Gladiator!!

Gladiator!!

8^th May 2011

Kusadasi, Turkey

Today was another tour, this one was only four hours. Stuart got the short straw and got a 10 hour tour. Of course, he came back absolutely shattered. 

My entire tour took place at Ephesus… the place is massive and we had access to the terrace houses (for entry there’s an additional fee). Oh my word, it was so hot in Ephesus it was untrue, so humid. The site itself is fantastic!! The tour guide studied business administration at university in England and travelled the country quite a bit so he loved telling me all his stories. He was a great laugh and “I joke… I like to joke. See, I joke”. Fantastic! Having a super tour guide makes a huge difference and makes the day that extra bit special.

Here’s an interesting fact about Kusadasi. The name means “Pigeon Island”. "Kusa" translates to pigeons and "Dasi" is island. Originally and obviously the island was known for its huge amounts of pigeons. Kusadasi, believe it or not, also became well known and popular after the 9/11 attacks. It’s also renowned for being one of the safest places in Turkey. We were all given a map of Kusadasi an Evil Eye pin and a clay tablet ticket. The tour guide told us the Evil Eye in Turkey is used to ward off evil spirits and bring you luck. That, and keeping the mother-in-law away. The tablet tickets were used when Ephesus was the largest civilization in the region (2^nd Century B.C – 5^th Century A.D.). 
The clay, engraved tablet was used by spectators to enter the theatre. On the tablet's facade are two engravings, one of a smilings face, the other, crying. This was to symbolise the drama and melodrama found in the theatre's performances.

My tour group was only small, around 22 people, including myself and tour guide. One of the hardest things about touring is you have to split your time in between photographing the guests and keeping the group together and moving. You'd be surprised how easily they find it to get lost. One American guest did just that! He was darting all over the place with his Nikon D90 taking photos. Twice he stood in the way of my shots. As the tour is continuously on the move you have to shoot relatively fast. When he walked into my shot, the guests I was going to photograph walked off to keep up with the tour guide. It's incredibly frustrating to say the least! Anyway, the guy walked off taking photos and got completely separated from the group. It was only 30 minutes afterwards that his wife noticed he was gone… just shows how much she loves him!

Coming out of the terrace houses the lady came charging over to me and started shouting that I’d lost her husband and that he was missing. The tour guide didn’t seem to bothered and said he’d show up sooner or later, plus, he should have stuck close to the rest of the group. This is another reason why I loved this tour guide!! He didn’t pussy foot around the guests.

The terrace houses themselves were absolutely enormous! One thing I didn’t realize was that the Romans were so obsessed with being clean. In Spain and many other countries we have what’s called as a Siesta. Spanish think of it as a time to eat, sleep and relax. The siesta period originates from the Romans. Between 3 and 5.30 the rich people (the poor had to use public baths in the morning) would go to either the public or private baths and sit the entire time soaking and washing. At the entrance of the houses were baths where people would wash as soon as they walked through the door. The baths themselves looked more like decorative, semi-circle internal fountains build into the property wall.

The public bathrooms were great too! Along the back wall was a long marble bench with holes. The rich people would pay serious amounts of money to have a seasonal access to the toilets where they’d perch their bum rather than squat like peasants. Living in those times, compared to nowadays, must have been great if you were rich! Now, it seems like pure madness. Having said that, I'd love to take a step back in time and see it all with my own eyes. Absolutely amazing.

We visited the theatre which is being removed stone by stone. The government are moving the entire thing so that it can be used for future concerts despite public uproar. Sting once held a concert in the ancient theatre. There was big trouble too apparently. Spectators were nearly crushed due to others pushing towards the stage.

Towards the end there were a 10 minute show featuring two Roman gladiators, slaves and Royalty. The sword fight didn’t last long and the emperor gave the thumbs up. Bit unfortunate! When the Emperor gives the thumbs up at the end of a dual, it’s to signify whether the loser lives or dies. Thumbs up and he lives. Thumbs down and he dies a nasty death. Most of the crowd were willing for thumbs up, me and a few others were the opposition.

Every time the tour stopped for a couple of minutes, I was darting around to get the guests' photos one of the many ruins. Although I did the best I could, I didn’t do too well. Only 24 images.

After the tour we had a 30 minute period to use the rest rooms and have another look around. I was getting a few nasty comments about people being sick and tired of us photographers sticking our cameras in people’s faces and so on. Although I can understand it, they have no obligation to buy anything and it’s also my job. It’s just what I have to do to get my image count and hit targets. With 20 minutes left I gave up, you can only put up with so much nagging and bad comments before you need to step back for a bit; not only for the guests as they still have a few days left on the cruise but for yourself and your personal sanity! As Rich once said, it’s mass rejection.

I took the chance to have a drink and walk around some of the little shops that were located outside Ephesus. Of course I had to get some magnets! The Turkish flag, evil eye and Ephesus moment. Three for five euros - pretty good if you ask me. There was even a camel outside Ephesus. 1 euro to stand next to the camel and get your photo taken.

Back on the bus and the missing American had finally made his appearance. His wife pointed at me so I commented “Oh someone’s found you, where were you?” Wrong thing to say. The guy went off on one! “Where were you? Your job is to make sure we don’t get lost and you didn’t find me to tell me that we were moving on”. Rapidly losing patience I had to explain that my job was not to walk at the back of the group and make sure everyone sticks together. Instead, I’m there as the group photographer. I work for the photography department. Next I had to try and politely explain that although I do stand at the back of the group and usher people on, if he wants to take it upon himself to walk off I can’t be held responsible. I can’t separate myself from the group in case I get lost too so there are limits. If he wants to walk off then it’s his responsibility. The guy asked for my name so no doubt he’s going to put in a complaint/bad comment about me. I wasn’t rude but I had to cover my own arse and state the fact that although I’m the escort and photographer, he needs to use common sense rather than expect someone to hold his hand and wait for him to take photos.

Once back at the ship I told our new BM Reuben about the situation, just so he had an idea of what was going on. He told me not to worry – at least my new BM is prepared to give me his backing. A group of us were talking about the ruins and momuments when Reuben came out with a great comment: “In my country (India) we have ruins and everyone call it poverty. In Europe, they have ruins and everyone calls it culture”. The guy cracks me up! 

Our new AMP also went on a tour and only got 20 odd photos. At least now he can see just how hard it is on these tours and it’s not us being slack and lazy about it all. Although we can tell him again and again, he needed to experience the lack of willingness we have from guests. Virtually no one wants their photo taken.

Afterwards I headed out to Starbucks to meet Luci to use the internet. Unfortunately by the time I got to Starbucks there were so many people there the internet connection was so slow. For me, I couldn’t even get online. Fail. 

We took the opportunity to have a walk around the local mini bazaar. Some of the clothes in the shops are beautiful. There was a white, Greek style, cotton dress that I wanted until he guy told me the price, 24 euros. Although the dress was nice, those type of dresses are sold in the markets in Spain for half the price or less! Luci wanted to get some cotton parachute pants so we went into another shop where I spotted a lovely maxi dress. It was so nice, I loved it… but all my hopes of buying it were dashed when I asked for the price. 45 euros. Everything on that side of the market was way overpriced but there were people buying.

We headed over to the opposite side of the bazaar. The side was much cheaper and there was room to bargain. As I can’t steal Rich’s aviator sunglasses anymore I found a nice pair and got the price down to 10 euros. Luci keeps laughing and calling me a Bubaloo (that’s how it’s pronounced anyway. The word means idiot and provided by the Filipinos) as I haven’t taken the glasses off – unless it’s for work on board the ship. Luci didn’t manage to get any pants but she did buy her brother a Turkey top for US$5 instead of 10. 

Every shop has belly dancer outfits, some pants and some dresses. Both of us thought it’d be a great costume for gangway. Maybe that way we’d be able to have Hernan or Stuart as a Turkish prince and me or Luci as belly dancers. We’d get so many photos it’s untrue. Later on I spoke to Reuben and he thought it was a great idea, so when we are next in Kusadasi or Istanbul, Luci and I will be on a mission to find a costume and heckle the price down to the ground. Even though I don’t have a wash board stomach, I’m all for dressing up if it brings more revenue and a packet full of giggles. After all, you only live once so I might as well shake my booty on the gangway while I still can!

Tourism at Ephesus, Kusadasi (Turkey)

Gladiators

Genuine Fake Watches - Ephesus Market