Samos Time

Our house in Karlovassi was cosy at first but now we appreciate having separate rooms and it seems quite spacious. Geoff is coping with cooking in a very small space (but still complaining about it). The lady who comes to clean and change the linen/towels is very friendly (loves Alex) but speaks no english. She brings her daughter with her (school holidays here) who translates imperfectly. Really get the local vibe of day to day life. The fishmonger and the fruit/vegie guys come around with loudspeakers and sell off the back of their trucks in the narrow, meandering streets. We are right next door to the local church and its bells are rung very loudly on Sunday mornings - there is no sleeping in (other days are OK though).

Balos Beach

Beaches: there are so many beaches on Samos that there are many websites dedicated to them. We have tried Potami, Karlovassi Port, Tsambou, Limnionas and our current favourite Balos.
Tavernas: Many and everywhere. Mostly sell the same stuff - moussaka, giouvetsi, souvlaki, kleftiko, meat (of any kind - beef, veal, lamb, goat, rabbit) as stifado or in red sauce, small fish of all kinds. We favoured the Limnionas terrace by the aegean cafe bar until we discovered the cypriot restaurant 'Stella' at Balos Beach. Kerkis Bay is another favourite for its free wifi.

Arrived on Samos

After gracefully leaving Kusadasi without managing to offend Ahmet, Mehmet, Octi or their guests, we arrived early at the port to catch the ferry.

Leaving Turkey for Greece, we had to move through customs and the usual security checks which meant waiting behind a row of buses parked with their engines running spewing forth carbon monoxide, and carrying our heavy bags in the humid heat of the port and so presenting at customs as a huddled sweaty mass.  We had to fill out the most cryptic survey with questions of whether we got sick in Turkey or how much we actually spent on taxis, food accommodation etc before boarding the boat to Samos. Once onboard, and our bags safely stowed on the stern deck to maximize the chance they will become wet as waves wash over the back of the boat, we feel much happier, sitting in the breeze on the top deck watching Turkey disappear over the horizon.

An hour and half later, Samos came into view and immediately we remembered why we had come all this way; the feelings of wonder, tranquility and beauty that our last visit to Greece impressed on us came flooding back.  Before arriving at the port, the boat passes along the impressive, empty and rugged mountains for which Samos is famous and I fancied that this was the sort of location that Cubbi Broccoli would have looked for in the 70s (you only live twice …).

At Samos town we had to wait in the hot sun for 30 minutes to clear customs. We were told by Ahmet to hire a car from Pegasus rental which was near to the port, and within another 30 minutes we had a secured a Suzuki Jimny for 3 days and headed off to Karlovassi. Now, the Jimny is not high performance car, let me tell you, and besides the thrills of driving on the wrong side of a narrow, windy coast road, copng with the Suzuki’s idiocracies made driving that much more exciting.

Of course, the next challenge was to find the “Captain’s House” we had rented for the next 5 weeks in Karlovassi. The interesting thing about driving in Greece (and most towns that have stood for centuries) is that finding your way about typically means going round and round in circles, being caught in one way streets and passing the same landmarks, but without actually finding that detour needed to get where you want to go. Coupled with the added complexity of not actually knowing where we need to go adds to the fun. And of course, other drivers really don’t care. Either they are barking up your rear end or they have inexplicably just stopped in front of you and discovered a parking spot that really isn’t there. However, a combination of phone calls, asking taxi drivers and following our nose (the most recommended method), we finally discovered “Agios Matronas”, the church that was the landmark near to which we would find our house.

We knew it was being cleaned and that we were early, and so we called the girl who was at the house and there she was! Down at the next corner waving to us. But by then it was too late to turn because, well its not so obvious, because, well you have to experience it to know what I mean. Think of it as being blindfolded, turned around three times and then being asked to perform feats of hand-eye coordination and you’ll know how I feel when put behind the wheel of a left hand drive for the first time. So having missed our turn, if was off on the round trip back to the square, and back up to the church for another try. Second time round brought success and we were able to drop our bags off and head down to the port for a beer.

The weather was still hot, but now we were at Karlovassi, sitting in the shade enjoying a mythos beer and gazing out at the peaceful harbor and it's fishing boats and reflecting upon the 7 days of travel it had taken to get here from Australia. It really did feel as if we had come a long way, in more ways than one.

Finding Mehmet

Our next stop is Gultepe Apartment Hotel in Kusadasi, which is the nearest port in Turkey for catching a ferry to Samos. The apartments were run by Mehmet and his brothers (as we discovered later) and we had instructions via email to call Mehmet when we arrived and he would give us instructions on how to find his place. Good plan. So we just make our way to “Ladies beach and he will meet us there. Excuse please, how do I get to Ladies beach? Where are you? At the port; just go to Ladies beach … well, you get the idea. Eventually Deb spots a bus with “Ladies beach” on the front, so we follow it, sticking like glue until we arrive at: Ladies beach! A call to Mehmet and a few turns around the neighbourhood and we finally rendezvous.

Gultepe Apartments  are quite the oasis just 5 minutes from the (Ladies) beach. He has a pool, bar, offers breakfast, lunch and dinner and a friendly and relaxing atmosphere. When we arrive, we are greeted by Brits lounging by the pool and asking for refills from one of Mehmets brothers. We discover later this is Octi, a very nice person and self-admittedly responsible for running everything behind the scenes with Mehmet as the “front man”.

Kusadasi (or at least Ladies Beach) seems to have been taken over by the Brits. There are Irish and English breakfasts at all the Tavernas, and the hotels are definitely angling for the UK market. We discover later our fellow guests at the apartments have been going there for years and actually own two of the apartments. That explains the obvious familiarity between Mehmet and these particular guests. Whilst it must be nice to have things look, feel and taste like home when holidaying away from cloudy old Blighty, I do feel Kusadasi has lost something of its Anatolian heritage as a result.

We settle in to our apartment on the second floor, overlooking the pool and pretty pleased with it. A large sized bathroom, two rooms for sleeping and modern renovations. The kitchen is not really a kitchen though, not having a stove or cooktop; this just means we eat downstairs, or get irish stew at one of the tavernas. This is also the first place that we are faced with the rule of no toilet paper to be flushed; rather it must be put into the handy bin provided. (perhaps Kusadasi has not lost all of its Anatolian charm).

The only gripe I had with Gultepe was the lack of A/C or ceiling fans. The weather has been excruciatingly hot and sleeping on our first night was nigh impossible. Mehmet was able to provide a small fan the next night, so not so bad. Again, exhibiting impeccable hospitality (for the trivial sum of 2 Pounds). But, Turkey being Turkey, you could always count on the Mullas to start chanting early – here they start at 5:00am; whilst this was fascinating in Istanbul, here in Kusadasi, it just served to wake all the dogs for at least 5 kms in all directions.

The next day we headed out to Ephesus, the ancient Greek city containing the Celsus Library. Mehmet advised to start from the lower end, so we would have a downhill walk back to the car. Good advice. The mercury hit 40 degrees and we made for the shade whenever we could. Ephesus is quite amazing, but like many of these ruins, the sheer amount of marble columns, statues and sandstone arches and walls gives you some appreciation of the task facing the archeologist. After 2000 years, thieves and natural events have taken their toll and there seems to be more of Ephesus laying on the ground, either where it fell, or in neat rows awaiting classification. Again, however, it doesn’t take long before you feel a sense of wonder at the vast age of the place and the distance in generations and culture between you and those who peopled this place.

A few kilometers from Ephesus there are two old mosques we had intended to visit, however, the heat had taken its toll and we opted for lunch instead. A friendly turk helped us with parking and then offered to give us a tour of his rug showroom which was handily nearby.  No thanks, perhaps later my friend.

Later that day, we dropped our faithful Kia back to Avis – thankyou, and bye bye. Somehow, it didn’t feel right to spoil the moment by telling them of my parking fine in Bergama.

The next day, it was time to bid farewell to Gultepe, Mehmet and his brothers and head to the port to catch our ferry to Samos. This ticket had been arranged by his good friend Ahmet (if that little bastard gives you trouble, let me know), who would pick us up the next morning for the transfer. There was some consternation from Mehmet and his other guests that we had paid too much and were told to go and threaten Ahmet with extinction if he did not give us a better price.

Ancient Pergamon

After seeing Troy in the north near Canakkale, we headed south for Bergama, location of ancient Pergamon. This town was further in from the coast and the weather just kept getting hotter. Before heading inland, we stopped in at Dikili, a seaside resort town for Turks it seems. Only two 3-star hotels, fully booked out and the rest of the town being holiday apartments. We decided to try our luck in Bergama.

Bergama had two 4 star hotels and we found a room at the "Berksoy" on the main street into town. It was quite nice and a welcome relief from the more austere accommodation we had in Canakkale at least you could swing a cat in the bathroom. Of course, true to form, there was a wedding reception that night and I suppose we were lucky to get the room as they were near to being fully booked as well. We had had a long days travel that day (Sunday) and took some time to relax in the room under the A/C before heading out for dinner. Again, the cuisine was not much different from what we had already experienced on the road here. It was fast looking like the best food we were to have in Turkey was at the Asli restaurant in Istanbul. But the atmosphere was pleasant, with grapevines and fountains and excellent service, so we went to bed happy.

The next morning we got up early for breakfast, but as usual, the wedding guests were faster and had denuded the breakfast victuals. No plates, cutlery, glasses etc.

The view of Bergama from Pergamon

After breakfast we headed out to check out the ancient sites of the Akropolis and the Asclepion. On the way stopped in at the Red Basilica (2nd century AD Roman with Egyptian statues) which sits among the oldest Ottoman houses in the city.
The Akropolis dominated the scene from the high hill overlooking the town. In fact we had taken a drive up the precarious road the day before to be sure we knew how to find it and felt we on the edge of a precipice. So narrow and yet a tourist bus must pass beside us. The route to the top seemed to go forever, but once there we found a park and were immediately assisted by a strangely helpful Turk in dark sunglasses. The view from the top was amazing however, and the site really inspired the imagination to fill in the intervening centuries and wonder how the place must have looked and what life must have been like for the privileged who got to live up top. From here, we could look down on the town and the dam that provided water to modern Bergama and see the remains of the Roman aquaduct in the distance. After returning to our car it was time for some apple tea and soft drink under the cooling shade of the cyprus trees of the taverna. There we again met the mysterious Turk in the sunglasses who invited us to check out his carpet factory in the town. We politely told him we weren't in the market having no way to carry said carpet nor any place to put it when we returned home. Curiously, he lost interest in us after that.

The Healing Waters (today)

The Asclepion is the site where folk came to be healed by sacred waters of Artemis. And if that failed, the only option was to head to Hierapolis for a final cleanse  before entering the afterlife. Again, we found ourselves imagining the residents of ancient Pergamon coming here for spa baths and relaxing massages to rejuvinate themselves before getting on with being a Greek in Anatolia.

Check out the pictures of Bergama here.