If driving in Istanbul seemed intimidating, making our way south was more encouraging, especially on gorgeous mountain passes. We flew in to İzmir to spend 2 nights in Selçuk, the town that is nestled around the yet-to-be excavated hills of the ancient city of Ephesus.

They say, in Turkey, it is next to impossible to break ground on any construction without months of planning and permitting, because wherever you are, you're likely to be on top of Greek, Roman, Byzantine ruins — or perhaps something even older. The ruins of Ephesus show a key port city for multiple civilizations (before a massive earthquake moved the water farther away, and a 7th century earthquake later buried it). Supposedly, the city even drew in Mary, the mother of Jesus, to live out her years close by on Nightingale Mountain or Bülbül Dağı.

perspective looking up at the four-story columns of the library of Ephesus, with Aseef looking up, mouth gaping at the splendor — Taking in the library of Ephesus could have been an entire trip in itself. This was Aseef’s favorite spot: he had just visited the site with his parents a month earlier, but he couldn’t get enough of this detailed edifice.

There is so much history in Turkey that guides can often be heard saying things like "Well… it's only 2,200 years old," or "this is only 2.4K years old." WhAT?! But it's being preserved so well.

Aseef and I splurged on an English-speaking tour that took us through the nearby ruins, including the Temple of Artemis — now a solitary column among marble ruins from the greatest temple of its time, which remains one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. The majority of the land of Ephesus still has to be unearthed (calling all archeologists!). We got to see an Austrian-Turkish team sifting through a few square feet of a site and bagging some old coins. But archeologists have also meticulously puzzled back together beautiful archways, road drainage, housing layouts, and impressive facades. The archeologists were able correctly reconstruct buildings that would have featured "recycled" pieces from other empires. Our guide showed us Byzantine walls that started with Greek foundations and had some Roman cornerstones and pieces "recycled into it."

Aseef leaning against an ancient archway in Ephesus that contains Byzantine, Roman and Greek components — A random archway in Ephesus featuring big cuts of stone from Greek construction (bottom), pieces of columns and railings (middle) from Roman construction and red bricks (throughout) from Byzantine era, next to Aseef featuring hydration (backpack) and handsomeness (throughout).

But it wasn’t just the archeological excavations that had our jaws dropping. When we got to Pamukkale a day later, Aseef and I were both shocked — first, by a really well-preserved amphitheater of Hierapolis, tucked against the mountains, and then by these naturally occurring other-worldly pools of limestone. The only way my mind could log the sight of the cascading opalescent pools was to tell me to try "skiing down."

Two pictures: (top) Aseef standing before three layers of cascading dry limestone terraces; (bottom) Aseef and Iulia standing closely, ankle-deep in blue-green mineral water. — While pretty touristy, Pamukkale offers natural sights that look entirely alien to us: huge cliffs with pools of white limestone shaped by the rich mineral springs into travertine formations.

For our next step, the beautiful coastal city of Fethiye, we joined a tour boat to swim around the various islands and drove in with a friend to see Saklikent, the second deepest gorge in Europe after Verdon in France.

We ended up on the Lycian Way without meaning to — hitting up sights that travelers can reach by foot across a nearly 550-kilometer trail that runs all the way to Antalya. We got to see Lycian tombs in Kaş, abandoned streets in Olympos, and finally, the beautiful archeology museum of Antalya, where most of their prized possessions came from Lycian and Phyrgian digs.

As I said, driving wasn't nearly as intimidating as in Istanbul — though Aseef pointed out that a lot of speed traps just used cardboard cutouts of police cars, which apparently still cowed drivers into returning to speed limit levels. We made it a priority to try out a few modes of public transportation, though car rentals were fairly affordable outside of Istanbul.

Mixed metals in silver and gold portraying a contrite small Eros before his mother Aphrodite, who is reproaching him with a slipper in her hand. — Behold: The back of a mirror circa 1st-2nd century, portraying the most ancient of chanclas. Our Ephesus guide showed us this classic image of Aphrodite reproaching her son Eros, holding out a slipper. If that’s not beautiful, I don’t know what is. Image from Dona Novack/Tumblr.

The public transportation in the region is pretty swanky. We're talking air conditioning, working in-seat or above TV screens, WiFi connection and tea service. Trust me, for how cheap the tickets were, this felt like VIP packages on large buses or trains. If I could change one thing, I would have told ourselves to stress less about reservations for the bus or the train, and just buy tickets at the station.

We did have the oddest time booking online. Firstly, the system is finicky, denying users without Turkish phone numbers and local credit cards. The site won’t recognize stops or stations unless entered with the proper Turkish accents. It was also the first time I encountered a gender identity layer to purchasing tickets: identifying your gender and ensuring that if you sat next to a stranger, they would be the same gender. This leads to a bit of seat negotiation on trains or long bus rides. Younger people working at hostels that were kind enough to help us navigate this were pretty frustrated with it as well. Mainly they complained that the seats wouldn’t outwardly address harassment and objected to the implication that only women would be harassed by men.

We took some more informal transportation too, where tickets were purchased directly from the driver as the minibus filled up. Closer to the coast, all roads lead to Antalya and a network of vans are available to ferry people between stops. More remote places, such as Olympos, a protected environmental and historical site, could not be reached directly, but by a second shuttle that makes trips hourly during the day.

Olympos is an ancient harbor city of Lycia, which has also become an important area for wildlife. Sea turtles come to lay their eggs on the pebble beaches in the summer. It’s the first place on this trip that we knew we would have no access to an ATM. The ecological status of the place meant no concrete and metal structures can be built there, so people stay by camping, sleeping in cars or renting out the "treehouses" that have been set up for tourists.

Four images of Olympos ruins: Iulia standing before an arch (top), elaborage patterns within broken walls (left), crumbled walls overlooking the sea (top-right), and an old tomb (bottom-right). — Olympos ruins, buried by time and vegetation, still showed elaborate details in corners and carvings.

Sleeping in Olympos, close to sea level, you fall asleep and wake up nestled between mountains, and it's incredible. Aseef was more ambitious than I and did a six-hour uphill trek through these mountains. I got to climb among many of the ruins on the cliffs but preferred to take in the ruins of the theaters, bathhouses and necropolis closer to the water — I am a firm believer that a quick dip in the ocean helps you better remember the sightseeing. Regardless. I thought Olympos and other nearby ruins that have survived in the southwest mountains are a marvel to walk through.

We've only scratched the surface, and we've really only traipsed through one quarter of the country, but it’s been a pleasure to explore the entire time.

How to eat in Southwest Turkey: 1) make sure to buy fresh from the fish market in Fethiye, where you can turn around to any number of restaurants and have them cook the food for you. But grill large fish and ask for small fish to be fried for the best results. 2) We kept seeing pomegranate molasses being offered with oil, instead of a vinegar, at tables. Well we started dipping everything in this tart molasses. We love it! 3) If some fruit stands catch your eye, get the fresh fruit (melon was in season while we were there), and make sure to fill it with ice cream too!

Heritage: A matter of perspective

We see so much history in Turkey. It's inspiring to see how much can be gleaned from a column or a tool. To see how many resources go toward gaining insight into the way entire populations carried on throughout history. But — whose history is it? The oldest sculptures in the Anatolian Penninsula seem to be of Greek gods — Zeus and the whole gang. Even when portrayed in less traditional ways, like the famous statue of Artemis at Ephesus. Does that make them Greek or Roman statues? Some Turkish cultural and architectural societies are pretty adamant that "no, they are not Greek. They're ours."

Their logic goes that people on the Anatolian peninsula had been there for a very long time and had been exposed to many cultures. Just because Greek, Roman or Byzantine culture was pushed on the inhabitants of southwest Anatolia, it would not make those people 'Greek,' or 'Roman,' or anything else, but it meant that the peoples were influenced by other cultures. At least, so they say. What do you think?

Why Go There

Traveling through Western Turkey