Day 145 to 150: Coast to coast

From Çannakale, we made our way down the Aegean Coast to the Mediterranean in Antalya. We stayed three nights in the small town of Selçuk, where we walked out to the awesomely preserved ruins of Ephesus. We'd been warned that food onsite was very pricey, so we came armed with a picnic and enjoyed the novelty of laying out our lunch on the base of a Roman pillar in the midst of the ruins. From Selçuk we visited the ruined cities of Prienne, Miletus and Didyma, which were lovely to wander, but a little overshadowed by Ephesus from the day before.

Around Selçuk we walked to the ruins of the Temple of Artemis, once one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. These days just one huge pillar remains and ducks paddle in a pond that was once the temple floor. We enjoyed the slower pace of a small town and lovely hospitality from the family pension we stayed in. Four generations lived in the same house and we were

welcomed into their front room for breakfast by the stove on a particularly cold morning.

One of our favourite aspects of staying in Selçuk was experiencing the Saturday market. As we ate breakfast on the pension porch, crates of lettuce were piled high and the road was transformed into stall after stall of fresh produce. Despite the proximity of Ephesus, Selçuk's economy remains primarily agricultural, and Saturday was clearly a big day for local growers. I bought half a kilo of fresh peas for 50p and enjoyed munching my way through them - something that's far too expensive to do in London!

While in Selçuk, we succumbed to spring colds, so our pace since then became a little slower and snufflier. We next headed to Pammukale, where we climbed calcium-covered hillsides for views over the travertines: natural white pools layered onto hillsides, that were once filled with bright blue water but have now largely dried up. They still made a stunning landscape and we spent several hours admiring the views and wandering amongst hilltop Hierapolis ruins.

Our final coastal stop was Antalya on the turqouise coast. By this time our colds had well and truly settled in, so we took things easy and recuperated. We strolled around the quaint old town and chilled out with drinks and panoramic harbour vistas at a clifftop cafe. We went to the beach and stumbled upon a couple of friendly English guys who had been our seatmates on the bus journey to Antalya and spent a couple of hours appreciating Antalya's stunning museum, with statues laid out in elegant rooms, helping us to imagine them as they once were. On our departure day, heavy rain set in, further encuraging us to hibernate at our pension before making the uninviting journey to the Otogar (central bus station) for our onward journey towards Cappadocia.