Day 4 continue : Kusadasi and the great Ephesus

I'm already back to my place and trying my best to continue writing about our road trip to Turkey.. still in Day 4.. but before that, I would like to tribute a few moments of prayers for our brothers and sisters in Lahad Datu and Semporna, Sabah who are being attacked by pirates known as Sulu soldiers .. May they be safe and this war ends soon..

Al-fatihah to all our heroes, who died protecting our country..

For those who didn't know about this issue at the moment, you can find more info here:
http://www.nst.com.my/latest/font-color-red-semporna-font-five-policemen-killed-in-ambush-in-semporna-sabah-1.227865

Back to my story for Kusadasi and the great Ephesus..

On our way to Kusadasi, we saw lots of Orange and Olive Trees .. it was everywhere.. you can see a hill full of olive trees.. at first we don't really know what tree it was, so we stopped to actually take a closer look .. we were so excited to actually see olive trees.. (sikit jakun pun ada la, hahahhaa).. my friends did try to eat the raw olives and they instantly didn't like it.. ahahaha .. I love olives pickles.. but doesn't want to try it fresh after seeing their face expressions.. hahahaha ..

Lots of orange trees along the way to Kusadasi

And olive trees too!!!

We stopped for breakfast at one of the small restaurant we can find.. no one can speak english.. so we ended up just accept what they offered us.. but the family was so friendly, although they can't speak english, they tried very hard to tell us what the dish were.. the father even showed me how he cooked it.. lovely, such a great experience..

My fav breakfast, lentil soup.. so yummy ok.. and the rice mix with wheat.. it was just nice as it is..

The family who served us breakfast in Kusadasi..

You must try lentil soup.. it was so yummy .. I love it so much, perfect for the cold weather.. hot and so delicious.. you eat it with bread.. don't try the head soup.. hahaha or you can try taste it for yourself and tell me how it taste .. I'm not really a fan of trying unknown food.. hahahaha ..

Then we stopped for a few minutes to take photos by the sea..

Kusadasi Town

Our next destination, the great Ephesus.. ok, when you read on the internet, nothing interesting about this me.. at least, for me.. I was not so impress with what I saw on the internet.. just some ruin buildings from old time.. we were thinking, just go there, be there, and leave..

But AGAIN, I was wrong.. I REALLY FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE!!!

Have you ever seen the movie Hercules.. or Troy, or any movie like that.. it was exactly like you back to the past... seeing all the huge buildings brought my imagination back to the old age.. people actually live in this place long long long time ago.. it was really amazing!!! I never regret coming here..

Once you reached the front entrance (parking area), you will be approached by taxi drivers or someone who will say that you need to enter from the other side of the area.. he will tell you that it will take 3 hours to walk up the hill, and another hour to walk down.. so he would advice you to take his taxi to go up the hill and walk down..

DO NOT TRUST HIM!!!!!!!

I was being nice to him.. so I bought Ephesus map for 15lira (from him!!!) and few packs of saffron for 10 lira..  which I shouldn't have to.. he even asked for my HRC pin which I put at my bag.. I did gave it to him because he said he wanted to give it to her daughter.. I hope what he told me was true, because if it's not, I will never forgive him!!!

So don't trust anyone who came and approach you to give their service .. ignore them, but do it nicely.. hehehee ..

Anyway, back to Ephesus.. we took lots of beautiful photos here.. it only took us the very most 1.5 hours to walk up.. remember, we took lots of photos, so we stopped at lots of place.. you won't even need 1 hour if you just walk and enjoy this gigantic historical place..

The harbour of Ephesus

Some history about Ephesus:
In the Roman period, Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world. It was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD.

Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia and the site of several 5th century Christian Councils. It is also the site of a large gladiators' graveyard. (teringat cerita Gladiator la pulak).. hehehehe

The tomb of Ephesus

The famous Library of Ephesus

The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus. Celsus is buried in a sarcophagus beneath the library, in the main entrance which is both a crypt containing his sarcophagus and a sepulchral monument to him. It was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits, so this was a special honor for Celsus. (History from Wiki).

You just have to be here to adore this magnificent place.. and of course, you must love history, the gladiators and photography to enjoy it as much as I did..

Lovely!! and the weather was nice too.. hot and spicy!!!!

It was quite hot at this area, probably it's near to the ocean.. but it was just perfect for great photos!!
We left Ephesus around noon, and decided to take a peek at the 7 Sleepers Cave and Virgin Mary house.. You can't walk to this places.. it's not walking distance from Ephesus.. hahaha ..

The 7 Sleepers Cave

If you googled in the internet, this cave was known by the Christian. The Seven Sleepers, commonly called the "Seven Sleepers of Ephesus", refers to a group of Christian youths who hid inside a cave outside the city of Ephesus around 250 AD, to escape a persecution of Christians being conducted during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius.

However, in Islam religion, it is told in the Qur'an (Surah 18, verse 9-26). The Quranic rendering of this story doesn't state exactly the number of sleepers Surah 18, verse 22. It also gives the number of years that they slept as 300 solar years (equivalent to 309 lunar years). Unlike the Christian story, the Islamic version includes mention of a dog who accompanied the youths into the cave, and was also asleep, but when people passed by the cave it looked as if the dog was just keeping watch at the entrance, making them afraid of seeing what is in the cave once they saw the dog. In Islam, these youths are referred to as "The People of the Cave".(Wiki)

We always known since we were young as "Ashabul Kahfi" .. however, based on the article in Wikipedia, there were never mentioned in Quran the exact location of the cave. Some allege that it is in Ephesus, Turkey; others cite a place near Amman, Jordan and some others claimed it to be at Tuyukhojam, Turpan (I have no idea where Turpan is).. need to google about it for more details.

The exact dates of their alleged sleep are also not given in the Qur'an; some allege that they entered the cave at the time of Decius (250 AD) and they woke up at the time of Theodosius I (378–395) or Theodosius II (408–450), but neither of these dates can be reconciled with the Qur'an's account of sleeping 300 or 309 years. (thank you Mr wiki)..

This is what I love about Turkey!!!! like everything happened in Turkey.. everything!!!! all the historical places and about the religion too.. Christian and Islam..

Note: the place was actually closed .. we climbed thru the bushes and didn't realized that we were actually tresspassing.. we don't know that we were not suppose to enter the place.. Oppsss.. hehehe .. sorry!!!

We also went to the House of Virgin Mary, but we didn't enter as it cost us a few more lira.. so we decided to skipped it..

It was believed that Mariam, mother of Nabi Isa spent her last years here in Ephesus..

.. Dan Allah (yang) Maha Mengetahui .. والله أعلم

It's already 1.23am.. time to sleep..