Day 5: Sweet town Bergama

Bergama was known as Pergamon, a small city at Izmir Province at western Turkey. We reached this small town at night and I had my perfect sleep on a bed with a warmer attached to it.. So comfy and .. warm.. hahahaha ..

We woke up and ready to explore the town by 8am. I did bumped to Adryn and say hi to him before we left.. Had breakfast in one of the restaurant and had my fav lethil soup in one of the small restaurant..

Small and peaceful Bergama Town

Breakfast - Lovely lethil soup

Then, using our GPS, we walked to Pergamon also known as Bergama Akropolis ..

The Traianeum (Temple of Trajan) on the Acropolis of Pergamum.

The Traianeum (Temple of Trajan) on the Acropolis of Pergamum.

Acropolis of Pergamum

Pergamum's dramatic theater.

At west side of the area, carved into the steep hillside, is the dramatic Hellenistic theater. Like most Hellenic and Hellenistic theaters, it offered a scenic panorama just in case the play was boring. :)

Note 1:
I know this will happen.. I started to loose the passion in writing about my journey, and I will end up just uploading photos instead of blog .. hahahahahahaa..

Note 2:
I like this town because of Athena Pension and it's simplicity ..

Note 3: I like the sceneryf from the cable car too..

Cost 10lira for the cable car .. and another 20 lira for the entrance to the Akropolis City.

Note 4: Buy souvenirs at the entrance of Akropolis... It's really really cheap!!!! you can never get cheaper than this.. bargain as low as you can.. especially if you're a girl / woman.. hehehehe.. they love the ladies..

I got a very good price for the shawls here.. and you see the Turkish bookmark on the lower right corner.. it cost 7 for 5 lira.. other places 1 for 1 lira.. so just grab it here!! 

I don't really asked for the price of this rug, but in Istanbul, it cost almost 700lira..  so if you want this, please ask in Bergama.. you might get cheapest price.. :)

Note 5: sleepy now.. want to go to sleep.. esok kerja .. huhuuhuuuhuuu

Day 4: Lunch @IKEA, Izmir and the mysterious Athena Pension

Visit to Ephesus, Seven Sleepers Cave and Virgin Mary ended by around noon (I don't remember exactly what time ) ..

Then we decided to continue our journey to Izmir and will try to find something to eat once we reached the town.. it took about 1 and a half hour to get there.. Izmir is a huge modern town and it's also the 3rd largest town in Turkey.. after Pamukkale, a small town or can also be considered as a village, it's totally a different view once we reached Izmir.. then we saw IKEA.. hahahahaa .. (macam laa xde IKEA kat Malaysia) .. meatballs!!!!!! definitely a must try .. hahahaa ..

Ikea, Izmir

Comments on IKEA: the internal decoration and settings, exactly like Malaysia .. you will know where to find the food easily.. you don't have to read any manual.. maybe that's their signature.. the food, it taste just like Malaysia's IKEA.. hehehe .. so basically, it's the same.. FYI, there are lots of IKEA in Turkey..

Besides IKEA, there's a factory outlet .. so we can't resist the temptation to walk around and maybe grab something if the price and our pockets allow... but it was a frustration seeing the price of everything.. it was the same price as Malaysia ... for example, Levi's jeans cost 100lira.. same like Malaysia, cost us 100ringgit.. but.. of course, Turkish lira and Malaysian Ringgit is 1.7 different,  so end up 1.7 more expensive than Malaysia's price... not worth buying.. so we decided to leave the place by 5.30pm and continue our journey to Bergama for another 2 hours.. (it was already dark by 5pm in Turkey at this month)..

so far we have traveled 2,236km in 4 days

Reached Bergama around 8pm (but it really felt like it already midnight because we were exhausted due to the long journey and the excitement being in Ephesus).. Bergama is really a small town, a place you want to spend your old ages... really quite and peaceful.. I really love this town..

We set our GPS to Athena Pension, a pension (not really a hotel) we saw on the internet with a good price and review.. Park our car and walk to a small road with the signboard showed the way to the place.. we saw 2 pensions, Pergamom Pension (opened) and Athena Pension (closed).. but there was a car waiting outside Athena and they helped us to call the owner of the hotel.. I was a little tired and in my mind was thinking, maybe we should change to Pergamom instead. But my friends insist we wait as they were the one who looked for the place and the review given about it.. and I really felt fortunate and lucky (same meaning kan?? hahahahaa) that I followed their advice.. there were no single regret staying in Athena..

Athena Pension

Once the owner, Aydin open the door into the pension, first word came out from my mouth was "Wowwwww" ... superb and a really cozy place.. then Aydin showed us the room, again, I was .. woowwwwwwwwwww... hahahahahaa.. then he showed me the bed warmer .. i was so excited and more wowwwwwwwwww from me..

Bed with warmer, perfect for a cold night..

The internal decoration was cute and the toilets are definitely very clean

Aydin was really a great guy.. he loves having guest and feel bad if he need to reject any walk-in guest.. he told us that he love non-peak season because he can receive everyone because less people.. but during peak season, he has no choice but to say no.. and he doesn't like that feeling.. he really is a sweet guy.. we all wished we can stay longer if we have the time.. I even feel like I want to come back to this place one day.. it really feel like home..

Resting area for the guests

Behind the pension, you will find resting area for guests to hang out.. the room is warm, with internet and Adryn will boil water for you to make hot tea or coffee...you can listen to music and rest.. Adryn will come once a while to have a chat and share his passion with the place.. you know what, Adryn make the resting area by himself.. niceeeee!!! if you're an architect, you will have lots of things to chat with Adryn.. :)

I had a lovely experience in Athena Pension.. I hope I can return to the place one day and spend more nights there.. insya Allah..

with Adryn

Adryn.. thank you so much for your kindness.. it really make us felt like home..