Sunday, November 2, 2014

Pamukkale travertines

These saucer-shaped travertines, or terraces as they're sometimes called, wind sideways down the mountain, the blue of the pools a startling contrast to the blinding white calcite covered mountain.

These pools are directly below Hierapolis and the way back down to town goes through them. After the relative quiet and seclusion of the ruins, the crowds were a surprise but the pools are the main attraction for most visitors. You have to take your shoes off to protect the calcite surface but the water is warm and it isn't slippery. It was raining pretty steadily by then but Sam got right into the water and I contented myself with watching under the shelter of a tree.

Pretty soon the rain stopped and the sun poked through giving a lovely sunset and golden light to the mountain and the ruins.

It was getting dark so we made our way down the mountain and back to the hotel for another of Hassan's tasty dinners complete with mushrooms that he'd gathered in the forest by his farm and complimentary Turkish wine.

 

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