Day 6 - Blogabond

Mark and I rose fairly early and took a taxi from Kutayha to what turned out to be the best part of the trip so far . . . Greek ruins more spectacular than any I've ever seen before. And to think we almost missed them because the guide book we were using (Lonely Planet) barely made reference to them. The two-hour drive to get to the ruins, through pastoral scenes of shepherds with their flocks, cowherders, tiny villages surrounding tin-domed mosques, bright red poppy fields and Millet-type views of women bent over planting seeds, was exquisite -- each view a perfect painting.[p>
The ruins themselves were mostly set in an open field and coming upon them was amazing, somewhat like the photos one sees of Stonehedge. The closer we got, the more apparent it became that these ruins were very well-preserved. The main ruin, a Temple of Zeus, is set on a small hill, dominating everything around it. Virtually every column remains standing. In the gymnasium, the delicately carved marble moldings seem to have lost none of their depth and the chiseled writing on the pillars in the arena and stadium can be clearly read (if one understood the language, of course).

Wandering around these ruins in silence -- no other tourists, no one at all -- made the entire experience almost mystical. Eventually we were joined by a rather elderly caretaker, who walked with us back through the ruins to the road, explaining each of the different sites as we passed by and unlocking the gate which led to the cavern, formerly a swimming pool dedicated to Diana, underneath the Temple.

As we reached the road, the caretaker urged us to walk through the nearby village to see even more ruins, and we took his advice. The village was a small one, consisting entirely of mud and brick homes, thatched roofs, wandering chickens and dirt streets. And, just as the caretaker promised, every so often, a small ruin . . . the remains of a temple squeezed between two houses, a fountain around a corner, or an old column in the middle of the street. A wonderful experience.

Back in Kutayha by about 2 p.m., we had a quick lunch and then did what we (Mark actually) had come to Kutayha for -- porcelain and ceramics shopping. (Mark was looking for tiles for a house he has been building for almost four years now). Kutayha is known for its hand-painted tiles and porcelain and we wandered through shop after shop of some truly beautiful items. Unfortunately, none of the shops would ship anything and the pieces we were looking at were simply too heavy and breakable to carry with us. And besides, we really didn't see anything that demanded to be bought. As a result, we ended up at the actual ceramic factories just outside of town, which was a big mistake because we bought stuff . . . lots of stuff . . . tiles for my garden, bowls, vases, plates . . . well, you get the idea. Of course, even the factory at first said it couldn't ship -- until they brought in Hassan. Hassan, an executive who spoke perfect English (having studied at Berkeley and the University of New Mexico), is in charge of exports for the company (meaning bulk exports which our load, while "bulk" to us, was peanuts to the factory). Although it took about two and a half hours, with Hassan's help we finally arranged to have our purchases trucked to Izmir on the coast and then transported by DHL here to Philly.

Afterward the shopping was completed, Hassan invited us back to his home for dinner. Other visitors included a student from Hong Kong who was studying at the local university, a professor from the university with his son and daughter, and a few of their friends, turning the quiet meal into a large and jovial gathering. As a result, Mark and I stayed much longer than we had planned, enjoying the company and the food. However, as our bus to Ankara didn't leave until 1:30 a.m., we didn't mind at all

written by

shoshtrvls on June 7, 1996 from Kutahya, Turkey

from the travel blog: Turkey and Greece (1996)

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