Pamukkale/Ephesus, Turkey

Well Cappadocia marked my furthest destination from home and from this point on I am homeward bound once again. With Chris and Jess still in tow, the next stop was a 9 hour drive west to Pamukkale where we could take our pick from the numerous cheap guesthouses, campsites and hotels. Our choice was the excellent Hotel Dort Mevsim with it's good rooms, bargain camping garden (£3 a night!) and a swimming pool.

The main draw of Pamukkale is the white mineral Travertines formed in Limestone by the hot springs at the top of the hill. The water cascades down the slope as you walk up barefoot and it's busy with people wading through the pools of water which haven't dried up yet. It is a stunning place which has accommodated bathers for thousands of years but is now more of a prime photo opportunity.

At the top of the hill is the source of the spring, the Sacred Pool, which has been classified as a museum and developed into a series of spa-type pools. In the bottom of the water are a number of old roman pillars and stones which have been excavated from the surrounding Roman city (more on that in a moment).

It is relaxing, if a little crowded, but there is definitely something nice about sitting on top of a sunken Roman pillar in a bath of warm mineral water. It is meant to be great for your eyes and skin too ...apparently.

Above the Travertines and beside the spa pool lies the old Roman civilisation of Hierapolis. The wonderful stone ruins include the Basilica, a big graveyard of tombs and a few church buildings. For whatever reason though, there seems to be little interest in the majority of this old Roman city and it becomes a great place to stroll through and escape from the loud tourist hoards. The pick of the Hierapolis ruins though are the huge Ampitheatre and the well preserved Latrine.

One full day is probably enough to see Pamukkale and we were soon on the road again to Ephesus, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. After stopping for some food in nearby Selcuk, a nice town but of minimal interest, we ploughed on to the ruined site of the Greek/Roman metropolis.

While the remains on show are around 2000 years old, give or take, the settlement goes back to around 6000 BC and has seen plenty of action in that time too. It is amazing that some parts of the excavated site are as well preserved as they are.

Medusa, again.

While I could wander through the old streets all day, there are certainly two areas which stand out from the rest. The first is the huge theatre on the hillside, the scale of which can only really be judged from a distance as it can seat 25,000 people. The second is the stunning front of the Library of Celsus, complete with huge ornate pillars and sculptured panels. It really is one of the most striking sights I have seen on my trip.  

After Ephesus, it was time to find a place to stay for the night and we eventually decided to head south a few miles to the seaside town of Kusadasi. While we quickly found out the town is like a mix of Benidorm and TV series "The League of Gentlemen", we did find a good little campsite with little chalets and, again, a nice pool.

Despite the zombie-like grumpy staff of Yam Camping, we immediately befriended a bunch of nice people on the campsite. The most notable of these were a friendly bunch of retired card-playing cigar-smoking Turkish men who insisted on feeding us everything under the sun from hand-picked hazelnuts from their hometown to a big slice of watermelon to take away.

There was also a friendly touring Belgian couple as well as a British family in their own self-built monster of a campervan which they had been living in for 2 years - complete with tent on the roof!

Turkey has been a fantastic, diverse, friendly and hospitable place so it was sad to finally say my quick goodbyes to Chris and Jess at Izmir train station before I continued on alone again to Cesme to catch my ferry across to Greece. I may be on my way west again but there is still plenty of life left in the trip.