EMERALD WATERS AND “COTTON CASTLE” MOONSCAPES IN TURKEY

“Two days is not enough,” said our innkeeper, Suleyman, for the second time that evening. We were less than 24 hours into our journey and already running behind.

Rosy-cheeked with wine and regional pride, Suleyman told us about his native Selçuk, a sleepy town near Ephesus, the UNESCO World Heritage Centre that we would explore the next day. In view of our perch on the rooftop terrace were thousands of years of history: down there, the Temple of Artemis; over the hill, the house of the virgin Mary; and in the starlit distance, Ephesus’s grand library. Down the road was the tomb of St. John the Apostle. And below we saw the 14th-century İsa Bey