Day 2 of our mini holiday saw us bound for Pamukkale, and the famous travertine (limestone) terraces and hot springs.  A three hour minibus ride with our South African friends from yesterday saw us arrive at 11am.  The ruins of another Roman city, Hierapolis, provide the backdrop for the unique sight of the terraces.  The name Pamukkale translates as “Cotton Castle”, both for the bright white of the limestone and the surrounding cotton fields.

Pamukkale

Once there were 13 springs providing the water, and it must have been an awesome sight seeing it cascade everywhere.  Since Roman times, hydraulic engineering has channelled the water to suit tourism, and nowadays there are only four springs and a lot less water.  That doesn’t stop people coming in droves.  In summer, when the air temperature can approach 50 degrees, there are thousands of visitors and you can’t move.  Today was overcast and mild, and there were only a few dozen people when we arrived.

Not too crowded today

We could walk through or bathe in the terraces, or have a swim in “Cleopatra’s Pool”, a swimming pool full of broken marble pillars.  We opted for the terraces.

Someone forgot to clean the pool

Unfortunately the experience was not as pleasant as it looked, because you are not allowed to wear footwear of any kind, and the terraces are covered in lots of small pebbles so you have to pick your way carefully between them.  The water starts at a pleasantly warm temperature at the top, then gets gradually cooler as you progress downhill.  We wandered down to about the 6^th pool.  Afterwards we felt clean and our feet were well exfoliated!

Clean and exfoliated

After another buffet lunch we were driven to Denizli Airport, an hour away.  Our flight was not until 7pm, and we were dropped off at 4pm, much earlier than our itinerary had indicated (though by now we were used to the times being completely different to those advised by the travel agent).  “Maybe there will be shops next door” said Ian hopefully.  “Maybe we can get on an earlier flight” I suggested.  Of course, the airport was in a huge open valley, miles from anywhere, not even a cow in sight.  And our flight to Istanbul was one of just two scheduled for the day.  The other had already departed at 8:30am.  Sigh … we settled in for a long wait.  The security crew were quite pleased to see us, as it gave them something to do.

Back in Istanbul, we checked in to the Airport Hotel, right in the terminal and in fact, right beside the apron – you can sit in the restaurant and watch planes being loaded just outside the window.  We’re enjoying the benefits of a midday checkout before our 2pm flight to Venice.

On departing Istanbul, here are a couple of photos of things that I will remember most clearly.

Truth in advertising

Interesting shopping

Parking Istanbul style