The last day with our tour group took us to the ruins of Ephesus, once an ancient coastal city but now four miles from the Aegean Sea.

The famous library façade featured in countless postcards and snapshots did not fail to impress us.

I was also intrigued by Taylan's story of a purported underground passage connecting the library to the nearby brothel.

At the 20,000-seat outdoor theatre, several of us (including Sidar and his grandfather) waited patiently for an instrumental trio to warm up for an impromptu concert; alas, their third never arrived, and the show ended. But it felt good nonetheless to sit down a while and rest my legs.

Trekking through Turkey was exhilarating and exhausting. I hiked on, past Hadrian's temple, Trajan's massive stone foot (all that remains of his fountain statue) and the bath complex.

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