I feel like the theme of the drive to Pamukkale, Pamukkale, and the drive back from Pamukkale is tractors. I feel like we got a glimpse into authentic, rural, agrarian Turkey. We didn't just take the main roads. Oh no, the shortest route to where we were going took us through all of these back road, country Turkish towns. Not that it would have made a difference. I have never seen so many tractors driving around in my life. Not even in Warrensburg, MO! Tractors drove on the highway. Tractors drove on the farms. Tractors drove on the small town roads. We even passed what I have decided was a tractor depot! Tractors parked on all sides of the roads AND driving on the town. My now TWO-tractor owning Dad would have loved this place.
Pamukkale itself is an interesting place. This location was Pallavi's sister's pick. Pamukkale is the site of an Ancient Roman spa town, set upon a cliff, with natural hot gas and water. Over a period of time, somehow, the water flowing off of the hill, has formed a series of calcium-deposit terraces with water pools. If you look up the site, it'll make more sense as to what it looks like. However, as one bypassing American tourist said: the fact that only a few and not all of these pools have water must be Turkey's best kept secret. There were a few pools that you could go in, and go in these people did!
Traditional Muslim head-covered women, would pull up their trouser legs to dip their legs in the cold water pools. European women would strip to their bikinis and sunbathe. Children would all try to play in the small fast-flowing water channel. One child even fell in! If there hadn't been another tourist, she would have been swept all of the way down the mountain in this narrow water channel. I, not realizing this was an accident, at first thought, water slide! That is why I'm sure I would not have made it long as a child in these kind of countries!
A local sweet owner of a restaurant we were at pointed us 6 kms nearby to the 'hot water.' Here is where we found all of the locals dipping their feet into the hot water pools. I swear it was like taking a bath! However, lots of people were drinking the hot water that was bubbling up. I can't help but think two things: 1) that can't be healthy, and 2) even if it were, how can you drink boiling water like that? I've tried drinking just hot water. It is not nice!
We made a call to drive Pallavi's parents back up to Istanbul rather than let them to their own devices. The whole aggressive drivers and driving on the other side of the road was getting to them. We switched our plan around a bit, but next stop, Istanbul.
Pamukkale itself is an interesting place. This location was Pallavi's sister's pick. Pamukkale is the site of an Ancient Roman spa town, set upon a cliff, with natural hot gas and water. Over a period of time, somehow, the water flowing off of the hill, has formed a series of calcium-deposit terraces with water pools. If you look up the site, it'll make more sense as to what it looks like. However, as one bypassing American tourist said: the fact that only a few and not all of these pools have water must be Turkey's best kept secret. There were a few pools that you could go in, and go in these people did!
Traditional Muslim head-covered women, would pull up their trouser legs to dip their legs in the cold water pools. European women would strip to their bikinis and sunbathe. Children would all try to play in the small fast-flowing water channel. One child even fell in! If there hadn't been another tourist, she would have been swept all of the way down the mountain in this narrow water channel. I, not realizing this was an accident, at first thought, water slide! That is why I'm sure I would not have made it long as a child in these kind of countries!
A local sweet owner of a restaurant we were at pointed us 6 kms nearby to the 'hot water.' Here is where we found all of the locals dipping their feet into the hot water pools. I swear it was like taking a bath! However, lots of people were drinking the hot water that was bubbling up. I can't help but think two things: 1) that can't be healthy, and 2) even if it were, how can you drink boiling water like that? I've tried drinking just hot water. It is not nice!
We made a call to drive Pallavi's parents back up to Istanbul rather than let them to their own devices. The whole aggressive drivers and driving on the other side of the road was getting to them. We switched our plan around a bit, but next stop, Istanbul.
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