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DAY 10
Today we leave the Meditteranean area and drive to Pamukkale through the Taurus Mountains in a north westerly direction.
The high rise units we are driving past cost an average of $250,000TL in the Meditteranean area. Not surpring really considering the stunning views!
Some interesting facts given to us along the way......
Gambling in Turkey is illegal except for lotteries/horse racing which is run by the state.
When entering a Turkish home you are given slippers and expected to remove your shoes.
If you visit anyone and they serve tea with the tea bag still in the cup it is considered rude and will not be drunk.
Lemon cologne is given to guests to kill germs on their hands.
Formalities include asking guests how they are or how they feel, to which they respond they're good. Later on the wife will ask the same questions and then later on the guests will ask the hosts the same questions. Children must sit in a respectable manner amongst the adults.
Turkish coffee symbolizes friendship - 1 cup = 4 years of friendship.
After a toilet stop we stop for a visit at Cavdir (pronounced Chowder), a marketplace for textiles, fruit & veg, hardware etc. The men and women here wear baggy trousers to compliment the figure and cover the bulges! Looks much like Gepps Cross markets back home. I found an Adidas wallet spelt "Adldas", because they have two ways for writing "i's, both with different pronunciations.
Our lunch was at a local service station where we were entertained by a couple of goats. Funnily enough the front of the area featured statues of goats and a giraffe (which they don't have in Turkey), and if that wasn't enough animals, as we were leaving a pelican showed up as well :)
Ordering lunch turned out to be a challenge. I just wanted a plate of chips (called French fries here in English), but obviously not in Turkish. I thought he understood but when it came to paying I had ordered a hamburger and chips! Ha, tasted great though... and with a can of coke it turned out to be a cheap meal at roughly $4AU. Aleisha had a toasted cheese sandwich and a coke zero (with translation issues on the "zero" too).
Back on the bus and on the way to Hierapolis at Pamukkale. OMG it was damn hot when we arrived!!! (although Aleisha's description was more appropriate!). In Hellenistic times, the thermal springs made the city a popular spa. The nearby travertine terraces of Pamukkale would have to be my favourite site so far. The terraces form when water from the hot springs loses carbon dioxide as it flows down the slopes, leaving deposits of limestone. The layers of white calcium carbonate, built up in steps on the plateau, have earned the name Pamukkale (Cotton Castle). The terraces are now off-limits to visitors to protect them but an area is allocated to walk through. We did this and took some AMAZING photos. The rainbow effect through various areas was particularly beautiful.
Hierapolis was noted for it's textiles, particularly wool and founded in 190BC. It was greatly enlarged by the Romans. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in AD60 and was rebuilt and reached its peak in AD 196-215. It fell into decline in the 6th century, and the site became partially submerged by water and deposits of travertine. We took a shuttle bus up to the theatre, through varies spots on the map, and then all the way down to the graveyard (we opted not to walk due to the intense heat). So many tourists were walking around in bikinis which i thought to be rude (considering the traditions if the country they're in). An afternoon thunderstorm brought a welcoming drop in temperature shortly before our departure.
Only 10mins away, we entered our hotel, Lycus River Thermal & Spa Hotel just before the thunderstorm hit.
The hotel features an outdoor hot thermal pool of mud & sand. I had a look, but it looked really murky and unclean to me. I opted for the indoor spa instead, which was heavenly.
Dinner tonight was pretty average. The food was lukewarm and the rice was still crunchy. It seemed that every single guest room had been booked, and every single guest was in the restaurant at the same time!! The queue was ridiculous. I'm really tired of buffet food - looking forward to a home cooked meal right now, even if I have to cook it myself.
A few ladies from our group decided to have the fish spa experience after dinner. We followed them down for a look. You place your feet in a fish tank and tiny fish remove the dead skin tissue from your feet. At $35TL per person, I thought it was a little pricey, especially considering there wasn't a whole lot of fish in each tank. Still it did look very clean and the preparation was adequate to keep the hygiene level. I was going to give it a try but the possibility of spreading diseases etc is a concern to me. Still it was good for a laugh :)
Off to bed.... Up at 6am tomorrow.
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