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Published: August 7th 2006
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Wading through the spring waters at Pamukkale
You are allowed to walk on the travertine, but take off your shoes. Once I get away from the hyper resorts of the coast, where the Brits are eating their bacon and chip butties, the better taste of Turkey I get. I am now in Ankara where there is hardly a tourist around. It is a big and modern city, but still a part of the third world. The traffic is crazy, it is hot and polluted. But this is the real Turkey, urban Turkey.
I travelled to Pamukkale on Saturday. I had no idea the area was so large. The calcium carbonate travertines are extensive. You have to walk up to the top over the calcite and running water. I went at 5 pm after the heat and after the major crowds. The crowds that remained were mostly Turkish. Occasionly you will come across a bikini clad westerner standing next to a Turkish Muslim woman wearing a head scarf. The calcite formations are about 1 km along the ridge of the mountain and about 200 tall. That is the part we had to walk up. I stayed to watch the sun set and this made for some lovely photos. Up behind all of this are the sprawling ancient remains of Hieropolis, a
Graeco Roman city.
Also within the site you have the chance to swim among the Hieropolis ruins in the hotsprings water. I did not as I had no where to store my gear. But walking up and down I had to wade ankle deep in the spring water as it flows downstream.
My hotel was really nice. The town of Pamukkale is more rural than any other city I had seen. It is about a 3 hour driver inland from the coast. When the bus arrived I was approached by someone from a hotel. Recommended by LP, so off I went on the back of his motocycle. For €42, I got a room with AC, lunch, dinner and breakfast, and laundry. And they had a pool and internet. A good place. The also drove me to the travertines, drove me back, arranged my bus tıcket to Ankara, and got me to the bus the next morning. Turkish hospitality.
Yesterday, I took a marathon 7 hour bus ride to Ankara. A nice AC coach. They served tea and water and cookies along the way. And we stopped twice long enough for a toilet break. But Wednesday will be my last day on a bus - hurray.
Ankara is more Turkish than anywhere I have seen, hardly a tourist about. It's hot at about 40 degrees high on the Anatolian Plateau. The wind blows warm and the cars blow pollution. Again no problem finding accommodation. This morning I took a taxi to the Museum of Anatolian Civilization. Some wonderful exhibits of paleolithic hominids. And the famous neolithic statuette of the Mother Goddess. Hittite wall carvings. And more Graeco Roman statues and pots. After I walked about the high citidel.
Last night while looking for a restaurant I sat down and asked for a beer. No, so they pointed me to a place that does serve alcohol. But here no food. Hmmmph. So I had to eat more than drink so I went to a restaurant. Ankara is now the most conservative city I have been to. But walking back to the hotel I found a couple of restaurants that serve both at the same time. This is probably a better taste of Turkey than staying on the coast with all the northern Europeans seeking sun, Caffreys, Sky Sports and bacon and chip butties.
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