Touring the region after Ephesus on Tuesday

After Ephesus, we drove the short distance to the beach at Pamucak. This is a wide expanse of sand beach along the mostly rocky shore of the Aegean Sea. It is mostly undeveloped except for several resorts at the southern end of the beach as the coastal road slopes towards the coastal city of Kusadasi where the cruise ships dock. We drove in that direction. We noted some similarities to places like Myrtle Beach with water parks and the like, but no putt putt. Kusadasi was a busy, new looking town.
We left Kusadasi and drove inland to the mountain village of Sirince. This little village is famous for its wine, but has turned into another place where the cruise boats dump their passengers, with no appreciation for the local culture, en masse to spend a few minutes and leave. There are a number of street side shops selling trinkets and being operated by people who probably are not even locals. We had an excellent meal at a legitimate local restaurant eating the gozelemeh, freshly prepared flat bread that is similar to quesadilla except it is filled with eggplant or spinach and cheese. A photo accompanies showing the woman making the bread fresh.
We relaxed at the Sirincim restaurant which was quite relaxing despite the tourist traps up the hill in the remainder of the village. We left town driving to the coast again and went north on the coast, seeing beautiful coastal vistas. We parked and walked the beach at Maydonoz Koyu. Here, people have little beach cabins and shacks with hammocks and other seating out in front just next to the pebble strewn shore. A totally locals and Turkish beach spot.
After relaxing at the coastal towns we drove inland so as not to miss our plane. The roads were well marked and we made it to the Izmir airport. We had plenty of time so we backtracked to Menderes and ate at a new restaurant called Konyali. I would highly recommend this as a stop before catching the plane back to Istanbul. Fariba had sheeps head soup! There were other Turkish delicacies, all excellently prepared and reasonably priced.
We flew back to Istanbul, worn out. We negotiated a cab fare instead of riding a bus. Our cab driver made the normally 45 minute trip in about 20 minutes. It was one crazy cab ride. I gave him a tip and a NASCAR hat when we made it alive back to our apartment, exhausted from a long day.