Troy and Pergamum

Today we are picked up from our hotel for our tour of Troy and Pergamum.  A lovely young guide takes us to view the Troia for which there is no evidence that the Trojan Horse ever existed.  The “Hollywood” version is on display at Cannakale.  It was donated to the city after the movie with Brad Pitt was made.

We stop for morning tea and then our driver, without the guide, transports us a further two hours or so to a restaurant for lunch.  Then he takes us the remainder of the journey to Pergamum where we meet our next guide, who used to be a teacher and is a very interesting gentleman.   This guide takes us around the Acropolis.  Pergamum was built by the Greeks (300 – 200BC) then rebuilt by the Romans (133BC) and the architectural styles are quite different.  The ‘Lidyans’ first settled this area 500BC and it was where Craissius invented money and became the richest man in town.  When Alexander arrived in 334BC he apparently had 9000 talons (?) each talon was equivalent to 25.92 grams of gold.  He never returned (he died aged 33) and the treasure has never been recovered.

The Trojan Horse from the movie

The Trojan Horse on site

The Acropolis

Walking through the ruins

After Pergamum, and leaving our guide, our driver is going to take us to Kusadasi.  It’s a quiet ride as he doesn’t speak English.  This has been a huge day of driving and it’s beginning to tell …. Let’s just say we are happy to finally arrive at Efes Hotel.