Blogs from Pamukkale, Aegean, Turkey, Middle East - page 5

Ahhhh…I had a lovely day of serenity. I was with a group of about 12 people from all over. This was one of the 1st days where there was no one my age, yet everyone was very interesting and interested in me and my travels. Our day started with a tour of Hierapolis Ancient City. We saw the Necropolis (cemetery) of Hierapolis which is one of the biggest ancient cemeteries. Then, we walked to the natural warm water terraces which were formed by running warm water that contains calcium. The temperature of the water is about 95 degrees (the main reason people come to Pamukkale). The effect is created when water from the hot springs loses carbon dioxide as it flows down the slopes, leaving deposits of limestone. The layers of white calcium carbonate, built up ... read more

The weather in Turkey has been fabulous - the sun has been shining and most days there has not been a cloud in the sky. We headed to the fabulous town of Pamukkale. The name means Cotton Castle which reflects the breathtaking view of the site. Even from a distance, the white travertines looked spectacular. In spring the water is 35.6 degrees and contains high levels of concentrated calcium hydroxide. As the water cools it cascades over the cliff edge and deposits calcium creating stalactites and potholes containing glorious blue water. We had to take our shoes and socks off to walk on the calcium so that it did not discolour. The calcium was difficult to walk on - a little hard on the feet but the water that flowed down the travertines was warm with ... read more

Our bus from Olympos/Antalya arrived in Denizli in the late afternoon of the 22nd. The bus station was hectic with lots of men trying to get us on their buses to Pamukkale, which is a huge tourist destination. We chose one and it just so happened to be with a young guy representing the hostel we were staying at. Of course I pronounced it wrong and called it "Kayle Hostel" like the vegetable when it's really pronounced "Kah-lay". With our mutual misunderstanding, it took us like 3 minutes to realize we were both talking about the same hostel. It reminded me of how classic midwest I am. There was no need for him to recruit us b/c we had already made reservations through hostelbookers.com like we usually do. This hostel was only 4USD a night in ... read more

After a rather good breakfast, bread, olives, melon, watermelon, cheese, omlette, washed down with lots of coffee, we spent all day wandering around the travertines, and the ruins of Heiropolis. I managed to not put sunblock an a bit of my legs with the inevitable result, a rather red patch which is a little sore. Oh well. Hilary managed to miss a bit as well, but it is all minor so nothing to worry about. We took the short way up, a path over the travertines which requires shoes to be removed. It is an easy enough walk and the stone is on the whole pretty smooth and not slippery. It was rather full of other tourists which was pretty much expected, but they pretty much only do the travertines, the ancient pool and the theatre, ... read more

It was a long and hot ride from Bergama to Pamukkale but all went pretty much to plan in that we did not get lost or have any sort of mishap. We took the inland route via Sahili, more direct and less highway. There were a couple of events of note, firstly roadworks, there was a short bit of unsurfaced road and gravel which returned to a reasonable surface after a few hundred yards, I thought great, through that, then.... Back to unsurfaced road, loose gravel and dust, it just stretched into the distance as far as the eye could see. There was about 10 miles of it. We went slowly, bikes and gravel / loose stones are not a good combination especially when the surface below is uneven. We got through it. I do not ... read more