MANILA, Philippines?It was as if the dubious TV repairman from ?Pleasantville? pushed a button on his MacGyver-like contraption and zapped me into television?only this wasn?t a black-and-white ?50s sitcom with a Be-Bop-A-Lula soundtrack, but a series more akin to Discovery Channel?s ?Bone Detectives.?

For backpack-toting travelers more inclined to soak up the rays in some beer-soaked pleasure island?where they can flirt with the bronzed members of the international vagabonderie?the thought of roaming through the crumbling ruins of Turkey?s Aegean coast may draw out a feigned snore or two.

But after knocking back a few throat-burning shots of raki?a milky-white equivalent of the lambanog?you?ll be ready to rub imaginary elbows with the ghostly, footless figures of Alexander the Great, Paris of Troy, and St. John floating in your double-visioned horizon. (Just don?t trip and topple down the rocky tiers of a Roman amphitheater, lest you become a nameless figment of the next drunk tourist?s hallucinations.)

With more World Wonders, biblical ruins, and sacred pagan sites per square kilometer than any other region the world (at least according to kick-ass travel tome ?Lonely Planet?), Turkey?s classical coast is well worth an archeological wander?and a little Roman holiday. So strap on some air-soled centurion sandals and gear-up for a raki ?n? roll adventure through the great outdoors of the ancient world.

Hierapolis

Somewhere between the tundra-like plains of Chay and Dinar, the snow stopped falling, giving way to rustic, caramel-colored fields littered with 100-year-old cypress trees straight out of ?Gladiator.?

The ancient spa town of Hierapolis?founded by Eumenes II in 190 BC?thrived as a fashionable cure center under the Romans. Now a Unesco World Heritage Site, the former Hellenistic city boasts a spectacular 12,000-seater Roman theatre, the Martyrium of St. Philip (built on the site where the apostle was martyred), the colonnaded Frontius Street, and the Antique Pool.

If you?re willing to shell out 10 Euros, you can bathe in the sacred 36 degrees waters, inhale the invigorating vapors, and relish the fact that you?re swimming amid submerged fluted columns from the Temple of Apollo. Just ignore the boisterous Caucasian teenager beside you who thinks he?s in Typhoon Lagoon.

Pammukale

They don?t call it the Cotton Castle for nothing. Now restored by Unesco to its original blinding whiteness, the cliff-side travertines of Pammukale?situated at the northern plateau of Hierapolis, hugging the ridge of the spa town like a white scar?strangely resembles our own natural wonder, the Banaue Rice Terraces, but with a slightly more Mediterranean color scheme.

The cascading terraces and shallow shelves are filled with warm, calcium-laden waters with a restorative powers. Though brighter-than-life posters from the ?70s paint an entirely different picture, you can?t actually bathe in the sparkling blue waters of this geological theme park anymore. But you can fold up your jeans, toss your smelly sneakers aside, and let your bruised feet benefit from a little natural pampering.

Philadelphia

In antiquity, the sleepy Turkish town of Alasehir bore a more familiar name: Philadelphia. (Yes, the original City of Brotherly Love?way before American Idol?s Renaldo Lapuz immortalized the phrase into the forgettable annals of pop culture.) The King of Pergamum, Eumenes II, named the city for the love of his loyal sibling, Philadelphos, which literally means ?one who loves his brother.?

But more than its lofty name, Philadelphia is best known for its brag-worthy biblical references by St. John in the Book of Revelations (for kicks, check out Rev. 1:11 and 3:7-13). It did, after all, house one of The Seven Churches of the Apocalypse?along with Ephesus and Sardis, all found within the province of Asia Minor. Today, however, only one pillar of this great basilica stands.

Sardis

Although St. John admonished its well-heeled citizens for being ?fainthearted,? Sardis was once the capital of the gold-rich Lydian Kingdom, which dominated the Aegean with its military might. The extensively restored Marble Court of the Hall of the Imperial Cult?erected in the 2nd Century AD?is the grandest structure on the site, with its finely chiseled Greek inscriptions, open-air gymnasium, and ancient swimming pool.

But brace yourselves for the awe-inspiring Temple of Artemis at the foot of the imposing Mount Tmolus. Unearthed by an archaeologist from Princeton University between 1910 and 1914, the ruins are aloof and majestic?especially at sunset, when twilight turns the monochromatic pillars a pale shade of crimson. Behind the temple is an ancient pagan altar, which was given a facelift by both Alexander the Great and Tiberius during their reign.

Ephesus

The fact that Turkey?s top-selling beer, Efes, was named after this cosmopolitan port city should have forewarned us of its former glory. Ephesus?once a melting pot of many faiths and races?was sort of like the Big Apple of the ancient world, and one of its Seven Wonders (the Ephesian Temple of Artemis was four times larger than the Athenian Parthenon). If you made it there, you could make it anywhere.

Ephesus has rightfully earned its place as Turkey?s top tourist site, being the best-preserved classical city in the Mediterranean region. The excavated ruins give visitors an idea of the city?s erstwhile splendor: the Library of Celsus, Temple of Artemis (a single, inconspicuous column stands), Gate of Augustus, and the Great Theater (the Madison Square Garden of its time), among others.

It also became the epicenter of Christianity. It was here where St. Paul preached, and where St. John?whose basilica and tomb rests at the windswept summit of Ayasuluk Hill?penned his gospel. In this biblical landscape, I often got the nagging feeling that there was a bush ?burning? in the corner of my eye, or that a saintly apostle was making his way by donkey to Mary?s final home (Meryemana) at the wooded slope of Mt. Coressos.

HOW TO GET THERE: Your best option is Turkish Airlines, which offers convenient, non-stop flights to Istanbul and other domestic hubs via Hong Kong every Thursday and Sunday. They also fly out of Bangkok daily, and from Singapore every Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Connections from the Philippines are easily arranged through partner airlines. For inquiries, visit their Manila office at G/F, SGV 2 Bldg., 6758 Ayala Ave., Makati or call 864-0600 and 864-0598.

TOUR ARRANGEMENTS: The best tours of Turkey are operated by Orion Tours (oriontour.com). Contact their local office, Meteor Philippines, at 564-7613, 561-8659, 0918-9125177, or 0919-4062421. Participating travel agents include Leopoldo Arnaiz, Nancy Sih, Mamerth Banatin, Carol Caparas, Brian Harvey Tan, Zarahhemla Rayla, Vangie Lames, and Gilda Padua.