Pamukkale

Pulling up on the side of the highway at 6 am and being told to get off the bus and to a waiting unmarked minivan can be quite disconcerning. Luckily I was with 6 other people in the same boat. I had met Mirjam from Lichtenstein the night before and we looked at each other warily as we drove on, supposedly towards Pamukkale. The passenger turned around as we neared a town and told us we could come to his shop and book tours and tickets with him. Hmmmm....I'm pretty sure this wasn't the regular shuttle from the Denizli bus station. The guy seemed really shady and I asked about booking my ticket back to Istanbul that night but didn't feel good about it. I decided to book with someone else and left with Mirjam to go to her hostel. The man at the front desk of the pension was very accommodating and offered for me to leave my bag with him. Since I only had an overnight bag and had left my backpack in Istanbul I declined. We had breakfast and then started off to see the famous salt calcification that turns the Pamukkale hillside white like snow. On our way, I saw a sign for bus tickets and bought one on a "business class" bus with a shuttle from Pamukkale and also to the area where my hostel is in Istanbul. What a sweet deal!

The white rock came in to view but looks so much like snow you don't really think about how special it is. You aren't allowed to walk on it with shoes so when we got to the bottom we took off our shoes and socks and rolled up our pants. The first step revealed the rock wasn't that cold, though the water flowing over it was cool, and it was hard. It was a little difficult at some parts as small pebbles and sharp edges roughed up my feet. But then I saw the pools and it was amazing. Besides, just walking in water was a neat experience in winter. The views were amazing as the area was covered in some fog and the sun fought to break through. At the top, we wandered through Greek ruins and were kept company by 3 dogs who followed us around. The white rock spills down the hillside on all sides that we could see and the pool formations, though mostly dry, were so cool. After a couple of hours we came to the Antique Pool which contains mineral waters that are good for many ailments. Cleopatra is rumoured to have swam in its waters and came out feeling 20 years younger. The bottom of the pool contains the ruins of some columns and the water is crystal clear. We decided to have a bite to eat before going in and some cats helped us finish our crumbs.......they climbed right up into our laps and on the table so not much choice in the matter. The water was exquisite and we weren't cold at all. However, tourists thought we were crazy and took our picture as we sat amidst the ruins. The bottom of the pool is gravl and trees surround it so it felt like sitting in nature, After what seemed like hours we decided to leave and hurridly got dressed as the change rooms and bathrooms were unheated. We walked back down the hillside barefoot, enjoying the massage on our feet, before relaxing beside a pond at the base of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. We chatted and enjoyed the sun warming our backs as ducks swam nearby. Finally, we decided to walk to see if we could find the paragliders that were floating down from the hills. On the way we saw a poor camel who was muzzled as she likes to bite (and I don't blame her). I bought some apricots and we turned back towards the tiny village. Again, we ran into Saas and he wandered around with us for an hour before heading to catch his own overnight bus. Mirjam and I stopped and had a terrible dinner of Lamuchan, which I was sure would send me to the toilets, before I caught my own shuttle bus. It turns out the shuttle bus is also used by the locals and one of the Korean girls that was going with me was pulled into the lap of an old woman because there was standing room only. The poor girl took it well and moved as soon as a seat became free. The old Turkish woman had a death grip on her though while they shared her seat. We arrived at the station and found our bus where I was placed next to a woman and her son. If he had been 2 or so it would have been fine but he was much too big to be sharing with his mother. I asked for a new seat and after 4 men and a phone call finally got a seat on my own. We arrived in Istanbul around 7 am and were told (big surprise) that there was no shuttle. Actually the guy working at the desk of the bus company burst into laughter. Although they did arrange something. After waiting an hour and a half we were put on a bus and sent to another bus station. From there we waited another half an hour and were put in a shuttle. The shuttle dropped us off at a tram station where we only (thankfully) needed to go 3 stations. All in all though this ordeal took over 3 hours. Yuk! I'm so glad tere were 4 other people with me through this ordeal.

I loved Pamukkale but was glad to get back to Istanbul. The small towns are desperate for tourists and chase you down to have you use their business, whatever it is.