Sept 10, 2010 – Anatolia province, Turkey
We had breakfast at the hotel in Kusadasi and started out for our trip to Pamukkale. Our first stop though was at a spa with a special mud bath. Then we went to the ancient city of Heirapolis. On the way to Heirapolis, we stopped enroute to buy fresh and dried figs.
Figs of Turkey
We just couldn’t get enough of these utterly sweet figs ! “After notes” : Ever since tasting the figs in Turkey, we have bought only Turkish figs at the Dubai airport while transiting. They are the best tasting figs in the whole world. We bought a lot of figs at this roadside stall.
Ancient city of Heirapolis
Heirapolis is an ancient Greek city in Anatolia. These ruins have been declared as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The ruins are spread over a huge area. The ruins of the ancient city of Heirapolis is adjacent to Pamukkale.
Our next stop was Cleopatra’s bath :).
Pamukkale
The antique pool of Pamukkale – this pool is fed by the same hot springs. Legend says these are the same waters that Cleopatra once swam in ! Now of course there is a modern spa :). Read about Cleopatra’s Ancient Pool.
Pamukkale means “cotton castle” in Turkish language. There are several calcium rich hot water springs in this area and they leave white coloured deposits that look like cotton buds or snow, hence the name. This area has been a tourist attraction since the Roman times because of the thermal springs. Bathing in these springs is said to relieve several ailments.
Read more about Pamukkale.
We had Dana and Lourdes for company so ended up with great photographs like yesterday. Reliving the 2010 Turkey trip – Day 5, Ephesus
We took an evening flight back to Istanbul. We have a day trip to Gallipoli planned for tomorrow.
As I have mentioned in my earlier blogs, we usually travel in September. In 2010, we visited Turkey and just fell in love with the place. This year, the Pandemic has locked us down at home. So I decided to relive our Turkey trip day by day. We reached Istanbul on Sept 5th (Reliving the 2010 Turkey trip – Day 1). The first day of sightseeing was on Sept 6, 2010. Read about it @ Reliving the 2010 Turkey trip – Day 2.