24 May, Bergama to Soma, 41km @ 10.6kph
Arslanlar Hotel 70TL (breakfast
included) (negotiated down from 80TL)
The
Hellenistic (Greek) theatre at Pergamum seats 10,000. It is built into the hillside
in a gentle arc with great views over the surrounding countryside. Charl and I
were on site early enough to have the entire theatre to ourselves. Charl
descended to stage level and treated me to “Friends, Romans, countrymen...” and
“Die eerste vers is mieliepap...”, both snippets reaching me clearly in a
normal stage voice. Pergamum’s library was second only to that of Alexandria in
Egypt; its medical centre considered the most advanced in ancient Rome, Pergamum
having been bequeathed to Rome in 133BC. From Bergama we cycled an easy route
to Soma, heat and a head wind conspiring to make it tougher and slower than it
should have been. A sign announcing population size welcomes visitors to every
town. Someone had spray-painted “-302 +?” on Soma’s signboard in response to
Turkey’s worst ever mining disaster earlier this month during which over 300 Soma
miners died.
Pergamum's Greek theatre
Pergamum's Greek theatre
Pergamum's Trajan temple
Pergamum's Trajan temple
Bergama
Bergama
Bergama
Bergama