Kale Guesthouse Pamukkale

... as the capital for the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire.<br><br>Sieges and wars have been fought back and forth, through and across the Dardenelles, the strait between the Marmara Sea and the Aegean - the Trojan wars, Alexander the Great, the disaster at Gallipoli.<br><br>It is a city of the senses. <br><br>Touch the marble Million stone, the starting point of an ornate highway to Rome, and also the "start of the world zero point" from which all distances ...

... Raj...? Oh, right.<br><br>Our grueling marathon drive of some 24 hours over a 72 hour period complete, my inner calm returned. We spent the rest of Friday afternoon in the Grand Bazaar. Rachel was interested in buying a carpet, and in need of a gift for the upcoming wedding in India, I decided to help her get some leverage by buying second one. I drove some hard bargaining down to 400 Lira (80 GBP) for a pair of handmade wool rugs from an asking price ...

... in the blazing sun. When I got there, I looked around, took some pics and then sat on a column in the shade and ate a snack. While I was there, a group of very &#8220;not into it&#8221; looking Japanese tourists came by and just sat in the shade. Some of them didn&#8217;t even go look at the theater. I found that kind of funny. I mean, why walk all that way up the hill only to not look at the reason you made the trek? On my way back, I opted not to put my feet in the travertine ...

... but really n&#305;ce and I left it on the acropolis &#305;n Bergama I th&#305;nk. No photos tody as I don't know &#305;f th&#305;s computer can handle it and I cant be bothered to go to a cafe (I'm in th hotel where it is free!) But as consolation, on my faebook there are pictures of Istanbul that the other guys took! and they're all better at photography and have n&#305;ce cameras so the p&#305;cutres are welly good!

... moss and some antique Roman columns, to give it authenticity, and we had a great time for the 45 minutes or so we were inside. Pamukkale hot springs This is an incredible natural site - cascading layers of cliffs formed from limestone and travertine, which are also natural hot springs. So white and beautiful! We were only allowed access to the top levels, which weren't the best, and were much ...

... them to the walkway? Thus getting out of the area - which, in turn, would stop the whistle blowing and also would allow the rest of us a picture without a man in a pink shirt in it??? Is this too much to ask??? Seriously!) We wandered up a small hill past a tree to get a better view of the pools - hoping that by the time we were there, the McPink shirt would be gone. Not gone yet. Still bent there. (Perhaps he is a fountain we did not know about?) No ...

... a huge earthquake. We chillaxed in the sun for a little then walked down and saw the Temple of Apollo - plutonium still bubbles below and they have had to seal it over with concrete (unfortunately some tourists put their head in to see if it smelt and died)... We saw the small museum with well preserved Roman artifacts, statues, sarcophagus, coins, weapons, jewelry, bowls etc etc then we went to see the Antique Pool ...

... Turkey, on the whole, doesn't really care too much about NYE. In Istanbul there's typically a big, outdoor celebration in Taksim Square, but this year it was canceled due to the political situation in the east and concerns of terrorism. Outside of Istanbul, there really aren't many parties or celebrations. Pamukkale was no exception to this rule. There was nothing going on at all. I ended up meeting a ...

... pretty!! A couple of hours later, sore feet and all, we head out all wet and slippery and catch a bus for another four hours to get to Fethiye, a beach resort place. Can't wait to just lay down for a couple of days and do nothing at all!!!! (Ian) OK Pamakkule was very cool and worth the bus ride. You really felt like you were standing on the moon.... with water all around you. One pool flowed into the next one below it and it was quite a sight. During the bus ride we entered into ...

... the cruise ship and the "Turkey in 1 week - 10 days" routes, Aphrodisias gets way less tourist traffic than Ephesus. It is a very large site and has as many well preserved major buildings as Ephesus, and while it doesn't seem to have had perhaps as much intensive archaeological diggings as Ephesus (eg it doesn't have anything like the terrace houses), it has been investigated very well and the interpretive information on the major ruins is very good. There is also a small ...