Ephesus... Seeing the Site...
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2007
1
17
91
Trip End
Jun 01, 2012
Selcuk, Izmir, Turkey
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
We left our pension early in the morning to enjoy the tranquility of this great site, before the hoards of tourists flooded into the place... within 10 minutes of entering the gate and paying our way, a procession of tour busses filed into the parking lot and let go of their cargo... thousands spilled from their modern air conditioned camels into the stifling heat... quickly adjusting their caps, hats and umbrellas in an effort to shield themselves, if even meagerly, from the burning rays of the rising sun... Yes, this is also Ephesus... a major global tourist site... hell we are also here... and thus also make up a piece of the marching hoards that descend upon this site to see, experience or just rack up the bragging rights of saying "I have been there, it is wonderful"...
Living abroad for the past year... seeing the sights as they say and going from place to place has changed my views on "seeing the world"... it is more than just that... "seeing" that is... it has to be... for we are not so shallow of a species as to spend thousands of dollars, many long hours of travel to arrive at a site that we quickly take in as we follow a tour guide waving a numbered placard in the air, so as not to lose any of their temporary followers... keenly listening to the facts, details and stories of the people that once lived in the site... Are we? I mean not so shallow of a species? What is it all for... this strange act of "seeing" what was... are we not so impressed or satisfied with what is... that we need to search for what was, momentarily "living" in another time and place... quickly entering back into our present state of existence... looking forward to our next "vacation" where we can once again enter into another world for a spell... bewitched by it's magic...
Another thought on the subject is that many humans, being the social creatures we are, long for "vacation" when we can set aside our daily routines and enter into a world of light hedonism... sleeping in late, eating fatty foods, drinking too much and practicing freedom via numerous acts... whatever these may be... getting a tattoo punctured onto ones ass, going topless or nude on the beach, or drinking like a fish until the wee hours of the morn... It is a practice of these acts and more importantly the conversations that ensue from them that drives us to "vacation"... camaraderie through shared experiences... the sites acting as a mere vehicle to enter into this social experience...
Either way... it is on my radar... and I am finding myself observing, processing and trying to make sense of my own drive to "see" the world... I have been traveling all of my life... not so much vacationing... I have often found it distasteful... this act of tourism and the trifling outcomes... a few snapshots... a few stories... a few memories...
Let me make it very clear to those reading... and sitting back... offended by such statements... Move on and don't let the ramblings of an aging man stop you from enjoying your "vacationing"... for "seeing the sites", the acts of hedonism and the connections we make with our fellow beings are often the salt that brings flavor to our lives...
