Kusadasi is a beautiful Turkish coastal town, a popular vacation destination

We decided to head to Ephesus, one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world

There were minibuses but we knew these stopped at the lower gate only

We wanted to avoid the steep climb so we opted to hire a taxi and driver for 3 hours

Initial pricing was 240 Euros but after a few minutes of barter we agreed on 110 Euros, a good deal for four people

Our driver was a young man who spoke little English apart from his perfectly pronounced swearing at other drivers

We communicated via google translate to discover that he left school early to chase girls and was now happily divorced and still chasing girls

He took us to the upper gate and agreed to meet us at the lower gate in a couple of hours

Walking through the ruins is like stepping back in time 3,000 years

We were amazed they allow visitors to walk on the well worn stone paths and inside the ruins of buildings and open theaters seating 24,000

Touching carved columns that have survived centuries of natural disasters, wars, and human neglect

We wandered downhill, stopping to watch workers carefully excavating sections that have not yet revealed their buried contents

Its hard to comprehend that an entire city can lay in ruins and be buried over time

We reached the bottom of the hill and found our smiling driver waiting to take us back to the ship

We gave him a tip of 7 Euros, one for each of his girlfiends