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Wednesday
We left our Kusadasi hotel early and stopped first at a leather factory and then a ceramics workshop. Despite endless choice I finally settled for a small bowl.
Our next stop was Pammunkale where we had lunch and then ventured up the hill into remains of the city of Hierapolis. It was a resort town built due to the calcium springs and the healing properties of the waters. After walking through the necropolis (city of the dead) in oppressive heat, we arrived at what remains of the modern resort hotels that were bulldozed when the calcium terraces were listed by UNESCO due to the damage that was being caused. We cooled down with our feet in the water and made our way to the baths which were incredibly tacky and full of sunburnt Russians!! The calcium terraces themselves are a series of mad man levels over which water rich in calcium flows and deposits layers of white calcium on the rocks. They stretch down the side of the hill and are incredibly beautiful.
We then, sadly, had to farewell our tour group who were continuing on for a 14 day tour. In the city of Denizili we were dropped at the Otogar (bus stop) and boarded a local intercity bus. A luxury coach complete with tvs, wifi and an attendant, we were once again blown away by Turkish hospitality-a fellow passenger offered around cupcakes and cookies. 5 hours later we arrived a Egirdir, a small town on the shore of a lake of the same name, and we met by Mr Ibrahim, the owner of the hostel we were staying in. He welcomed us with apple tea (a Turkish tradition) and we went to sleep to the sound of lapping water.
Thursday
We got up and breakfasted overlooking Lake Egirdir. A freshwater lake, it is the 4th largest in Turkey with a circumference of 170km. Our breakfast was the best we had had so far, as well as the traditional bread, tomato, cucumber, egg and white cheese (feta), we also received walnuts, dried fruit and olives. After eating we went for a work through the town, a smallish fishing village that doesn't really cater for tourists. We were able to wander through the local Thursday markets full of fresh produce and household goods.
At lunchtime we boarded a 7 hour bus to Nevsehir where we were met by Cat, our new tour leader and taken to our hostel in Goreme. Now in the heart of Cappadocia, our hostel and many other buildings, were carved into the volcanic rock formations. We dined on 'pottery kebabs'-meat and veg cooked in a terracotta pot that is sealed with bread and broken open before eating. A couple of hours in a Turkish bath followed where we received a mud mask, sauna, loofah, lather, massage and spa. Very clean and relaxed we went to bed.
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