Selcuk

Well, I just bought a carpet.  I was actually buying a plate but the postage was going to be extremely high so adding a carpet made it a lot better. And I really did want a carpet!  How could I leave Turkey with out one?

Yesterday I took the bus from Pamukalle to Selcuk (Selchuk - can't add cedilla).  This is a lovely town with a castle on the hill top and storks nesting on any high poles, including the one remaining column at the temple of Artemis.  There are storks resting right outside the hotel too:

There were no tours from Selcuk today so I hired a car and drive myself to three sites: Priene, Miletus and the temple of Apollo at Didyma.  Observing Turkish overtaking was interesting and it was very hard to figure out the speed limit as everyone seems to drive to a different one.  Once I became used to everything being a mirror image, driving on the right wasn't too bad.

Each of the sites was different - Priene in a commanding position on the side of a mountain; Miletus on raised land that was originally coastal, with the agora now a small lake full of frogs; and Didyma a huge temple that only gives an indication of its original size.  Overall though, they leave a feeling of change and impermanence, with broken columns and weathered inscriptions.

The carpet will outlive me and my great great great grandchildren they say.