Ephesus - more Roman ruins, but . . .

I had previously been to Ephesus in March 2005, just after Morag was born. Then it had been virtually deserted and we had the place to ourselves (apart from 2 cats which decided to mate very vigorously right beside our guide as she was explaining various details of Roman history, but that is another story . . .) I was extremely impressed by the size of Ephesus and how well it was preserved. This time two things were different. First, we have already on this trip seen outstanding Roman ruins in places like Jerash, Palmyra and Baalbek. Second, we visited at the end of May when the coachloads of tourists also start to visit. As a result, we all felt somewhat flat about this great city. It is wonderful, but we have been spoilt on this trip and are used to seeing these sights on our own, without dozens of tour groups.

Everywhere we looked there were sweating, badly dressed tourists being led by wonderfully patient guides for their 2 hour trip through the majesty of Rome, before being whisked back to their cruise ship. One elderly American enquired of her Turkish guide "Does Tiger Woods mean much to you guys, or is he not big over here?"