Blogs from Pamukkale, Aegean, Turkey, Middle East - page 4

Day 14: Today we got up in the morning and hopped on a bus bound for Pamukkale. The word Pamukkale means cotton castle and is so coined due to the cotton appearance of the bleached limestone. Since we were staying in Hieropolis ("holy city"), also known as Pamukkale, our tour guide informed us we could wander at our own pace because we didn't have to catch the bus back to Selcuk. Naturally it wasn't the ruins that interested us at this point; but, the copious amounts of limestone that naturally deposited out of the thermal springs. When we first arrived at the site of Pamukkale our guide informed us that we were lucky because there was water. I was a little confused at first until I realized that this place is run strictly by tourism and ... read more

I woke up and said happy birthday to myself, I am now a quarter century old! (One foot in the grave as I say) I was really excited since we were visiting Pamukkale today and we would get to “paddle” in the thermal pools there, I had heard that you couldn’t swim in them so I didn’t bring my swimmers, but wore something I could get wet in if need be. ¬Yesterday on the bus Taylee asked how old I was and I told her that I would be 25 the next day, so they were all excited for my birthday as well! I got on Facebook and was so happy to see that I already had birthday wishes, even though with the time differenc it was almost 1 am in the States, it made my ... read more

Cappadocia to Pamukkale Today is the longest day travelling in the bus – although Ines stops the bus every one and half hours for a break. He usually tells us what we will be seeing and doing and also gives us the history. This method works well because when you get to the destination you already have the information. Our first stop was the Sultanhani Kervansaray – a caravan palace – where the nomadic people would go and stay for a couple of nights only. It is in quite good condition, on the outskirts in a town called Konya. Konya is a large city but the area around the caravan was quite poor. The sights on the way included a mother walking her children with the cow to school. Men are driving little horse & carts ... read more

Primero que nada es necesario aclarar que muy lamentablemente perdimos la memoria en dónde teníamos nuestras fotos de Pamukkale, por lo que todas las fotos que ven aquí son robadas a César o a Julián, o bajadas de la red. Ni modo. Nos despertamos temprano para desayunar en el hotel, y después tomar un tour de Hierapolis y Pamukkale a las 9 AM. Estaba haciendo un frío del diablo, pero afortunadamente no llovía. Pamukkale es un sitio patrimonio de la humanidad de la UNESCO, y consiste en una serie de terrazas naturales de calcio, formadas a lo largo de los siglos por las aguas termales ricas en minerales que fluyen en la zona. Los romanos consideraban que las aguas tenían propieadades curativas, y construyeron la ciudad de Hierapolis en la cima de las terrazas de calcio ... read more

Turkish Wedding (part 3) – Nikah - (pron: NEE-kya) We had to jump through a lot of hoops in order to get to our nikah (See Turkish Wedding parts 1 and 2), which perhaps made it feel somewhat like a prize we had earned. In spite of all the planning, however, it felt, and still feels, more like a dream or a movie I watched than a ceremony I participated in. Here's what I knew about the ceremony before I participated in it: precious little. I had been told, fortunately, that I didn't actually have to recite any vows. That was Mr. Bureaucrat's job. All I had to say was "evet" (yes) to whatever it was he had said. Yes, I do speak and understand Turkish, but I don't have the slightest idea what I ... read more