PAMUKKALE
Disappearing wonder of nature
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Having visited Turkey many times, we still have never been able to get to Pamukkale, since this attraction is located in the depths of mainland Turkey, and the road there takes 5-6 hours one way, which means that a 2-3 hour visit to a natural miracle is required set aside 12 to 15 hours of your spa vacation. However, after reading an article last year that the sources that create the unique limestone travertines (overhanging pools with stalactites) began to deplete, we decided that there was nowhere to postpone further, and it is definitely necessary to visit this "Cotton Fortress" (this is how Pamukkale - translated from Turkish).
Getting up early, a cup of delicious Turkish coffee, getting free masks from the hotel, and now we are already meeting the sunrise, racing through the picturesque mountain gorges.
An intermediate stop in the city of Mugla. A huge shopping center has been built especially for passing tourists, where you can take a break from the road and have a snack. Only the prices in the cafe you will not find, apparently the cashier looking at you determines "by eye" your solvency and punches the amount that, in his opinion, you are able to pay 😉
Even if you find out the price of a product, as the young man who stood in line in front of us did, it still means nothing. He was told that a bottle of water costs 10 liras, he gave 20 and the cashier slowly counted out 8 liras for change 🤣🤣🤣 From the useful in this shopping center: next to the tables that are located at the walls there are sockets where you can quickly recharge during a stop your gadgets. And from a pleasant experience: a huge dog, bypasses the tables in anticipation of a treat, but does not beg, but just gracefully lies down next to him and patiently waits.
After enjoying the views of the Turkish mountains and valleys through the windows of the bus, we drove through the large city of Denizli, in the suburbs of which Pamukkale is located. But according to the hospitable tradition, it was impossible to take and not bring tourists to the onyx factory, where about half an hour was spent on information about how much happiness the new owners of this onyx product will bring, which we urgently need to purchase here 😂😂😂
Having escaped from the predatory clutches of the onyx sellers, we were in place in a few minutes.
A huge structure was built in front of the entrance, which serves as an awning, which is a very useful thing in such sunny weather as there.
Usually tourists are divided into three categories: those who love historical monuments, those who love natural beauty and those who like to swim. Pamukkale will offer you all these pleasures in a complex. Since there are simultaneously located: the ruins of the ancient city of Hierapolis, natural white travertines and the Cleopatra basin.
At the entrance to the historic site, guests are greeted by a map of Hierapolis. For some reason, the name on the map is translated as Hierapops, probably the translator liked to listen to Europops in the eighties (😊).
Buy a ticket at the box office, attach it to the validator at the turnstile, and oops, you are on the UNESCO World Heritage Site! 😉
Immediately behind the turnstiles, well-to-do and lazy tourists are waiting for golf cars, and we proudly pass by, because the required thousands of steps a day have not been canceled 😊
The entrance gate to Hierapolis, with its shape and stone laying, is very reminiscent of the buildings of the Mayan Indians, which we saw in Cozumel and Chichen Itza .
We begin our walk along the ancient Greek streets and admire the palm trees, which were not here during the heyday of Hieropolis - they were brought and planted by the Turks to please the guests of Pamukkale.
Five columns, which have been preserved with floor slabs, look very atmospheric.
The amphitheater with the white statue of Zeus deserves special attention in Hierapolis. Its capacity is estimated at 10-12,000 spectators. When building theaters, the proportion was used: 1 seat for every 4th inhabitant. This suggests that during its heyday, the population of Hierapolis was 40-50,000 inhabitants. The biblical story also touched on Hieropolis - one of the 12 apostles, Philip, preached here. Despite the fact that in his sermons Philip worked miracles and even resurrected two people, his speeches aroused great anger among the residents. And at the age of 87, for the spread of Christianity, he was crucified in Hieropolis upside down.
There is a historical museum on the territory of Hieropolis, but on Mondays it is closed, so we took photographs of amphorae for storing wine, grain and oil through the fence.
In one of the squares in the tourist area, there is a monument to a rooster. The city of Denizli, near which Pamukkale is located, respects roosters very much, since in ancient times these birds saved Denizli, as geese did Rome in their time. And no matter how strange the phrase "selfie with a rooster" sounds to our ears, out of respect for the Denizlivites, tourists are actively taking pictures with loud-voiced birds.
But opposite the monument to the cock, there is the entrance to the Antique pool, which bears the beautiful advertising name "Cleopatra's Pool". Advertising, because Mrs. Cleopatra, with all her desire, could not swim in it, since she died in 30 BC, and the pool appeared only in the 7th century AD, as a result of an earthquake. There is a cash dispenser to the right of the entrance to the baths, affectionately called Bankamatik 😉
Cleopatra's pool is beautifully decorated with fragments of columns from Hierapolis, and its temperature is very close to the human body (about 36 degrees Celsius).
Wikipedia reports that swimming in the pool costs 50 Turkish liras, which is approximately equal to 200 hryvnias, but both the guide and the guy at the entrance to the pool confidently collected 15 dollars from those wishing to plunge, which was more than 400 hryvnias per person. These are probably the same features of Turkish pricing as in the Mugla shopping center 😊
Let's make a reservation right away, we didn't swim in the pool, so as not to waste precious 2.5 hours of staying in Pamukkale. We just took a few pictures to convey to our readers the atmosphere of this place. The photos below are clickable:
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Leaving part of our group in the bath, we rushed to the destination of our journey - white travertines filled with water. They are formed due to the large amount of calcium in the flowing water. Calcium has settled on the slope of this hill for centuries, creating a bizarre landscape of white protruding balconies - travertine. Unfortunately, the volume of mineral waters today has decreased by five times, and although the local authorities are trying to preserve the famous landmark by pouring ordinary water on travertines, they still gradually dry up and collapse.
Of course, I had to have time to capture myself against the background of Pamukkale travertines 🤣🤣🤣
After walking a little along the travertines, we walked around the slope to the right, from where we managed to photograph Pamukkale through the pink oleander flowers.
Lime piles in some places reach a height of 5-6 meters and look like giant snowdrifts. It is worth mentioning separately that despite the white color of Pamukkale, the air temperature on the travertines on the day of our arrival was very high. That there is only information on the phone, that the street is now 36 degrees, but it feels like 47 (!!!).
It was very hot to walk on the slopes of Pamukkale. My phone was the first to give up - it wrote on the screen that it was "not ready to work at extreme temperatures" and switched off. The second half of the photos was taken with Natashin, who turned out to be more persistent. Why is there a phone, after an hour of walking along the snow-white hills, I also got a slight heat stroke. Feeling that something was wrong, I had to get our drinking water out of my backpack and water my head until I felt better.
Therefore, our main recommendation will be to protect ourselves from the bright sun, which shines mercilessly in Pamukkale in summer.
And then there will be my favorite photo from Pamukkale.
Agree that you need to have remarkable intuition in order to randomly choose a T-shirt for a trip to Pamukkale, which is ideal for the color of the water in travertines.
Everything is perfect in this photo 🤘🤘🤘
Another photo of travertine from a different angle will never be superfluous.
It's time to leave this miracle of nature. As parting, we photographed the valley below Pamukkale. You must agree that everyone has some kind of magic: dark mountains, green forests and meadows, blue sky and white-white "snow" on the slope.
Before leaving, we hid in the shade of a small park organized near the entrance to Pamukkale and watched with sympathy as a young man, apparently traveling with his cat, walked with him along the travertines. It was hard to imagine what the poor fluffy little animal felt at +47.
On the way back to the bus, another selfie was taken with the amphitheater. And it was done not for the sake of the amphitheater, but to remember your state, when it seems that soon you will just boil
We got on an air-conditioned bus and after a couple of minutes we were bored of this extraordinary place on earth. We envy with "white" envy those who have yet to get acquainted with the white "Cotton Fortress". Be sure to travel!
At the very exit from Hieropolis, we wanted to shoot a couple more shots of ancient ruins, which was done.
But the Turks would not be Turks if, after all our tests, we "accidentally" did not get to a fashion show at a leather goods store 😁😁😁 Under beautiful music, young guys and girls famously put on various samples of outerwear created by light industry Turkish Republic.
After their enchanting performance, most of the spectators went to the trade halls, and we mischievously walked up this impromptu "red" carpet wearing masks.
We photographed our beach club from the water so that you could get an idea of its appearance and morning crowding. After riding a pedalo, we sunbathed for a couple more hours and decided not to wait for the return evening transfer, but went back to the city on our own. We had to walk for 30-40 minutes, we admired the surrounding landscapes and tasted the most delicious ice-cold blackberry juice, which was sold by an enterprising local resident by the road.
The only thing you can't miss during your holiday in Oludeniz is the sunsets. Ships returning from daytime passages line up at the roadstead, a record number of paragliders take off from Mount Babadag at this time, the sun gradually sets behind the mountains, and a momentary feeling of happiness hangs in the air.
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