One of the easiest ways to see Ephesus is to take a Mediterranean cruise. The seaside city of Kusadasi, a 25-minute drive from ancient Ephesus, is a port-of-call for many cruise ships. A ship-sponsored shore excursion is a convenient way to take in the sights. Last summer, prices for Grand Princess passengers ranged from $41 per person, for Ephesus only, to $52 for a trip that included Ephesus, St. John's Basilica and the Virgin Mary Shrine. Ship-sponsored tours include air-conditioned buses and English-speaking guides. You'll probably make a stop at a Turkish rug store, too.
Or arrange your own adventure by negotiating with a local taxi driver. This involves some uncertainty because most taxi drivers there don't speak English. The flip side of the coin is you'll save a lot of money.
My father, my sister and I, who sailed the depth and breadth of the Mediterranean last July aboard the Grand Princess, decided to arrange our own transportation to Ephesus.
When we left the customs building at the port of Kusadasi, we passed through a phalanx of taxi drivers who offered to take us to Ephesus. The first bid was $80. We ended up negotiating with a well-dressed man who spoke fluent English. His friends, who were sitting around a table on the sidewalk nearby, acted as character witnesses. "He's a good man," said one. "It's a good price."
When we said we were thinking of taking the public shuttle, which would cost us about $10 apiece, they shook their heads. "It's crowded and uncomfortable," they said.
We agreed to a deal where we would pay $45 and a taxi would drive the three of us to Ephesus, wait for us and bring us back. We were to pay the driver when we returned using U.S. dollars or Turkish lira. The middleman showed us to a taxi and explained the deal to the driver whose business card said "experienced drivers for safe trips."
We settled into a well-kept Mercedes for a ride past waves of resort condominiums and apartment buildings with views of the ocean. We crossed the hills and dropped into a valley where orchards and olive groves lined the two-lane highway. We passed a huge rug emporium surrounded by an empty parking lot.
We followed tour buses and taxis to the upper end of the ancient ruins. A merchant from a nearby kiosk was on us right away, waving a guidebook that could be ours for $3. We bought it and proceeded to the entrance. We paid admission (2 million lire — about $4 per person) and walked through the gate to be greeted by an American who asked if we wanted a guide. We declined his services, although in retrospect we perhaps should have hired him. The area's history is complex, and the guidebook failed to put things into perspective.
Even in the hot mid-day sun we managed to spend nearly two hours on a self-guided tour of the ancient ruins.
We emerged into the lower parking lot to find it filled with identical Mercedes cabs, all painted taxi yellow.
I pulled out the paper on which I had written the license plate number of our taxi, and we began prowling the parking lot. Our driver, however, found us before we found him.
On the way back to Kusadasi, he spoke one of what was probably a very limited number of English words at his disposal. "Rugs" he said with a question mark in his vocal inflection as we passed the big Turkish rug emporium. We shook our heads.
Back in town, we paid him with a mixture of dollars and lira and included a generous tip. As a farewell gesture he presented my sister and me each with a carnation.
By arranging our own trip, we had saved nearly half what we would have paid for the Grand Princess's $41 per person shore excursion.