Now in week 3 and having spent several days among olive trees, watching sunsets and slowly draining our water supply and battery, we decide that some culture is in order! So we head for the city of legend, the place where heros were made, kingdoms destroyed and daughters abducted: Troy. Of course, the remains of the city, which have been excavated for more than 100 years since Heinrich Schliemann famously found the city and infamously stole what he thought was the treasure of Priam, king of the Trojans, can only give a glimpse of the grandeur the city must once have had. We also found it daunting to make sense of the ten or so layers of the excavated city, representing several millenia of the site’s history, from a Bronze Age settlement to a Roman city. But the very good museum nearby gives a good overview of not only the history of the city, but also of the Troas region and its development over time, as well as the various excavations that have taken place here to uncover its history.
The next day, after a wonderful breakfast in the harbour of the small town of Küçükkuyu, we visit another important historical site in the Troas region, now in the very south: Assos. As Troy prospered through trade with other empires and cities to the east and west, the importance of Assos declined over time. Since Byzantine times it has been what it is today: a beautiful little village on a hill with fantastic views of Troas to the north and Lesbos to the west.
In the afternoon we continue along the coast to Burhaniye, where we enjoy a fantastic Turkish dinner and a quiet night on a campsite (showers! yay!).The next day we eat breakfast outside again (yes, we’re lazy, but food is cheap here too #noregrets), walk over the weekly bazar and do some shopping before continuing along the coast, heading for the ancient city of Pergamon.