The (Stolen) Ruins of Bergama/Pergamon

Today we had a little adventure getting from Ayvalik to Bergama. After sorting out our ferry tickets to Lesvos we hopped on the Ayvalik-Dikilli-Bergama local bus (6.5 TL), which deposited us at the Bergama Otogar after 1.5 hours. On the way we saw endless sunflower fields, pine forests, and advertisements for thermal springs. At the otogar we were swamped by taxi drivers immediately, all of them offering to take us around the Bergama ruins for about 50-60 TL. There seemed to be no other options, and the ruins were too far to walk to, but luckily the station restaurant attendant pointed us in the direction of free dolmus services to Bergama center. There's a helpful and actually useful (so many aren't) tourism information booth right off the main square, where we got a map and headed off to explore.

There are three main ruin sites - the Red Temple, Asklepion (or the hospital complex - 15TL) and Akropol (the Acropolis complex - 20TL), in addition to the Bergama Museum. Since we have a low ruins/museum tolerance and a low budget, we opted for the Acropolis complex and decided to walk there - despite the warning that this was the only site that we needed a taxi to get to. Bergama is meh. There's not much to see, aside from a functional 16th century Turkish bathhouse. After a middling food experience at Bergama Sofrasi, which still appeared to be one of the best options available, we picked up some sesame halva and ramadan sweets at the excellent Salepcioglu Helvalari just up the road from the baths. Then we began the long walk up the hill to the Akropol, following the signs on the carpet-shop road. The first monument appeared within minutes, leading us to believe our map was to scale. Map fail! Another kilometre in the expletive-inducing heat resulted in a reckless icecream purchase and a desperate plea for directions. "The acropolis is a 2 hour walk from here! It's a one hour walk from here! You can't possibly walk there!" Finally, at the invitation of a kindly gentleman sitting beside his shop, we took a break in the shade. He promised to stop his friends and get us a ride. By this point I'd consumed copious amounts of water and was dying for the loo, and another old lady that had joined us (out of curiosity, naturally) generously allowed me to use the bathroom in her house and offered us cold water. I was secretly hoping for a tractor lift, but it didn't work out as planned and we ended up in a taxi. For those who want an even more scenic route, there is also cable car type thing that goes from the bottom of the hill to the ruins, but this was out of commission today. The best part about the acropolis site was that it was nearly empty. This could be because it was a Monday, or because of Ramadan, or because we were there in the midday heat, but it gave us a great view - the surrounding countryside on one side, and a huge reservoir on the other. The German pilfering of Turkish archaeological goodies (which are mostly in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin) has left the site pretty bare, but it was still impressive. When we were just about done three bus loads of Polish tourists poured in, so we left post haste. The heat hadn't abated at all and we ran out of shady road space so we tried to hitch hike back into town. Eventually a family from Malatya picked us up, gave us sultanas, and took us all the way back to the main street. Turkish hospitality to the rescue once again!