Pools of Pamukkale and the ruins of Hierapolis

Blindingly white tea-cup shaped natural pools, overflowing with light blue water, all set on a hillside adorn Turkey's tourist brochures and even the walls of many local kebab restaurants around the world, all of these surreal images coming from the small town of Pamukkale in the central Southeast part of the country. Despite knowing that I'd be in the company of a few other tour groups, I couldn't miss this amazing natural attraction. I warily boarded a direct minibus from Selçuk/Ephesus, never really trusting those working in the tourist sectors of these popular cities. As luck would have it, I found myself seated next to an English-speaking Turkish tour guide who also happened to be the same guy I saw arguing with my minibus driver a day earlier. Embarrassed by the incident, he explained what had happened and also gave me some great advice on sights to see in the rest of the country. Heading inland from the West coast area, we passed into some more forested areas, still surrounded by random mountains popping up here and there in the distance, and we also passed through a few small towns consisting of one or two main road lined with old stone houses and women sitting along the curb, giving the area a nice rural, Eastern European feel.

When I arrived in Pamukkale after the 3 hour ride, I looked for a hotel which had been recommended to me at my previous stop, finding that the bus stop in the tiny town was literally across the narrow street from my intended accommodation, so I dropped off my bags with the friendly, multilingual owner and headed out for the afternoon. Just a few steps up the hill on the main road, there was a lake and a tiny grass park, looking straight at the main attraction of the area, the pools of Pamukkale. The huge hillside is covered in bright white, creating a completely unnatural look to the area. The formation is the result of calcium carbonate deposits in the water, flowing over the hillside and hardening, some of them forming travertine pools shaped like huge tea cups, about the size of a residential swimming pool, with a row of white stalactites hanging down from the bottom of the pools to the edge of the hillside below. The pools are filled with a beautiful light blue water that also flows down the hillside, though there has actually been some controversy as the pools have been alternately filled and emptied from time to time to help clean them out to avoid damage from the influx of tourists in recent years.

As I climbed the somewhat steep path angling up the white hillside, I was whistled at by a guard to remove my shoes, as I had missed the sign on the way up. The white walkway was covered in tiny ridges formed by the hardening minerals, along with many painful pebbles and flowing water, making it not the most comfortable barefoot trek up the hill. However, the spectacular set of about ten pools clinging to the hillside more than made up for the discomfort. Seeing them before in pictures, I didn't know what to actually expect, but I found a group of mostly circular pools hanging together in the vast white gradient, warmed by the somewhat hot water flowing down over the hill in a scenic little cascade. People posed and played in the water, constantly being whistled down by the guards as they got too close to the pools or the steep edges of the structure above a drop of a few hundred feet. Based on old pictures I've seen, people used to be able to swim in the actual pools, but for both safety and preservation reasons, I was glad to see that this is no longer the case. Instead there are a few artificial pools created alongside the path up the hill, in addition to one massive pool at the top of the hill, charging a good bit for visitors to take a refreshing break in the water.

In addition to the incredible pools, the hilltop is also the site of the ruins of Hierapolis, another ancient city founded around 190 BC, eventually abandoned in 1334 after a series of earthquakes. For being a secondary attraction in this small town, these ruins were again impressive, though after Ephesus and Pergamum, they weren't quite on the same scale, though pretty close. Walking under the hot sun, I passed by ancient tombs and housing structures, again finding my way to the huge theater, usually the most impressive site as these ruins. As you'd expect, there were empty archways, columns lining marble walkways and everything you'd want from a site of ruins from those times, though I also enjoyed the view on a nice shaded bench near the edge of the steep hillside, basking in the cooling winds coming up the side of the mountain.

Heading back down, I spent some more time gazing at the surreal pools, watching the sun finally set over the horizon as the pools finally grew darker and darker, flanked by a few lovely strands of bougainvillea flowers and less and less people. As with Ephesus, the place almost cleared out by dusk, allowing me to relax and enjoy the beauty and solitude all together. Climbing back down the hillside, I cringed with each step on the painful pebbles, eventually meeting up with a pair of Japanese girls for whom I had taken a picture earlier, sharing in my pain. They turned out to be flight attendants from Tokyo, and they joined me for dinner at my hostel before heading off for the night. I also met a group of three travellers from Spain and Italy, and I recommended my hostel to them, so between the two dinners and three beds that I conjured up for my guesthouse, I felt like I was almost due some sort of commission. Then again, it's such a small town, that there really aren't all that many choices.

(From the small town of Pamukkale, you get a glimpse of the hillside covered in white, all a result of hardened calcium deposits flowing over the huge hill.)

(One of the most popular images on Turkish tourism brochures, the travertine pools of Pamukkale are truly unique and beautiful.)

(As you can see, the line of tourists climbing up the hill in the background means that this place is certainly not undiscovered. Climbing up that hill was slightly painful, as you have to take off your shoes and walk up hill on the calcium ridges and among pebbles digging into your feet.)

(And if the amazing white pools weren't enough, there's another set of ancient Roman ruins, Hierapolis, sitting on top of the hill overlooking the area.)

(As usual, the theater was the most impressive piece of the ruins, showing how massive these cities must have been. It was also getting pretty hot, but unfortunately these theaters weren't air conditioned. They really weren't all that advanced after all.)

(The water flowing over the hillside eventually formed these calcium carbonate pools, filling with the beautiful water before overflowing and continuing on its way down the hill below.)

(Staying until later in the afternoon, the tour groups began to disperse, and the whistle-toting security guards were less active, allowing me to soak in the amazing sights...though I couldn't actually soak in the pools, as that's not allowed anymore, partially for keeping the pools pristine and probably moreso for preventing idiots from falling over the side and to a painful death rolling down the rocky hill below.)

(These pools are each about the size of a regular, residential swimming pool, though I really don't know how deep.)

(The sun began setting, and a few people were hoping to catch a shot of the sun setting over the pools, but with the direction of the sun, that was not even close to being possible, so I think it was the wrong season for that. Here you can also see a bit of the cascade coming over the hill and feeding the pools.)

(Along the outside edges of the pools, stalactites hang down like icicles, connecting to the pools and hillside below.)

(After the sun set, I gingerly walked back down the hill, stopping in one of the artificial pools dug into the hillside for a break.)