It's Taxi Time

We managed to tear ourselves away from photographing the aircraft carrier to start our day of exploration of Ephesus. While we were up on the deck checking out the carrier we saw quite a number of people already leaving the boat, among them were our Athens tour buddies. This would be their second time in Ephesus and Izmir so they were intent on seeing the sights of Izmir on foot. We were met by a welcome dance. I don't know exactly if that was what they were doing, but I suppose it's the equivalent of a lei when you step on Hawaiian ground. I also wondered if people get this welcome when you arrive at the airport. I guessing again that this "performance" is a collaboration with the cruise lines as part of the total package of enjoying the culture of Turkey.
We were given a mini version of these EVIL EYE amulet, charm or whatever you call them by one of the locals who carry around a small woven basket. In Turkey evil eye trinkets and jewelry are common. They are meant to protect the wearer from evil eye. I thought that was a nice gesture. I pinned mine on my shirt and didn't remove it. I even pinned it on me whenever we would stop at the succeeding ports. It's better safe than sorry, right? I am thinking of making a pair of earrings with my trinket and my husband's share.
Our plan was to take public transportation. We did our research. There is a train station. But apparently not really. There is a train station and bus going to Ephesus, but they were a long walk from the port. We went back inside to speak to a tourism rep and we were advised not to go on our own. The train station they say don't go to Ephesus. And the bus is unreliable. So plan B, which was take the private taxi tour to either Ephesus or Pergamon, started to make sense. But when we saw the price - remember we are on a tight budget - we thought we'd go back to the ship and see who wants to share the taxi with us.
Since we were almost the last ones to leave the ship, the idea of us shouldering 100 euros for 2 -3 hours of tour of Ephesus was beginning to be a likelihood. Until a couple came out and looked lost. Mr. Congeniality - my husband the one in blue on the right - approached the couple and broached up the idea of sharing a taxi tour. We compared notes on which sites we wanted to see and voila, our list matched theirs. Now time to talk to the taxi driver. They talked I shot.
Our taxi driver was Albanian who spoke Turkish and little Italian. Yap what a combination eh? The couple we shared the taxi with are French - he spoke French and a little Spanish and a little English, she spoke French and Italian. The taxi we took was similar to these. This is the one ahead of us on the road.
Ephesus (bible's St. Paul's Ephesians) is 80 km from Izmir. Our driver obviously a pro when it comes to doing his job was chatty and while communication was hindered by language barrier, the taxi was not quiet for long. He revved up the taxi up to 140 km (oh yeah, my heart sank to my Achilles' heel - like riding a rollercoaster ride scary) and when he noticed that I was checking out the odometer from my backseat, he tapped the steering wheel and sheepishly comments: FERRARI! You know the taxi can handle that speed. And nervous laughter can be heard from three passengers. Whenever he sighted the familiar blue car parked along the roadside (tourist police car), he would wisely cruise within legal limits. The police or Jandarma cars are posted on regular intervals along the length of the highway from Izmir to Ephesus in order to safeguard the tourists. I felt really safe when we traveled in this part of Turkey.

The above photo is what I snapped while we were cruising the countryside.

Comments

  1. Not everyday that we find a good driver that we feel we're in good hands. The evil eye charms on the photo are fasyon enough. I used to perceive it as something dark and eerie.

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  2. what an adventure! there's no traffic and the highway has no obstructions--it must have been a smooth drive. but 140 kph is a bit too fast for me, too, even at the expressway. great shots!

    and your header photo is incredible! is that in Turkey?

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  3. i always love reading your misadventures.
    can't help laughing sometimes, i can only imagine the look on your face while at 140 speed. ^0^
    with taxi drivers, there's always a story behind it. ^-^
    i guess, that's the fun while traveling, you have to plan it ahead but not too much or you'll spoil the best part.
    i'm sure this trip was ultimately memorable to you. ^0^

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  4. Very beautiful post, Maria. It's good that the taxi prices were clearly displayed. 140 km/h is a good speed for the highway. Here the limit is 130 km/h in the highways, 110 km on the roads out of town, 50 km/h in town.

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  5. nice taxi ride... :D

    did you feel holy when you got to ephesus?

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  6. Sounds like an adventure! Tourism is probably one of their best sources of income - thus the overpriced taxi rides. I look forward to more photos!

    Thanks for visiting Norwich Daily Photo and leaving your comment. See you tomorrow!

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  7. Quite a story to tell back home - or here on your photo blog :-) If you have close-ups of the dancers, share it - I would like a good look at their 'uniforms'.

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  8. good that the taxi rates are published :) The costumes are quite colorful. The countryside looks so clean and pretty.

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  9. wow! ganda talaga pati yung mga kuha but the new header caught my attention the most.

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  10. There's always more than one way to skin the cat, Maria, and clearly you and your husband have learned how to do it. BRAVO.

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  11. The spelling of TAKSI looks like Tagalog, though we spell it the English way in the Philippines.

    Great shots. .

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  12. Never been to Turkey - your photos and writing make me curious about this country

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  13. Like you I also believe in amulets. Grabe pala ang mahal ng taxi dyan ano. Ngayon ko lang nakita ang Ephesus. Lagi kong nababasa sa Bible. Ganda ng mga posts mo Maria, nice travelogue with lots of beautiful photos!

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  14. Never heard of the evil eye amulett - intersting read and a fine picture

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  15. With a driver speeding you @ 140 km/hr, I guess even with an evil amulet, you'll still feel less safe. Drivers in Turkey have been known to be so careless.

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  16. Superb series of shots and write up of the adventure

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  17. Though I'm not one who believes in amulets, i must say those have lovely colors...thanks for the tour...I have reservations when it comes to Turkey :D pero thanks for showing these and hopefully I change my thinking eheheh

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  18. I initially thought they were flower trinkets. The concept behind that evil eye is intriguing.

    Glad you found a couple to share the taxi tour with.

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