Not in Istanbul: Pamukkale: A visit to the Cotton Castle

O.K. so it's a bit late, I just got the photos developed!

My friend Deena came to visit for a couple weeks. During this time, we went to Samos in Greece, Efes and Pamukkale. Since I've written about Efes already, and our adventures in Greece mostly consisted of might fight to avoid turning into a tomato and Deena's attempt to get a tan so she could return to work "looking like a Mediterranean goddess", I'll just write about Pamukkale.

Pamukkale (cotton tower) is not like it is in all the tourist brochures. It is still interesting but not stunning. Right now, visitors must make a temporary sacrifice for a better future. Until recently, the combination of hotels snagging the water for swimming pools and tourists bathing and running around on the calcium terraces did some serious damage and almost destroyed the park. Now there is a large scale project in progress, to restore the terraces. This involves several interesting features. The flow of the water over the terraces is controlled by a series of canals. The water is directed over one part of the cliffs for a couple days. Then, that part is allowed to dry while another part is irrigated. I asked a guard about the lack of water in many of the pools and he said they had to dry each area out to build up the calcium deposits which create the terraces.

The second part of the restoration attempt is that visitors are not allowed in the existing pools. I think the exception is a low pool at the base of the monument which is mostly a man made concrete terrace. Probably the most difficult rule to follow is the no shoe rule. This means if you enter Pamukkale by the town, you have about a mile to walk up somewhat painful mineral deposits... barefoot. Ouch!

At the top of the cliffs are the ruins of Heiropolis. Our first stop, after we put our shoes on our poor, blistered feet was the museum. It is a small museum but it gives some background information and has some interesting statues and artifacts. Behind the museum were some of the ruins.

Late May is a great time to see this area. The sky is bright blue and the ruins, and marble columns and statues are surrounded by flowers including fields of red poppies. There are also relatively few tourists. I think a lot of people didn't even realize there were accessible ruins behind the museum.

Across the parking lot from the museum is the last remaining hotel allowed to be open in the park area. It holds a serene hotspring pool surrounded by plants and filled with pieces from the ruins. We relaxed in the shady area next to the pool and had overpriced drinks. Behind the hotel there are the more important ruins including the Temple of Apollo and an amphitheatre. My fascination with weird morbid things sent me searching for the "Plutonium". The Plutonium is an arched entry way that leads to a dark pit. It has been blocked up by a large metal cage which partially covers a sign reading "Poisonous Gas". Inside the Plutonium is a spring which still emits poison gas.

Another hour's walk barefoot took us back down the cliffs to the town. We walked into one restaurant but there was no one there. Walking a little further we were invited by a big jolly man into his restaurant, Mustafa's. I looked at the menu and noticed a good selection of vegetarian foods. I ordered the vegetable kebab with rice and salad and Deena ordered stuffed eggplant. Our portly host said the vegi kebab was the best choice. It was 1,400,000 ($2.50) and consisted of a huge plate containing various vegetarian specialties: stuffed eggplant, pepper and squash, a vegetable pancake, beans in olive oil and a large serving of rice and salad. Our host, Mustaffa, scolded us for not trying his home brewed wine. "I make it with my own feet!" He told us. He also described his ideal woman, "big bums, big bellies and walks like a washing machine." He demonstrated how a washing machine walked: a heavy, swaying waddle. He is definitely doing his best to see that more women were reaching his standard of beauty. We were sure walking like washing machines after lunch there.

One last note, if you are in Turkey don't use the Pamukkale bus lines, they lie. Our bus back to Istanbul (11 hours) had neither the breakfast nor the toilet that they promised us. : (