After our cruise we were undecided about the next leg of the journey. We had left luggage in Fethiye, so we knew we had to get back there at some point to collect it. Originally we thought we may head back down the coast – via road and re-visit some of the places we had been on the cruise, and soak up some of the rays on beaches. However plans changed – sidetracked-, mainly due to the weather. We decided to go inland as we had a few rainy cool days to contend with. We reached Pamukkale at 8:30 at night after bussing from Olympos via Antayla.
This is a real tourist hotspot in Turkey, and we weren’t initially keen to visit. After having spoken to people who had been and enjoyed it, we decided to join the throngs. People are bussed in, mostly for day trips. It is a place where there are travertines (terraces) of white silica and pools. You get the picture – Lake Tarawera 126 years ago revisited? It was quite amazing walking up the hills through the pools. You were not allowed to wear shoes, so some pebbly parts were painful on our soft tootsies. The blue of the water was so pretty. We managed to strike a lovely fine day, just right for exploring some more ruins.
The area is a National Park and is a World Heritage Sight. So you get two for one – terraces and ruins – much to Georgia’s delight!! The ruins here continue to amaze us – the architecture, and what is left of them. There was a Roman city on the site and it had most of the usual things – i.e. remains of shops, a graveyard, churches, ampitheatre, latrines, mausaleom etc.. The foresight those people had ….. We took our time, and once again did it without an expensive tour that our hotel highly recommended! We had hoped to swim in the warm pools – but at 30 TL per person ($20 NZD) we decided we would pass on the opportunity.
It was a lovely day, finished off by a very late lunch of freshly baked wood fired pide and pizza at Mustafa’s Cafe – in the village. He was a real character and sat and chatted with us. He knew quite a lot about NZ and even gave us an impromptu haka, and had a great kiwi accent. He shared some local/Turkish stories with us, and he had a conversation with a young pushy sales girl. He did not want her peddling her wares to his valued cafe customers!!
We reflected on this trip and thought how spectacular the Pink and White Terraces must have been – from the images we have seen. An amazing piece of history that Mother Nature took away.
Wow! We certainly don’t know what we lost when Mount Tarawera blew up. The terraces look absolutely wonderful and as you say, to think we could have had them like that. Amazing!! I hope the weather is looking a bit better for you – summer should be just around the corner hopefully. We intend to go to Europe – Venice, Italy, Paris, London for 3 weeks in May so summer had better be there then. Great to hear from you.