Izmir is a major tourist gateway, on the Aegean coast, to the beach resorts of Turkey and major attractions such as the ruined city of Ephesus—the ancient capital of Asia Minor. With a history, which stretches back 8000 years—as the birthplace of Homer and some of the oldest churches founded by St Paul—today Izmir is a bustling modern city famous for its bazaars, including a 2 000-year-old Roman agora (market).

When in Izmir you must go shopping in the old Kemeralti souk, an ancient covered bazaar with arched stone ceilings—the silk road from the far east ended here. It’s made up of a dozen special bazaars such as the chestnut, goldsmith, glass (this is the place to buy those fantastical kaleidoscope coloured lamps), spice, fish, olive, nut and curio bazaars. We eat ripe purple figs for a few lira—one of Smyrna’s famous organic products—along with almonds, apricots and olives. Arts and crafts are really cheap, but try to barter the hawkers down to two-thirds of the original asking price. I pay around ten Turkish lira (R40) for a colourful handmade shoulder bag and fifty lira (R200) for a handmade rug woven on a rainbow loom at the souk.  

Weaving Magical Carpets, Alexander the Great's Castle, Izmir

Tossing Dondurmasi, the great Turkish ice-cream