Winter Holiday 2011: PMD
The start of the day was chilly and sharp; the kind of cold that bites your fingers and numbs you toes. Luckily for us, it didn't stay that way, but let's not jump ahead. We had arranged for a private car, with driver, to take us to Lake Bafa, stopping en route at the three ancient cities of Priene, Miletus and Didyma. The sun was out by the time we reached Priene, with a chill still in the air and wind. Unfortunately we arrived about 10 minutes after a large German tour group and so spent out visit dodging around them and attempting to take pictures without guests in them.
The site was interesting enough; fairly destitute amphitheatre, remains of a church, columns from a temple surrounded by fallen drums and lots of rubble. But having come from Efes only a day earlier, the most impressive aspect of this city was its location. Halfway up a steep hill, with views overlooking a plain which stretched as far as the eye could see. Greenery abounded and every nook or cranny which wasn't occupied by a chunk of stone had some form of plant-life growing in it.
By the time we reached Miletus, stop number two, things had warmed up considerably and we were greeted by a sun drenched view of a large amphitheatre, topped with the ruins of a castle. A Turkish family was scampering around the banks of steps, calling to one another as they moved. Soon they moved on however, and we had the place to ourselves. From the castle ruins at the top, a path led down a grassy slope behind the amphitheatre. This took us past various other patches of rubble and ended up next to a swampy pond. Submerged in the water were the remnants of columns and walls, even what looked like an old fountain. We were pretty impressed.
Our wanderings then took us across the grass to some almost tumbled down buildings, with very little inside save for blackberry bushes and weeds, then over to a lake-like swamp area. Here stood several more impressives ruins, looking as if they had always stood on the banks of a water body, rather than having been invaded by it. Again there were further ruins visible under the water. Our explorings took us on a bit of a wild goose chase, in that we mistakenly thought we could get around the back in a circular fashion but found out the swamp had other ideas.
When we made it back to the car, we were in need of lunch. Luckily the driver knew there was a buffet lunch restaurant right next to our last site; Didyma. Off we drove. The restaurant did indeed have an impressive array of cold meze salads available and we sated our hunger. Didyma was across the road, and by now bathed in bright sunlight. In our winter coats we were almost too warm. This site differed from the others in that it wasn't an ancient city but instead a solitary temple, dedicated to Apollo.
Around the perimeter of the site lay many fallen drums from former columns. They were huge. As I proceeded to demonstrate; lying across them and standing next to them, stretching my arms as far as possible and still only barely able to reach the edges. We wandered around as the sun started to set, basking in the rays as they bounced off the white stone. It wasn't a big site, but well worth the visit. As the sun finally sank behind clouds and away, we drove the last leg of the journey to end up at Lake Bafa.
To be continued...