There are so many things to do and attractions in Turkey and we finally got to visit this land of Anatolia during our Chan Brothers …
17 Top Attractions and Things to do in Turkey!
house of virgin mary
Turkey Travel Day 3 : Visit to Ephesus / Turkish Bath and Hot Springs of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
On day 3 of our Turkey travels with Chan Brothers, we visited a leather shop (complete with front row seats to a fashion show!), the Roman Ephesus of Turkey as well as the hot springs of Lycus River Hotel in Pamukkale!
Turkey Travel to Ephesus and Pamukkale (First Stop : Silvio Leather Fashion Show)
After a hearty breakfast, we went around Coastlight Hotel to take some shots before we headed to our first stop – Silvio Leather showroom!
At the showroom, we were given some apple tea before we were treated to a fashion show – front row seats no less! Of course, these were amateur models but we were rather impressed by this young male model who really strutted his stuff down the runway. During the fashion show, we were shown the latest and trendiest leather jackets. Some had amazing prints and most were reversible. Silvio Leather also claimed that they produce for international brands such as Burberry and Polo Ralph Lauren…
During the fashion show, members of the audience were also invited to take part and model some of the leather jackets. This brought much laughter to our tour group and we especially enjoyed the samba dance at the end of the show!
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After the fashion show, you’d be led to the second level where the expensive leather jackets are. These leather jackets produced by Silvio Leather averages about USD1000 (AFTER special discounts). We were quite taken back by the price as these were non-branded leather jackets. But for cheaper leather jackets, you can proceed to the first level where there are off-season leather jackets that averages about USD200. If you have not purchased anything by now, you’d be led to a small leather shop next door that sells leather shoes and bags averaging about USD100. Yes, hold out and you’ll get better deals.
Tip : You have to be strong and resist the temptation of buying a leather jacket! Imagine the number of branded bags you can buy with USD1000 – 2!
House of Virgin Mary & Ruins of Roman Ephesus in Turkey
Leaving the Silvio Leather showroom, we headed to the House of Virgin Mary. As it was still drizzling, we only had a shortened visit here. At this attraction, there’s a baptism pool near the House of Virgin Mary, the house itself (where you can’t take any photos within), a fountain to draw water (so bring along an empty bottle) and of course the area where you could leave a wish to Virgin Mary herself!
Remember to bring your own note and mechanism to tie it if you want your wish to come true!
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Then came the highlight of the day, our visit to the Roman Ephesus of Turkey!
There are 2 stories related to Ephesus
Story 1 – An Oracle
In the first story, it was said that in the 7th century, a prince of Athens received an oracle where he would build a city if a fish, wild boar and fire appeared simultaneously. One day, he saw someone doing some grilled fish and a wild boar ran over that BBQ. He saw it as a sign and built the city of Ephesus.
Story 2 – Amazonian Women
In the Anatolian version of the story, Ephesus was simply built by the Amazon warrior women.
If you take a look at one of the pictures below (the one with Medusa), you would see these 2 stories depicted on the columns of that structure.
You may know that the world-renowned brand, Nike is named after the goddess of Victory Nike. But did you know that if you look closely at her skirt, you’ll be able to identify the most familiar logo world-wide, the swoosh.
Can you see it?
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Leaving the city centre of Ephesus, you’ll be on a main street that leads to the Library of Ephesus. Take a shot from here. Unfortunately, it was raining during this time 🙁
Enis (our guide for Chan Brother’s Turkey Trip), told us about this special stone that has a picture of a left foot, heart, face of a woman and rectangle carved on it. According to his analysis of this piece of stone, he was able to tell that there’s a brothel right next to it. How?
He said, “If you are having an empty heart and have a large left foot, you can find a pretty woman right ahead. Don’t forget to bring your credit card!” Haha!
Tip : Besides the library, the other prominent structure is the theatre of Ephesus. The best spot to take a panoramic view of the theatre (as shown above) is between the pine trees before you exit to the market and souvenir shops.
Facilities of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
To end off the evening, we arrived early at Lycus River Hotel of Pamukkale. Pamukkale refers to cotton castle, a formation of calcium carbonate that seems to form a “cotton castle” in the middle of a hill. Before we were to head to Pamukkale the next morning, we had a good rest at Lycus River Hotel!
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There are 2 main things that you should try at Lycus River Hotel in Pamukkale…
1. Thermal Pool (aka hot springs). There’s a hot spring that you must check out at Lycus River Hotel. Remember to bring your swim wear! The thermal pool also leads outdoors and it was especially enjoyable to be soaking in the thermal pool during the winter season. Just like what you see on Japan Hour – winter onsen!
2. Turkish Bath. Originally, we were discouraged from taking the Turkish bath due to poor reviews from previous groups. Nonetheless, we still gave it a go. How can you go Turkey and not try a Turkish Bath right? It costs us 85TL (or $50SGD) and it was the best $ spent during the trip! The Turkish lady would scrub you first (you’d be in your undies or swim trunks) and then lay the softest and warmest coat of foam blanket over you.
Pure Bliss…
To form the foam (some tongue twister for you), the lady would trap some bath foam on a towel and swing it from side to side. This motion catches air within the towel and forms the foam which she would later squeeze upon you.
This would be followed by some gentle massages around the whole body (front and back) before washing you clean. No contortion, man-handling type of bath as they say.
One word from Tom : SHIOK!
From Kate : Because my Turkish lady had GIGANTIC boobs, as she massaged my arms, her boobs would rub repeatedly over my face! I think the Turkish lady enjoyed the bath more than I did…Boo Hoo.
After the enjoyable and relaxing sessions at the thermal pool and Turkish bath, we went for the dinner buffet where there was also a live band playing traditional Turkish music. Some Turkish folks also went forward to dance during dinner. Our favourite for dinner was the beef patty as well as making wraps using fresh lettuce.
Together with some members of the group, we had post-dinner drinks at the beautiful lobby lounge and chat till we were tired before we turned in for the night.
Itinerary of Turkey Travel Day 3: Coastlight Hotel to House of Virgin Mary, Ephesus and to Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
0815 : Depart from Coastlight hotel to Silvio Leather showroom
0845 : Arrival at Silvio Leather showroom
1000 : Departure from Silvio Leather showroom to House of Virgin Mary
1015 : Arrival at House of Virgin Mary
1045 : Depart for Ephesus
1230 : Departure from Ephesus to Pamukkale
1500 : Break at Turkish delight stopover
1630 : Arrival at Lycus River Hotel @ Pamukkale
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Related posts
This post is part of our 10 Days 7 Nights Turkey travel with Chan Brothers. Below, you can find other relevant posts covered during this trip.
Turkey Trip Day 1 : Singapore to Istanbul and Ferry to Canakkale
Turkey Travel Day 2 : Visiting the Trojan Horse of Troy and Ancient City of Pergamon
Turkey Travel Day 3 : Visit to Ephesus / Turkish Bath and Hot Springs of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
Turkey Trip Day 4 : Pamukkale Cotton Castle and Journey to Cappadocia!
Hot Air Balloon Flight in Cappadocia with Royal Balloon : Turkey Travel Day 6!
Mall of Istanbul (MOI) : Shopping Eating and Relaxing on Day 8 of Turkey Trip!
Find out more about day 4 of our Chan Brother’s Turkey travel where we’ll visit the traventines of Pamukkale (Cotton Castle)!