Day 153 – 157: Adventures along the Aegean coast
Izmir – Ephesus – Ömer’s Farm – Ören – Akyaka: 304 km
The days in Izmir have given me some well-deserved rest, and equally importantly allowed me to wait out the rain. The clouds bring warmth and water, their disappearance brings a bittery blue cold but glaring sunshine. In those conditions I make my way to Ephesus, where I’m meeting JP from the Hostel in Izmir. He takes the bus there. How boring!
Ephesus, build in the 10th century BC by the Arzawa’s, then called Apasa, is however most famous for its Roman heritage. After Rome the biggest city of the empire. It’s a tourist attraction now, so I expect little, especially when I learn we have the pay an entrance fee. Disneyland history. But once there I’m overwhelmed. The ruins stretch far and wide. We walk in-between the what once were the peasants’ homes, enter the immense Amphitheatre (believed to be the biggest in the world with a capacity of 25.000), and look up to the impressively large Library of Celcius that towers over us. I imagine philosophers in robes carrying heavy books, striding marble streets towards the library, tradesmen on the corners making deals and promising golden futures, children running around and climbing the houses build into the hills. Two hundred twenty-five thousand people used to live in this almost completely marble city.
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The next day I don’t really set out for a town or city, but towards a farm, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I’ve met Ömer on Warm Showers and he’s invited me to stay over. It’s a tough ride; nearly 100 kilometers, over 1000 meters of elevation and – 3C. Luckily the wind is blasting in my back. The landscape opens up, Turkey is starting to become beautiful. The mountains, forests and lakes energize me. Finally. To get to the farm I turn of the road into a smaller byway that connects the farms. All of a sudden I hear my name called out. From behind rows of olive trees I see two people waving at me.
Ömer and Fulya live in a self-built yurt on their organic olive farm. They’re completely off the grid. Their power comes from solar panels, there’s no reception or WiFi here and their water comes from… I’m actually not sure where it comes from. To get to the yurt we jump from stone to stone over the river. Their three dogs follow us in our wake. It’s almost an animal sanctuary here. There’s a cat with a limb foot and tale, a cat they found nearly dead on the road and mothered back to health, and a cat that seems totally fine to be honest. There’s a dog that chose them when it came one day and just never left. There are a bunch of chickens too. I don’t know their backstory. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I feel welcome here. I’m greeted with open arms and before I know it we have an amazing locally sourced meal. It’s definitely an experience being here, in so many ways different from my own life, now and especially before I started travelling. Both of them worked and lived in Istanbul but got completely fed up with city life and made a big change a couple of years ago. They’re still learning by doing when I visit them. I find them more than interesting and we share stories and answer questions about each other’s lives over dinner, served with homemade wine.
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I had planned to make my way to both Bodrum and Marmaris. Staples along the Aegean coast. Ömer and Fulya advise me not to. Too touristy and everything will probably be closed now during winter season anyways. I change plans and add Ören and Akyaka to my itinerary. They turn out to be stunning places with even better roads towards them. Ören is nice, Akyaka is heaven on earth. I truly fall in love with this little town. The village is built around a small sandy bay, where the sun sets in the exact middle every night. The mountains in its back make it feel like a cozy hideout, like a little secret. The only visitors I see here are Turkish, no foreigner in sight. There’s no way I’m staying here for just a night. The next day I spend riding my bike through the forest and to some of the nearby villages. Why rest when you can ride, right?
