Turkey Day 3

WE are so busy at the moment that the blog is way behind. Day three is being finished on Day 5. I will add lots of photos and not so much info, nevertheless, we are having fun and some adventures. The end of Day 4 definitely qualifies.

Day 3:
I can see the white terraces of Parmukkale from the bed in this hotel. It’s a nice big room, although a bit noisy. I hope its quiet in the night because we am really tired. Its been a tiring day with lots of driving as well as lots of walking around ruins. I can't believe how much we have seen.

Gate to the Temple of Aphrodite 

A smaller theatre in Aphrodiasis

After a lush breakfast (see yesterday’s blog) we headed off to Aphrodiasis where the town named after Aphrodite is a spectacular site. The ruins there were amazing, especially the stadium. Every site we have seen are a real testament to the pagan nature of the ancient greek culture. You could participate in your culture in any acceptable way without worshipping the relevant deity, either a mythical god, the emperor or emperors past. No wonder the Christians rubbed the culture up the wrong way. Still, they did have the message of eternal life and access to God in ways the pagan gods could not satisy.

Stadium

In the museum of Aphrodiasis

This if for Jeremy, reminiscent of you HSC Ancient History work. Agrippina is crowning Nero here. (That should take you back - it sure does for me) From the town of Aphrodiasis. 

Snow covered mountains near Denizli

  We managed to climb up the mound of dirt that now covered Colossae. One day, someone will excavate, I guess. I nearly fell off a couple of times, it was very slippery. Still, what a buzz to be in a such a signficant place. We ran into some young American Christians doing a 7 churches tour. We ran into the a few more times later. They were friendly and took our photo. 
We read some of Colossians on the top of the mound. Very surreal.

On the way to Collosae we found ourselves driving down a very dodgy track and thought we would end up in someones farm.  

There are thousands of lizards in Laodicea. 

The Turkish people are very friendsly but I have hardly met any women. I have not even seen any. The men dit in front of the café’s (and sometimes on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere) in groups, just talking, but the women are nowhere to be seen. 

 This is Laodicea. They are working very hard at restoring it. There are archaeologists with cranes and craftsmen everywhere putting things back together. Again, I can't believe I am here in the same place that John wrote Revelation to. The site is spectacular. They have just built a huge perspex platform that you can stand on an look through to see the dig and restoration work. 

 Then we drove to Parmukkale, met Tufun, the owner of the hotel, and had a lovely dinner. 

In the evening we tried to walk around the lake, complete with duck shaped boats and real ducks, but there was too much water flowing across the path from a waterfall. It was all very beautiful, though. 

Tufun told us that the people are peasants so the traditional food is peasant food. We had a lamb dish alot like last nights, with capsicum and onion, all cooked on a metal plate. It came to the table over a little candle stove, still sizzling. Delicious. 

But we were told to try the Pide  (Turkish Pizza) in Parmukkale. Haven't done that yet.