Selcuk to Pamukkale

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Selcuk to Pamukkale
Yesterday I visited the very special ruins of Ephesus. We arrived early to try and beat the crowds and the worst of the heat, but even at 9am, it was packed with tour buses. Unfortunately most of these tourists haven’t got any travel etiquette, they’ll push and shove and walk in front of your carefully composed photos, and not give a hoot.
The final part of the ruins is too beautiful to put into words. The coloured marble, the statues, the stone friezes. Check out a few of the photos.
For dinner last night we caught a local bus to a small village nearby that is known for its lace work and local wine. So far the wine has been awful. One shop specialised in fruit wines, and we tasted them all, after a couple it’s hard to say what one you liked, your palate is trashed. But I did like the pomegranate one, as odd as it sounds. The lace work was stunning, a delightful old lady had a stall full of beautiful pieces that she’d made all herself and they weren’t that expensive give the amount of work involved.
Our means of transport so far has been mostly public buses. So we trot off to the local bus station of a morning and queue with all the other locals. It can be tedious to visit every tin pot little town’s bus station, and adds a lot of time too, is this the adventure part of the trip? Sometimes our guide hires a minibus, but no matter how hard you try you are not going to get 15 people, their bags and then the guide as well into a mini bus, and for everyone to get a seat, it won’t happen. Our guide sat on the floor this morning for the 3 hour trip from Selcuk to Pamukkale.
I’m in the lovely little town of Pamukkale, beneath the limestone formations of the same name. The Romans built a city here; they believed that the warm thermal waters had great healing powers. So today you can take a dip in the 36’ water and see if it heels you, for a price of course, 20 lira to get into the complex, another 25 lira to swim in the pool. And it’s packed.
I walked back into town across the terraces, some look man made, maybe they are, and these are the ones we can swim in if we want. It’s really for the experience as they are only about 6” deep. The limestone in parts looked like an icy cornice, and when you look up to it from town you can’t help but think it resembles snow.
Tomorrow we join our boat for an overnight cruise around the Turquoise Coast. I expect to get woken up very early tomorrow morning as there are speakers right next to the hotel for the call to prayer.

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