Selçuk...where everything seems to be frozen in time

Before I plan my trip to Turkey, I never heard about Selçuk.
Actually not many people aware about this beautiful town, which is in fact, one of the most visited tourist destinations within Turkey. I myself discovered Selçuk during my search for places close to the ancient city of Ephesus, one of my intended place to visit during my trip. I have no regrets at all that I chose to stay in this town as it turned out to be one of the rare traveling experiences.

I flew the one hour flight to Izmir from Istanbul, then took the convenient, air conditioned (yet slightly crowded) train ride to Selçuk. Train station is just across the main exit of Adnan Menderes Airport. It only took me 55 minutes on the train running the route Izmir-Adnan Menderes-Selçuk-Denizli  to arrived my destination.
Click here for train schedule.



A man selling Simit in the train

As I traveled on my own itinerary, I did the same as my trip to Cappadocia, I found my host through couchsurfing before I started my Turkey trip. For those who love more adventurous kind of traveling you can choose this platform. I can recommend excellent host in Selçuk, just write to me in the comments section below.

For those who choose to stay in the hotel or guesthouse, but yet still want to experience the real  Selçuk neighborhood you can check ANZ Guesthouse tripadvisor review here. This guesthouse nestled among the neighborhood which give you the homey feeling. A cozy, peaceful & comfortable place, with friendly and helpful staffs plus a nice rooftop terrace where you can have nice breakfast while sipping the warm Turkish tea. They also provide free shuttle pick up on arrival from train station. You can easily make an online booking through Agoda.com or booking.com



ANZ Guesthouse located among the local houses in the neighborhood



Clear direction to the guesthouse can be seen at few different points 



Beautifully decorated public area near the reception

 

I enjoyed sitting around in here

 Staircase to the rooftop terrace café


 

It was nice to walk around the town in the morning or in the evening. The town radiates a peaceful aura that makes us feel relax and no need to rush. Few places of attraction can be reached by walking or cycling e.g. Ephesus Museum (3 minutes away), Temple of Artemis (10 minutes away) and Camii Mosque (5 minutes away).



Trying to experience the local routines

 



 Temple of Artemis



The ancient city of Ephesus is located about 3 km away, you can choose to walk, ride a bicycle or ride a bike, to reach there. You will need minimum 2 hours to go around in the ancient city. ANZ Guesthouse provide free shuttle to Ephesus and you can take Duomo for the ride back. If you like to go with guided tour to Ephesus and few other places of attraction, you can have it booked by the guesthouse too. In fact, Mr. Mehmet (the owner) and the staffs can also arrange for Pamukkale tour and can also make booking arrangement for your tour in Cappadocia.

                                                   
  

Looking forward for the Ephesus tour

  



Ephesus Library ruins



At the amphitheater, the way the sound system work is so impressive



Ancients clay water pipes 



                                                         

After Ephesus, I had the chance to visit Turkish carpet workshop and also pottery making center (Firca Ceramics) Such an interesting visit. I love the artistic motives on the ceramic and also on the carpets, and the fact that both items were handmade make it more valuables.

 

Ceramics on display at Firca Pottery





 These are the silk thread used to make the carpets



The way the weaving is done. Such a tidiest work! 



Back to Selçuk town......

There is Çader Café which served the best pomegranate juice I ever tasted, located just across Ephesus Museum. They also serve delicious cheese cake which are freshly made daily. And for dinner, I had a very delicious kebab meal at Kebab's House restaurant owned by Mr. Ibrahim, brother of Mr. Mehmet. The restaurant located uphill along the way towards ANZ Guesthouse and can be easily spotted. 

                                   

This café serve nice drinks and cakes. Friendly owner!



The excellent anti oxidant drink - pomegranate juice

Super delicious lemon and raspberry cheese cakes



Alibaba Kebab House, served delicious lamb Kebabs

 

Delicious salsas I had for lunch

My favorite Turkish dessert - Halva



I had my Pamukkale tour booked on the day I was leaving for Denizli, to catch night bus to Cappadocia. Mr. Mehmet has made the arrangement so that I will be fetched to Denizli bus station directly after my brief tour in Pamukkale. Managed small shopping at the souvenir shop near love street. 

 

Posed with the 'happy' shop owner 



 Great memoir with Mr. Mehmet and the friendly staffs before we

                                   say our goodbye



It was really excellent trip I had in Selçuk. If you are planning to visit Ephesus, stay for at least 3 days and 2 nights in Selçuk for you to be able to explore the town, Ephesus and other attractions, plus the Pamucak beach located around 10 km from town center.

Trust me...you will love this town!









To experience the best of Cappadocia

Cappadocia was in fact my 2nd last stop through out my recent trip in Turkey, but I will share about it first as the experiences I had there were unbeatable. If you love a different kind of landscape and you fancy rocks and caves, plus hot air balloon ride with majestic view, this is definitely your place to explore. Do not plan 2 nights stay as it will not be enough for you to experience Cappadocia in all, do it 3 to 5 days instead especially if you are also a photography addict.



Souvenir on display near the entrance of Zelve Open Air Museum

                              
You can choose your own traveling style when you come to Cappadocia. You can either follow tour group from your country or any other location in Turkey, or fly in by yourself and purchase your tour package from many local agents/hotels located in Göreme or Ürgüp.
If you travel by yourself and plan to go around Cappadocia on your own, you need to have a car (borrow, rent or steal of course!) as the places of attraction are located far from one to another.

I didn't do all above anyway, as I discovered the best way to explore and learn about this magical place...and only the locals can provide that. There are many ways we can get connected and make friends with the locals before the trip, and the most effective way I have tried was by using couchsurfing platform.
If you planning a trip and would like to find the best host in Cappadocia, you can either publish your public trip or go through many profiles available to look for your prefered host.

I will not write details about Cappadocia in here, but I would like you to enjoy all the following photos I took during my trip. Hope these photos can tell the stories....


The making of Turkish tea at my host's kitchen

Turkish tea always prepared by using double boiler



Super delicious breakfast prepared by my host

                                                          

Home made tomato paste by host's mom

The way to Zelve Open Air Museum. Magnificent view!

Look at my big grin!!

Shop at the entrance of open air museum

Theater area at the open air museum compound

Pottery making workshop at Avanos

Colorful pottery/ceramic

My first ceramic masterpiece!!

Riverside of Red River , Avanos

 Mosque near Red River

Geese swimming along the Red river

 Feeding the geese

 At Love Valley

A different angle of love valley

At Göreme Panoramic Point

Different angle of  Göreme Panoramic Point

Hot air balloon preparing for the flight, as early as 5.30am

Our balloon, minutes before the flight began

Spectacular sun rise view seen during our flight

Magnificent landscape of Cappadocia

Other balloons. There were hundreds of them.

Beautiful view of the hill top

Our shadow

My certificate for the flight

Göreme Open Air Museum. There is a man standing on the rock!

Pottery shop's decoration near the open air museum

There are still many other places of attraction that I did not cover here such as Rose Valley and underground cities. Will include those places in my future blogs.
The end.