Pamukkale

Pamukkale was possibly my favorite of the places I visited during 3 months in Turkey. It’s stunningly beautiful, with the white mineral cliffs, the travertines, the towering mountains on the horizon, and the ancient tombs and theatre at the top. There is a hot spring at the the top full of discarded Roman columns and such, which is fun, and on the way up there are several places where you can wade in the warm water and feel the weird white mud between your toes. The old travertines are strictly off-limits now, but they have actually done a great job with the fake ones that they built for tourists to splash around in without doing any damage.

It is no wonder that people formed a city – Hierapolis before these natural features….now if the Germans will stop bathing in the water….looks like the water has been diverted to strengthen the basins. May the water flow some time once again.

It is like a mountain of white.

I just heard of this: what a fascinating natural formation! Apparently, “pamukkale” means “cotton castle” in Turkish. The Wikipedia entry about these limestone-encrusted hotsprings is here.

I’ve been here some years ago. It’s nice there, but unfortunately they are ruinig it.. every restaurant and hotel is putting their dirty water into the terasses… at least it was this way when i was there.. so it might not long exist anymore.

The many, many terraces, filled with improbably turquoise mineral-rich water, are framed with white mineral deposits. At sunset, the whole terraced hillside becomes this vast stained-glass window combining the colors of the water and sky. Unforgettably beautiful.