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TNBT: The Cotton Castle.

Day 5. We woke up feeling great after a wonderful night of rest on the bed. Breakfast was served at the roof top.

The weather was fine, the air was fresh, our fascination with the ends of the french loaves continued. The crew of the hotel must have noticed that too. He brought out another basket of bread consisting of the ends only. Ha ha.

The bus to Pamukkale, en route Denizli came at nine before we finished breakfast and we had to make a dash for it -
formula for small dramas.

I sat beside a friendly gentleman in suit on the bus. He initiated a conversation with me. I guessed he might be a businessman or the "big boss" from the way he spoke and the way the bus steward served him. He borrowed my guidebook to introduced a place which he said is really beautiful and we should visit. He was also impressed with the size of KC-XTT's Samsung handphone and offered to buy it. Ha ha...

During a stop at a bus station for toilet break, I found something extra in my pocket as I searched for coins - the hotel room key!!
Die lah, must make a trip back to Selçuk!

Back on the bus, I tried to ask the gentleman if he is from Selçuk or would be going back. He was quite puzzled that I asked him that. It was when I showed him they key that he realised I wanted to ask him help me return the key. He gladly agreed! It turned out he is the uncle of the hotel owner. What a coincidence!

The rest of the short bus ride went on without any surprise. We reached Pamukkale, a small town 19km north of Denizli, before lunchtime. The tour agencies at Pamukkale offered good price for tour packages and balloon rides in Cappadocia.

We had our familiar kebals for lunch before walking up the hill aka Cotton Castle.


Pamukkale is a natural site which has centuries-long reputation of a spa town. Effects from plate tectonic movements gave left thick white layers of limestone and travertine cascading down the mountain slope resembling a frozen waterfall.

Another panorama courtesy of KC-XTT. She's good at it. :) Click for better resolution photo.


The Romans had first built a large spa city,
Hierapolis, to take advantage of the water's curative powers. However, due to the tourist boom in the 1980s and 1990s, the travertines are mostly dry, dull and dirtied. What we saw was worlds apart from the pictures in guide books where tourists dipped in the pools. Nevertheless, it was still an amazing sight.

We could see little "carrots" stuck to the ground at the top of the hill.


In order to keep the Cotton Castle in its pristine condition, no footwear is allowed.

The ground was icy cold as it was the beginning of winter. We soon got used to the temperature but not the prickly limestone pebbles.

With the socks and shoes off, our feet "fall-in" together once again!

Slowly and steadily we made our way up the travertines, stopping every few seconds for photos. =)



As we reached the near the top of the hill, we finally saw puddles of water. Where were the hot springs?? I kicked up some bubbles in the water!


There were some tourists at the top. A man offering to take photos for them with their feet in the "hot spring" for a fee. He had quite a few dogs running around. The scenery was more beautiful from the top...



It is true, beautiful flowers grow everywhere in Turkey, including roses...


We walked along the wooden sidewalks of the travertines, towards Hierapolis. The scenery was heavenly...



Only to be brought back to reality by rubbish?

The ruins of Hierapolis spread over a wide area. It was founded around 190 BC by Eumenes II, King of Pergamun, as a cure centre that prospered under the Romans and even more under the Byzantines. However, the locals moved away after recurrent earthquakes. If we had not been to Ephesus prior to this, we would have been very impressed with Hierapolis.



Unique floral in Heirapolis.

The Necropolis extended several kilometres to the North. There were many tombs in all shapes and sizes.

The Basilica Baths was constructed at the beginning of 3rd century A.D. This building was converted into a church in the 6th century A.D. It had vaulted ceilings and the halls were decorated with marble slabs.


The North Byzantine Gates form part of the fortification of Hierapolis constructed in the 4th century A.D. Built of reused material from the demolition of the Agora, it is flanked by two square towers. Christian symbols decorate the arch as a way to ward off evil.

A view of the Nymphaeum and the Roman Theatre in the far end.




发发 at the top of the hill near the entrance to the theatre.

By the time we were done with the theatre, it was really dark. We must had been the only tourists left on Hierapolis. There was no more shuttle bus down. So we had to make our way down we we came up.

We took out our torches. Unfortunately, my first few steps led us into the "hot spring". Ha ha... It worked better that I looked over their backs with my bright torch, with KC-XTT providing entertainment with her... erm... "Doremon Torch". :p Hee hee. We had fun with our shadows. 发发 did a great job to capture them with his camera. I wonder if anyone had saw us from the village!

Kneeling down to the supreme ladies... we slowly made our way down hill.

Perhaps due to the off-peak tourist season, the village was really quiet and most of the shops were closed. Only our furry kitty friend followed us around. :p Then at the foot of the hill, we met a local. He asked where did we come from. One of us, who was really bored with that question, cheekily replied that we were from Hong Kong. Before we knew it, he was sprouting lotsa Cantonese which most of us couldn't understand! Ha ha. A classic lesson for never to tell lies.

After some short exchange, he must had known we were lying. Especially when one of us told him that we lived in 中环 (Hong Kong Central Business District). :p He started to speak to us in English again. =) His brother has a Turkish restaurant in Hong Kong, so he has lived there for several years. He gave us a name card and recommended us to visit it when we go back "home". Ha ha. But before he left, he also recommended another nice Japanese/Korean restaurant at the end of the road.

That was where we met Ms
Noriko-San! She is a Japanese who is married to Turkey. She had met her husband while buying bus tickets at his agency. How romantic! After married, as she was bored and was really good at cooking, her husband turned half of the agency into a restaurant. How sweet! Noriko-San also have a really pretty sister-in-law which caught the eye of one of us. Ha ha.

I had bibimbap!

Tada!

The one with such creative sense is none other than Stitchy-Sop! Er... its a fish if you can't tell.

And who had this?

Noriko-san talked with us, and let us stayed in her warm restaurant as we waited for our bus. She had this giant heater which glowed in red light, and we felt like being grilled in the oven. Hee hee. She also gave us a little game to kill our time.

After we filled ourselves with the wonderful home-cooked food, we took the bus to Denizli bus station for a overnight bus ride to
Cappadocia. Someone said that one day he would be back for Noriko-San's sister-in-law. :p

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