Pamukkale

Yesterday we reluctantly finished our blue cruise with a final swim and journey back to the harbor of Fethiye. Allie and I along with our new kiwi friend Franz next took a bus to Pamukkale, an inland town known for exactly two things: a startlingly white mountain and a city of ruins that sits atop it, hierapolis.

Because we arrived late in the day, our hotel manager kindly drove us to the top where we first explored the ruins. A highlight was a beautifully preserved roman amphitheater about 2000 years old and a walk down the main street leading into town. There are natural hot springs, so it has been a tourist town since inception. It had also been touted for the healing ability of the springs. There is, however, a large necropolis with hundreds of sarcophagi, ironically placing into question the true medicinal benefit of the springs.

Just as the sun was setting, we made our way to the cotton castle (the Turkish meaning of Pamukkale). The shocking white formation is from the spring waters super saturated with calcium carbonate, which leaves calcite deposits upon interacting with carbon dioxide in the air. Basically, it's a Tums mountain. The appearance is so weird. It looks like snow, but it is warm from the hot springs. We were fortunate to arrive late in the day because the tourist crowd had thinned out, and the sunset was beautiful against this bizarre backdrop.

A line of people marches down the path alongside travertine pools.

Playing in the pools. 

The walk was textured with layers of deposits, in some places hard and rather exfoliating and in others warm and soft.

Dancing against the sunset with reflection in the natural pools.