Trip to Pamukkule

Today it was the much expected Pamukkule trip! Our day started really early, at about 8 am in our usual meeting point, Bornova Metro Station. We were presented with a breakfast treat - delightful turkish bread, juice and of course Rebdull from our sponsors.

The bus ride was 4 hours long for 250 km - mainly because the driver decided to skip the highways and go through the national road which has lots of traffic lights. Thanks for that.

The white mountains in Pamukkale contrasting with the luxuriant vegetation at the bottom

When we arrived to Pamukkule we ate lunch in an all-you-can-eat buffet for 8 liras, which is less than 4 €uro. The drinks were paid separately and in €uro, but that's why I have a bag full of free water bottles inside. Of course they didn't had fish - lucky me. 

After that, about 3pm, we finally went to Pamukkule. My bad mood due to the lack of fish rapidly  vanished once I knew the entrance was free for EGE students. Pamukkale literally means "cotton castle" in Turkish because of the beautifull white natural pools made of travertine. On the top of the hill there is an ancient Greco-Roman city named Hierapolis (meaning "Sacred City") much like Ephesus, and the whole complex is called Hierapolis-Pamukkale.The beauty of the place is astonishing, as you can see from the photographs, and it was declared as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. As any touristic area, Pamukkale is filled with... tourists! You hear more japanese than english or even turkish.

The calcium carbonate turns in to travertine. All of these strange shapes are molded by water as the centuries pass.

The amazing landscape seen from hill's peak

The pools had an amazing view through the whole valley. Being in a natural hot warmed pool with a magnificent view, with all our new friends on the end of September was something I can only describe as being legen... wait for it... dary. We all went into a mud fight - the bottom of the pools is filled with a mud-like calcium carbonate material. The smell wasn't the best thing I've ever experienced but it was just a small detail.

You can spend hours in the heated water - if you don't mind the calcium carbonate of course.

Being almost time to go home, me and 2 friends went out of the pools (that took a lot of willpower, believe me) and tried to see a bit of Hieropolis. The beauty of the landscape stroke again and we were lost in an flabbergasting sunset and didn't see anything. We were so hypnotised we got late - 1 hour late to be more precise. The ESN guys weren't very happy with us since all of them had to wait, but if I didn't get late I wouldn't be a real Portuguese - that's a taste of my culture right there!

Part of the Hieropolis landscape

Amazing view at the end of the afternoon from Hieropolis - you see why we got late

In a nutshell, if you have the chance to go to Pamukkale don't hesitate and go!