Apr 202013
Apr 042013
After our first-off morning dip and such, we were back on the ‘most uncomfortable bus’ for another long day of fun.
Our first stop was still in Pamukkale at the Hierapolis Antique City and Pamukkale’s limestone pools. The city was very impressive in terms of wide spread space with ruins from days of old. In fact, there was a recent article about archaeologists finding the mythical ‘gate of hell’ in this area. We tried to find it, but considering it brings death, we didn’t try too hard. π
There are a ton of pics from here as the ruins were nice. Sadly, the weather wasn’t as nice as it has been. I still sort of expected more from the ruins after seeing Jerash in Jordan and the temples in Egypt. Turkey is supposed to be older and more impressive I think, but I haven’t yet had that feeling. Maybe I’m too spoiled from my travels….
Anyway, we also walked a bit on the limestone with pools from the hot springs. They call Pamukkale the cotton castle due to the limestone formations. It is pretty impressive, though rather unsafe to walk around barefoot and no guard rails.
From there, we drove a good distance before stopping for lunch at a nice place. It was probably the best meal we have had on the entire tour so far. After lunch, we walked around Aphrodisias, which is a city named after Aphrodite. The ruins here were more impressive perhaps because of the architecture or a full and happy stomach. π
Our final highlight of the day was an amateur leather fashion show. It could have been an amazing parody on a SATC episode where the ladies attend Fashion Week shows. It was a mix of comedy and entertainment as a creative sales pitch to get us to buy their leather goods. If I lived in a cooler climate I might have considered, but instead I am saving my money for jewelry purchase. Haha π
We ended our day with our arrival at our hotel in Kusadasi (kushadasee) where we will stay for two nights. Phew…
-T π
Apr 032013
We had a very long day in the bus on the fourth day of our trip. From Kapidokya to Pamukkale, it takes about 12 very long hours.
Along the way we made a few stops to see a few things. For example, we stopped in Konya for a visit to the Turkish whirling dervish temple. The whirling dervish is a type of Muslim sect where the whirling causes a meditative state. Nowadays no one formally trains but it used to be a formal religious activity like joining a nunnery or something like that.
After that we stopped every two hours for a leg stretch and lunch at a crazy wedding hall place. I bought potato chips to survive the rest of the day. π
We finally made it to Pamukkale and our hotel. There was a thermal bath there, which helped to wash away some of the soreness of the bus ride. Unfortunately, all 23 of us from the tour group were in the same hotel and all of the other tour buses arrived at the same time so the bath quickly filled up! Still, it was a nice refresher and made me miss Japan’s onsens!
In the morning, we got up for another quick dip before Day 5 began in full.
-T π
