Hierapolis Pamukkale

Saturday, May 7, Pamukkale, Turkey

On Saturday, May 7 we visited Pamukkale, Turkey. First off Pamukkale is located about three hours east of Kusadasi in the southwest part of the Anatolian Peninsula. The Anatolian Peninsula is the passage way between the Aegean, Middle Anatolia (where Cappadocia is located), and the Mediterranean regions. …

We decided to make our trip more like a holiday and slept in later on Sunday, then got up for another fantastic guest house breakfast. The forecast hadn't predicted good weather, but things were looking sunny and clear, so we made a slight alteration to our plans. We had intended to split the day, spending part of it back at the travertines, and …

Upon returning to Pamukkale, we grabbed a quick lunch and then walked in the direction of the travertines. We paid our 20TL entrance fee and then walked to the start of the terraces. We had to take off our shoes until we were at the top because they aren't allowed in order to protect the mineral deposits.

As I mentioned in an earlier blog …

3 hours and 2 rest stops later, we finally arrived at Pamukkale just around lunchtime. We ate in a local restaurant that served these cold salads, and a bunch of minced veggies and all that, not the lunch that I was expecting for. I could only eat the grilled chicken with the dry pasta. At this point of the tour, I can proudly announce that Turkish …

... dripping down the cliffside. The Romans had long identified the site as a spa town, and built the resort of Hierapolis atop the hill. The saturnine white is overpowering, so clean, perpetually cleansed, and created, by bubbling, cascading ...

... the top of the falls. I'm really not much of a ruins person, and I've seen a few ruins in the past two days but Hierapolis was amazing and really fascinating to walk around. Lots of golden grass and roman ruins. There was a neat amphitheatre and some old ...

... by turning on the water! The location was popular in ancient times as well; the Romans built a large spa city called Hierapolis here over 2000 years ago because of the alleged curative properties of the waters. Hmmmmmmm...sounds like the Katie and ...

... At Pamukkale, a Unesco World Heritage site, hot calcium-laden mineral waters used to flow through a ruined Hellenistic city (Hierapolis) before cascading over a cliff. As the water cooled, the calcium precipitated and clung to the cliffs, forming snowy ...

... in in my undies, but the girls didn't want to go swimming THAT much. There is not a great deal left of the town of Hierapolis, but the theatre is in good condition so we wandered up there to watch the sun set. It was peaceful and delightful, and best ...

... . There were about seventy tourist buses in town so we decided to walk to the top and go for a swim in the Pamukkale Thermal of Hierapolis. This is a thermal pool that contains submerged ruins of the town. We thought "How cool would it be to swim ...

... of landscape and its hard and a bit rough under your bare feet.  There is also an ancient sacred pool surrounded by Hierapolis.  This area prospered under the Romans and even more under the Byzantines.  We walked around the ruins a bit ...

... think what it must have looked like before mass tourism got its hands on it. The other very cool part of Pamukkale were the ruins at the top, Hierapolis, were well worth the trip. It contained the best theater we have seen, and there weren't that many ...

Excited for the first official 'site seeing' day in Turkey:  a day trip to Pamukkale and Hierapolis.  Able to arrange this trip through our hostel.  So far we've only camped one night in Turkey!  Pensions are very affordable and come ...

... is perhaps unique, having amazing calcium travertines that appear almost like the largest baked Alaska you have ever seen and the ruins of Hierapolis add to the mystical charm of the area. It is a genuinely breathtaking sight to see.   But perhaps ...