After our second night in Cappadocia, we boarded the bus at 7 am and headed for the airport. Our tour guide Ahmet told us before we left Istanbul that there was no weight limit for our domestic flight to Izmir, but that there was a limit of one bag per person. As soon as we arrived at the tiny little airport we noticed the crowd. From the first line outside the doors until we boarded the plane, everyone was shoulder to shoulder. Once we made it inside the airport, the real problems started to arise.
We were flying with SunExpress, an airline that is fairly new and that Ahmet has never used before. The first issue was weight. There was a weight limit--which almost everyone severely exceeded--and the cost was 4 lira per kilogram over the limit. But when they took my passport and weighed my bag, instead of giving me a bill and sending me to the next counter like everyone else, they put my bag to the side and told me to wait. After everyone else had been taken care of and moved to the next station I was still waiting, and at this point had no idea where my passport was. Reluctantly I followed Ahmet to another counter, and when we got there my passport magically materialized. The problem was that they couldn't "find" my boarding pass, and had no record of me in the system.
This is when I started to lose it. The people working there had been shady from the start, and given the crowd in the airport I thought the flight was full. So it appeared that I was going to be left behind, waiting alone for another flight in this overcrowded airport where I couldn't communicate with the attendants who were trying to rip me off. While Ahmet was trying to work something out, my friends offered to stay with me and Dr. Richey had made the decision that if I couldn't get on the plane he would stay and wait with me for the next flight.
So finally Ahmet was able to just buy another ticket (about the time we were supposed to be taking off) and get me on the plane. I almost felt bad that he used his own cash to buy the ticket, but hopefully the travel agency will reimburse him.
It's a part of the culture here to take advantage of American tourists (or tourists in general), and after a week of haggling and being hassled I'm reaching my limit.
But on a brighter note...
Ephesus is an absolutely wonderful, quaint, Mediterranean, little city. The terrain is extremely mountainous, so we had a great view as we started our tour with a drive up to the last residence of the Virgin Mary. It was an amazing experience to actually be in the same place where she has lived.
Our next stop was exploring the ruins of an ancient Roman city, started in about 300 BC. Incredible. We saw the ruins of administrative buildings like town hall, the library--which is comparatively in excellent condition, the public baths, Mosaic tile streets lining the area of the ancient stores, and the amphitheater where gladiators used to fight.
We also went to see the temple of Artemis (there's not much left,) and the Basilica of St. John.
Our hotel here is by far my favorite thus far, and I wish we were here for more than one night. It has a nice cottage feel, but there has been a lot of recently finished renovation so there are modern comforts as well. There is a beautiful garden outside leading to the pool, and everything--inside and out--is perfectly decorated. And the wi-fi is superb ;)
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