After Troy turned out to be a bit of a bust, I decided to hot stop out of there and head to Bergama, a place recommended for its ruins, by the hostel folks in Canakkale. I caught an early morning bus and 5 hours later was in Bergama. The buses here are incredibly comfortable and make long trips a piece of kosher cake. What I didn't realize is that the bus I got on didn't actually stop in the city, so when it came time to get off I was rather unceremoniously dumped on the side of a dirt road about 5 miles out of town! After failing to wave down a few Mini-buses, I started trekking. Luckily about 1 1/2 miles into my walk a kind Turkish man on a scooter took pity on me, pulled over 15 feet ahead and waved for me to hop on. He took me to the edge of the city, about 2 miles closer, and with a shake of my hand and a hearty smile told me to have a 'fine day' and was on his way.
I spent another 2 hours walking into the city center and stumbling around in search of a reasonably priced hostel, finally succumbing to solicitation by a taxi cab which took me to the Athena Pension. The Athena Pension turned out to be a really quaint restored Ottoman house with a great open court yard kinda place, a mother bird and four babies living in the raftors, and a great sign.
Having walked around all day, I decided the ruins would have to wait til morning. Instead, I took a stroll around downtown. I stumbled across a dirt street with a tea house that is apparently the place to be in Bergama, especially if you're a retired man. I met a retired biology teacher who now owns a carpet shop and spent a couple of hours chatting with him and watching some hearty turkish retirees drink tea and play of Dama (turkish checkers). I finished the evening off with some turkish meatballs and an amazing glass of 'mountain tea', before making it a fairly early night.
I spent another 2 hours walking into the city center and stumbling around in search of a reasonably priced hostel, finally succumbing to solicitation by a taxi cab which took me to the Athena Pension. The Athena Pension turned out to be a really quaint restored Ottoman house with a great open court yard kinda place, a mother bird and four babies living in the raftors, and a great sign.Having walked around all day, I decided the ruins would have to wait til morning. Instead, I took a stroll around downtown. I stumbled across a dirt street with a tea house that is apparently the place to be in Bergama, especially if you're a retired man. I met a retired biology teacher who now owns a carpet shop and spent a couple of hours chatting with him and watching some hearty turkish retirees drink tea and play of Dama (turkish checkers). I finished the evening off with some turkish meatballs and an amazing glass of 'mountain tea', before making it a fairly early night.
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