HiMOM12

Is there a bus or train system?

otherchelebi

There are no trains between these locations.

You can take a ferry from istanbul to Bandirma, transfer to the train till Izmir and then take another train to Selcuk which is the town near Ephesus but it will be a very long day.

There are intercity buses which are quite comfortable and frequent.

Flights to Izmir are very frequent and very reasonably priced. Atlas Jet and Onur Air provide free shuttle between Izmir airport and Selcuk.

You would need to use the minibus "dolmus" system to travel to and from Troy and Pergamom from the closest large city and or the main highway, Canakkale-Izmir.

spaarne

Going to find some Trojan bones, eh? Read this before you go, http://tinyurl.com/b349xu4. Fascinating.

ParisAmsterdam

Have you seen the prices on this book? Used copies for 150 dollars and more. Seems a bit 'out there' with the Trojan war happening in Britain and Homer being from modern day Holland.

What's your take on it Spaarne? A reasonable idea or interesting but unlikely?

spaarne

ParisAmsterdam on Dec 10, 12 at 11:12pm
What's your take on it Spaarne? A reasonable idea or interesting but unlikely?

The author, Iman Wilkens, presented such an abundance of plausible evidence that I went out to the Gog Magog from Cambridge to have a look for myself. That was on my agenda for a 2 day sortie from London. There is nothing to be seen, unfortunately. Cambridge is an excellent escape from the noise of London so the trip was well worthwhile.

The publisher's price was $24.95 in 1990 when it was published. I paid probably $1.00 at a used book sale some years ago for a hard cover copy that looked like it had never been opened. The Amazon prices are ridiculous. I'll keep my eye out for another copy and sell it on Amazon. Used book asking prices are whatever the seller thinks he can get. I once sold an out of date chemistry data book for $100 on Amazon. I had purchased it at our Friends of the Library used book sale for $1.00.

Take a look at http://tinyurl.com/cp6o4ca for information on this book, and a link to the 2009 edition. I can't find a price listed for the new edition. It is apparently published in the UK.

spaarne

Follow up. The US price is £56.55, including delivery. That would be about $91.00 at today's exchange rate.

Croesus

Anyone who claims that the Trojan War was based anywhere else than Asia Minor is either a con artist or a fool, in my opinion. This guy claims it was Pergamon - http://www.thetroydeception.com/

Basically the story is a metaphor for what was occurring in the 12th century BC and was written about 500 years later for nationalist reasons. Definitely a good epic, though - a classic!

Croesus

@ HiMOM12, how much time do you have? The bus system in Turkey is excellent. You could go from Istanbul to Çanakkale for Troy (also Assos is a nice site), onwards to Bergama, and down to Selçuk for Ephesus very easily by bus. I'd allow 3 days from leaving Istanbul to arriving in Selçuk to make the most of it.

spaarne

Croesus on Dec 12, 12 at 4:52am
Anyone who claims that the Trojan War was based anywhere else than Asia Minor is either a con artist or a fool, in my opinion.

Your opinion ain't much until you examine all the evidence. Nobody has found the city gates or the charred horse yet. The location of Troy is an open question.

Croesus

"The location of Troy is an open question."

Hardly, it can only be in Asia Minor. Hisarlik fits the bill better than other places.

otherchelebi

"charred horse" ???????? -)