Excursion to the House of the virgin Mary

[swcruise]

Hi Folks,

 

We will be re-visiting Kusadasi in May and wish to re-visit the house of the Virgin Mary. The private tour operators will only offer this in combination with Ephesus or Sirince etc.

 

1)Does anybody know of any reliable taxi companies that you can pre-book before you leave home ?

 

2) How much should we expect to pay and in what currency do they accept payment Lira/Euro's or dollars ?

 

3)Has anybody just jumped in a taxi in Kusadas,i and what has been your experience in terms of the experience, age and quality of the car and the price ?

 

As always thanks for your valuable inputs.

 

Rgds, S

[MercedMike]

I don't know what private tour operators you are working with, but we found Ekol Tours to be extremely accomodating and flexible.

 

There are lots of other interesting things you can do in Kusadasi, also, to fill out your tour. Have you ever considered the amazing experience of a Hamam??

 

Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/holyland.html!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[Hlitner]

We have just "jumped in a taxi" and drove around 100 miles to Didyma, Miletus, etc etc. It was quite an experience as we just tighted our seat belts, prayed, closed our eyes a few times, and had a ball. As to the Virgin Mary House, this is probably the one site at Kusadasi where we are not convinced a guide is worthwhile. In fact, the guides generally do not go into the house (they might be banned) since it is a pretty quiet solemn place. Of course you should be aware that the house is a reconstruction and there is some debate as to whether the remaining foundation (the only original part) was actually the home of the Virgin. Any evidence that this is true is purely speculation. One very professional and well educated guide (2 college degrees) told us that "if the Virgin Mary had lived near Ephesus this was a likely location for her home." One can think of several motives as to why the church would want to perpetuate the myth and maintain what is now an important Christian site located in a Muslim country. At any rate, the story is fascinating and does provide more then a few jobs.

 

Hank

[Fblack]

Right on the pier in Kusadasi they have little booths with local taxis. Also a few more are about 100 yards further. They will usually take US dollars. Just find one who speaks English, has air conditioning, and does not smoke. Then bargain for a good price. We also used EKOL and they are very good at designing a tour for you.

[Dunmore2]

We have used allaboutturkey.com twice and with great success. Burak, the owner gave us a customized tour based on our interests.

[CruisinSinceAge5]

We booked a van with a driver for our second trip and did it through the cruise line. I don't recall what we paid but though it was expensive it was well worth it for the experience. It was our second trip to Kusadasi(the first one was in July) and it was November-what a difference going there in the off-season made - no crowds. I will forever treasure the memory of being able to just sit and meditate quietly-there were only 6 of us there most of the time. It was a Sunday morning. We arrived 90 minutes before Mass was to be said next to the house. We attended Mass celebrated by an Italian priest. This time we brought empty water bottles from the ship and plastic baggies from home so we could take home the holy water from the spring that has been there for 2000 years. Pope John Paul II visited the site in 1979 and Pope Benedict visited it in, I think, 2006. Bring some small pieces of paper and a pen so you may leave your prayer requests on the wall outside the house by the spring. The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Anne Catherine Emmerich is a fascinating book to read before visiting the house.

[swcruise]

Thanks to you all for your posts and for sharing your experiences and memories of visting the house. I think that we have decided that we will take a taxi from the port, I have done some resarching and some taxi advertise on the web that it its 50 Euros return. We will have to pay extra if tha taxi has car-parking charges and pay into the house.

 

One final question, can you pay the house admittance fee in Euro's, or does it have to be Turkish Lira ??

[CruisinSinceAge5]

My recall is that they took lira, dollars and euros.

Enjoy.