My husband and I were visiting ruins on Kadifekale (Mt.Pagus) during the day. I was separated from my husband for a short while, and he was surrounded in the car by a group of teenage boys who pretended to be friendly at first. There was no-one around and they quickly turned aggressive, trying to force their way into the car and grabbing at our belongings. My husband distracted them by throwing something out of the car, and locked himself in, and then drove through them to get to me. They banged and kicked the car, and chased him through the fortress gate. He sped up to me and shouted for me to get in. We then turned around and had to drive through them. One pretended we had run him over, and others smashed on the car. We had been warned by the Lonely Planet Guide to Turkey that this was a rough area at night, but be warned! We felt very unsafe in the day.

We then went down to the ruins of the Agora, and got out to walk around the old bazaar. We thought this would be a lot safer as their were a lot of people around. However, a well dressed Turkish man came up to us and told us, in a very urgent manner, that we were not safe and should get back in the car and go! We thanked him and promptly obeyed!
We have been to Turkey many times and love the country and its people, but we definitely felt unsafe in Izmir even before the incident. We felt hostility from passers-by and a restaurant owner during the short time we were there.

Kadifekale and the Agora Bazaar, Izmir

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People going to Ephesus are often ripped off by an exorbitant taxi or transfer from Izmir airport. You can avoid this by taking the train from Izmir Airport to Selçuk. There aren't many trains; they depart the airport at 8.01, 9.38, 15.32, 18.39, 19.34, 20.12 and 21.33 and take 1 ¼ hours. The alternative (if you don't have much baggage) is to walk to the end of the airport slip road (about 1 mile), cross the main road and pick up a minibus.

The train station is right next to the airport and well signposted. The train fare is 2 Lira (80p), the minibus is 6 Lira (£2.50). If you need to get a taxi, you might be able to haggle the price down to 80 to 100 Lira (£30 to 40).

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Want a quick snapshot of Turkey...don't want to travel all the way out to Ankara or Pamukkale (a LONG way from Istanbul)? Then grab a short lift on a jet (40 mins by Atlas jet) from Istanbul to Izmir on the Aegean coast. A fascinating city in its own right, Izmir is a good spot to start a trip back to Istanbul visiting Ephesus (a must), Pergamon and the place of the wooden horse, Troy. A stay at Canakkale is a good stepping stone to visiting Gallipoli (Gelibolu) and Anzac Cove - again a must for us Aussies. Using a Turkish speaking (or local) guide and driver is also recommended.

Izmir
South east Turkey

www.allaboutturkey.com/izmir.htm

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The archaelogical ruins at Ephesus are simply amazing. Frequently on visiting ancient ruins, all you can see is a small bit of rubble.
However, Ephesus has many buildings including Celsus Library, Roman latrines and an ampitheatre among many other ruins.

There is a very special atmosphere there and on one section of the road, you can see the ancient worn-in tracks of Roman chariot wheels. A carved effigy of Nike the ancient goddess can also be viewed there. The city is inland and it gets incredibly hot there, so bring plenty of sun lotion and water and remember to wear your hat.

Any resorts like Gumbet, Bodrum etc run trips there.

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