Pergamum

The bus ride to Bergama was pretty along the coast. I tried dondurma, thick Turkish ice cream. The chocolate was good. At the bus station 4 miles out of town, the taxi drivers give the bus company staff cigarettes, so they won't tell tourists about the free shuttle into town. The hostel owner said he has written to the city council about it, but it was still only $4 per person for the ride in. I met a couple of Australian guys and a father and son from the East Bay who had travelled North from Uganda by land and sea. They said Egypt is ridiculously cheap right now because there aren't any tourists who want to go there.

In the morning I hiked up the hill to the Acropolis at Pergamum and evaded the entrance gate to make it free. It followed the old (duh) Roman road through the gymnasium, which I had to myself before tourists got in my way. The site was what I hoped for: a whole recognizable city with buildings, columns, archways and roads. The amphitheater was especially impressive carved into a steep hillside to hold 10,000 people.

I saw the Asclepion, a famous medical center in Roman times, in the afternoon. Since I had to pay for it and it wasn't as big as the Acropolis, it didn't feel worth the money. The view down the road to the Acropolis a mile away was nice, then there were columns, arches, and a smaller amphitheater of 3,500 seats.

On the way back into town a kid ran up to me and said, "money, money!" When I asked "why?" which I'm sure he didn't understand, he threw stones at me! But he missed and a woman nearby yelled at him. I picked up a delicious dessert similar to doughnut holes dripping in corn syrup.