Sep 17, 2007 | Aegean Coast

Most Westerners stick to the western edge of the country, so there's a well-developed tourist trail from Istanbul to the Mediterranean, and the people who make their living from it are a somewhat jaded bunch. Selcuk (Ephesus) was a drag, but Bergama (Pergamon) was my first brush with Turkey's legendary hospitality. An older couple found me wandering the streets looking for a restaurant that wasn't open because of Ramazan, so they pulled me inside their home and fed me dinner. We talked for a couple of hours, which is remarkable only because they didn't know a word of English.