Pamukkale

We said goodbye to the beautiful seaside town of Kaş and commenced our return journey north towards Istanbul.

We had lots of driving in the morning with a few stops plus lunch in a petrol station-type restaurant before arriving at Pamukkale! This UNESCO listed heritage site was formed by the calcium bicarbonate in the natural rock reacting with oxygen resulting in some stunning ‘white cliffs’. They look a bit similar to the white cliffs in Dover, England.

The white formations are on the edge of the ancient Roman city of Herapolis, meaning the city of 'Hera' (a god) or the sacred city. This was an ancient Roman city which was at its peak in around 2 AD. People lived in the city until around the 11th century when the Turks arrived. The whole city used to be completely white from the calcium which would have been stunning!

The hot water which formed in the white cliffs (from the volcanic waters) was seen to be for healing. There were some sections of the hot water which were poisonous (so animals died when they entered this area) so people thought that it was the gate to the underworld (to Hades). As such, Herapolis has the biggest graveyard (necropolis) from the ancient world with 2,000 graves.

We were given plenty of free time to explore on our own and so started with a short uphill walk to the theatre which used to seat 20,000 people back when the ancient city was inhabited by the Romans. We then explored an area near one of the old marble arch entrances including the necropolis. It was very hot but we really enjoyed exploring and the beautiful views!

We then made our way along the top of the beautiful white cliffs, taking in the amazing views. We were able to enter one section of the cliffs (after we removed our shoes) and then made our way down through some of pools and took some incredible photos as we stood in awe of this natural beauty. We went into the water up to our knees and could feel the calcium mud in the murky water.

After a couple of hours exploring, we returned to bus and began making our way to Selcuk, our home for the next two nights.

Along the way we stopped at a place called ‘Meandros’ which is where the current word ‘meander’ originates from. This area is a typical meander - a channel of water / riverway. It is also the location of the very first train line in Turkey which took goods from the fertile land to the rest of Turkey.

We arrived in Selcuk and went straight to a restaurant for dinner, where we tried the traditional Turkish dumplings/ravioli style pasta which was really good! We then arrived at the hotel, had showers and went straight to bed after a busy and hot day!Read more