Aspendos

On Friday, Tömer decided to take us on a field trip and bussed us out to a waterfall on the outskirts of town near the ruins of Perge. Lara, my good friend from camp was in town so she came along as well. The waterfall was very pleasant but Tömer had given us 2 ½ hours to explore the place and after 15 minutes of staring at the falls we were bored. Therefore Laura, James, and I sat down and played cards for two hours. After we returned Larua and I got Chicken Döner at a tiny restaurant for lunch and met the Krauses for an afternoon of further adventure.

The Krauses were in town again on family vacation. JP was still sporting the arm cast he earned at Olive Grove Camp and Josh was nursing the collection of stitches he recieved a few days before in Koş. Despite the wounded, the Krauses were in high spirits and ready for more. Today’s target was Aspendos (lovingly dubbed “Asbestos” by Laura) a Roman city to the East of Antalya. Seven Krauses, Laura, and I crammed into a 7 passenger Honda Odyssey for the drive out to the ruins.

The City of Aspendos is best known for its 7,000 seat theater; widely considered the best preserved Roman Theater in existence. Thus, the parking lot, souvenir shop, ticket entrance, and camel rides are all located less than 15 meters from the theater. The theater (as seen above) is truly a sight to behold. Modern work has restored the it to its original glory. The sight is a popular venue for concerts, shows, and ballets. The top of the theater boasts a curved covered archway and spectacular vistas.

As one exits the theater, there is a dirt path leading off to the left into some brush. 600 meters down this path lays the rest of the city. While the theater was impressive, it was the rest of the city that I enjoyed most. Perched on the top of the hill is a partially ruined stone structure that looks like a great black crown. All of us climbed up the stones and we were rewarded with a stunning view of the Anatolian countryside. The hills surrounding the city were painted with shades of blue, red, yellow and green. Columns and arches stood defiantly all around us, refusing to surrender to the sea of green brush surrounding them. Further exploration around Aspendos revealed a monumental fountain, roads, sewers, and grand archway. I also discovered that many of the stones we were walking on were in reality chunks of Roman pottery. The nine of us spent almost 2 hours climbing over arches buildings and walls at Aspendos but we explored only one half of the ruins. We encountered almost no other visitors outside of the theater which only added to the atmosphere of the place.

After returning to Antalya, our entourage enjoyed a pleasant meal at my favorite restaurant in town before retiring to the hotel for an evening of tavela. Laura and I had been trash-talking each other’s tavela playing abilities for weeks and over a bottle of wine at hotel pool I emerged victorious 5 games to 0!