent. It’s a great place to visit, but what I really wanted to see was our next stop. The Ancient city of Ephesus, which is the reason why i booked this day trip in the first place.

Man oh man oh man. I was amazed when I saw pictures online, but when I set foot in Ephesus, i realized that the pictures don’t give this place justice. It’s amazing how everything is so well preserved. Walking around gives you the feeling that you’ve just gone back in time— never mind the fact that the place is swarming with tourists. It’s one of the top destinations in Turkey and it’s not hard to see why. Just take a look at some of the pictures I took below.

The most famous structure is the Library of Celsus shown below. It’s not hard to see why.

We spent about three hours in Ephesus. After that we had a hearty Turkish buffet at a nearby restaurant. Then we headed to another famous attraction in the area, the House of the Virgin Mary.

It’s just a small house converted into a chapel. It’s also a pilgrimage site, even though it’s not certain if the Virgin Mary actually lived there. it is believed that Mary lived in this house until her assumption to heaven. Whether this is true or not, the solemnity of the place cannot be denied. The place is worth a visit especially if you are Catholic.

The last stop was the Temple of Artemis. i was expecting a huge temple, but all that’s left is this:

This is a good picture though, because it shows structures pertaining to three religions. The Temple of Artemis in the foreground was a structure used for Paganism. In the background,  The Isa bey Mosque is an Islamic structure, while the St. John’s Basilica is a Christian structure.

We visited other places as well: a place where they made carpets, and another place where they made jackets. Okay, i admit it was quite interesting to see how carpets were made, and the fashion show at that jacket place was quite humorous (albeit unintentionally). I get that we need to pass places like those to support the local economy, but the method in which they make customers buy their products was kind of a hard sell. This was especially glaring in the carpet place, where they assign one salesman to each visitor and persuade them to buy. It was also quite impractical. Yeah someone might buy a jacket, but i doubt if anyone  would buy a huge carpet during a tour, no matter how high the quality. those places just managed to spoil an otherwise perfect day. And obviously i didn’t even bother taking pictures heh. Visiting those places also made me realize why planning your own tour is better; you get to see the places you want to see, you can stay longer at places you liked, and you can avoid places that you have no interest in visiting.

Having said that, although I really enjoyed my day trip to Izmir, i could have done several things differently to make it a better experience. For one thing, i should have spent more days in the area. A day trip is worth it for those who don’t have the luxury of time, but there are other places nearby that you would miss if you only spent a day there. For instance, Pamukkale is just two hours away from Izmir. The other people in the tour group i joined were heading there the next day as part of their 3 day tour package, and when I did some research on the place, I regret not being able to visit it. For the budget traveler who has a lot of time, you could opt for a ferry and bus combo. Though if you buy a plane ticket early with budget carriers the price difference isn’t much. From the airport in Izmir, one could easily take a bus to Selcuk. Atlasglobal even offers free shuttle service to and fro the airport. Then at Selcuk there are a lot of cheap hostels that offer tour packages as well. I would have saved a lot of money and I would have had a more enjoyable experience if i did those things, but alas i was still a rookie traveler then.

Heading back to the airport i actually had to take the Atlasglobal shuttle. i thought I was gonna be late, but the plane was delayed for 3 hours which kinda sucked. The tour agency was on top of things though, they knew about the delay and made the necessary adjustments for my pick up service back in Istanbul. Overall it was a great day. A lot of the things i saw left me in awe, and in the future I would love to go back again. Turkey is such a beautiful country and there are a lot of places that I haven’t explored (like Cappadocia!). Normally once I’ve set foot in a country there’s not much reason to go back. In the case of Turkey, I can think of a lot.