bVisual

Time for a break from work, so we went to Turkey for the third time. Our previous trips have been to Icmeler, so we decided to try somewhere different. Akbuk is not as pretty as Icmeler, and we were a longer walk from the beach, but much closer for a visit to Ephesus.

It is hard to believe that Ephesus was a bustling port in Roman times because the coast is 7 kilometres away now, however it is an extremely interesting place to visit.

This first panorama was taken inside the theatre at Ephesus, with a 360 degree sweep. Again I used Microsoft Image Composite Editor ( see http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ice/ ) to piece these images together.

HD View : http://www.bvisual.net/views/EphesusAmphitheatre_stitch.html

This second panorama was taken from near the top of the seating looking back towards the sea in the far distance.

HD View : http://www.bvisual.net/views/ViewFromEphesusAmphitheatre_stitch.html

The coach trip to Ephesus from Akbuk was a little spoilt by the three retail opportunities (leather, ceramics and jewellery ) forced on us afterwards.

Ephesus in Bing Maps:

We stayed in self-catering apartments at Mandalya Gardens (see http://www.mandalyaproperty.com/ ), where the accommodation and staff were very good. It would have been useful to have air-con in all rooms, since the bedrooms were just too hot to sleep in.

My family and me … sweltering in the heat!

I was persuaded to have a week’s holiday in Taba, Egypt which is on the  Red Sea, just south of Eilat in Israel.  Well, there are just a handful of hotels on a man-made plateau into the Red Sea at the foot of the mountains in Sinai.  Relaxed armed guards were at every checkpoint, and there wasn’t much nightlife, but as sunny break in October it was perfect.  Days were spent on the sun-loungers reading novels, or walking out to the coral with snorkel masks to watch the beautiful marine life.

We spent the early evenings promenading to the Hyatt from our hotel, the Marriot, because Happy Hour meant that a glass of wine was only half as expensive!

Deep Zoom of the Marriott Taba Heights sea front

You can walk over the coral on several jetties out into the Read Sea…

Deep Zoom of Red Sea jetty in front of Sofitel Taba Heights

We couldn’t face an excursion for hours to Cairo, Jerusalem or Petra … maybe next time.

I would highly recommend this relaxing, grown-up break! 

Anyway, back to work….