Pamukkale showers

Here I am in the little village of Pamukkale, somewhere lovely (The Venus Hotel), showered and fragrant, enjoying a glass of wine, anticipating fish for dinner, on a wet, cold evening - feeling very contented.

I left Kusadasi quite late today. I'd intended to catch the 9am bus but had credit card issues to resolve so, instead, skyped Westpac and sorted bank issue (I'd reached my credit limit!!), and then lingered over breakfast at the Airbnb pension with Bec and Glen from Melbourne. Bec is an AMES ESL teacher in Melbourne, and Glen a Commerce/ Economics lecturer - and a prolific poet. I met him on the terrace this morning (told him that was MY view he was enjoying) and learnt later that he was creating a poem at the time - oops. (When he shared his poem later I thought how intrusive and unwelcome my stupid little attempt at humour must have been. Oh well.....)

Finally left and walked to the otogar to catch the next (11.15am) bus to Denizli (35TL). There were serious roadworks in progress near the otogar and I found myself climbing over a low wall, walking along the shoulder of a major road, scaling another wall on the other side and scrambling down an embankment to the otogar. Not the suggested route, I'm sure, but very direct.

The bus arrived in Denizli at 4pm. I had some lentil soup at an otogar cafe (5TL) and was then directed downstairs to catch a dolmus to Pamukkale (3.5TL). Sandra, my Airbnb host in Kusadasi had recommended this place, the Venus Hotel, and I jumped off the bus when I saw it. For 90TL B&B, it is my nicest accommodation so far and the staff are very welcoming and helpful.

It was 5pm, so a bit too late to go and visit the site, but I went for a stroll and a reconnoitre, with my umbrella. Found a nice coffee shop at the entrance to the site and settled in happily with a coffee, formulating a plan for the next day. With luck, Rose arrived! She is a German retiree, living now in Turkey, near Antalya, and she was visiting Pamukkale with her Turkish partner. What a nice woman and what a pleasant hour I spent chatting with her. She told me I absolutely must visit Cappadocia, but that I should do it when I have time to stay a significant while. She visited once, and so much wanted the opportunity to live there, that it happened. She rented a fairy chimney house for 8 months, celebrating her good fortune every day. She has given me the contact number of the woman who owns the house and asked me to promise to let her know when I am there and she will come and visit. While we chatted, the rain stopped - rain is predicted for tomorrow, too, but I'm hoping for another little clear window.....

The Venus Hotel, Pamukkale

The Pamukkale site

 

Garden restaurant, Venus a Hotel

Dining room, Venus Hotel

Ok, with the new day, a new plan.... Instead of heading to Izmir and taking the ferry to Greece, I'm off to Capadoccia on the overnight bus. Yes! Airbnb booking made in a fairy-chimney house.

Spent some lovely hours at the Pamukkale site today. Arrived at about 9am, in the rain, with the idea of staying exactly as long as I wanted to, whether or not that meant staying another night in Pamukkale.

I was unprepared for Pamukkale and didn't realise I was visiting the ruins of a large, ancient city - the Hierapolis of Phrygia, which sat above the travertine terraces known as the "cotton castle". Italian archaeological teams have worked on preserving and reconstructing parts of the site. Wonderful. Some travel tips for visitors:

1) Stay overnight in the village of Pamukkale prior to your visit. Don't visit when you are tired as you need hours to see it all.

2) Take your togs because you can swim in a hot mineral pool at the top (for a fee on top of the 25TL entry fee), and you can also swim, for free, in the travertine terraces on the way down the hillside. (These are not so warm but are fed with channelled warm water from the top.

3) if you swim in the hot pool at the top, do it early, because the tour buses start to arrive at about 11am and then the queues for the change rooms and the toilets are very long.

4) Don't visit as a day trip from the coast because you'll spend 8 hours on the bus and get maybe 2 hours to visit the site.

For me, the rain soon eased off to a pleasant, companionable pitter patter on my umbrella, and by 11am had stopped. The ancient city remained draped in low cloud, however, adding theatrical atmosphere and suspense to the visit. Lovely!

I left the site at 2pm and decided it was too late to take a bus to Cesme on the coast. So, another night in Pamukkale? Or, why not an overnight bus to Capadoccia? That takes care of tonight's accommodation. Quickly checked on Airbnb, enquirer about a fairy-chimney cave house to stay in for a few days, and now it is all organised - except the bus. I now need to go in to Denizli and make sure I can get on a bus..... Excited by this spontaneous change of plan. (Thank you, Rose, for your inspiration!)

 

Overlooking Pamukkale

 

 

"Antique pool"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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