Glamour in Pamukkale

The salt travertines and cascading terraces 

The curious pursuits of tourists

It was with a twinge of sadness that we packed our bags and headed on from Cappadocia. Our two-and-a-half days there (significantly more than most tourists) had been amazing and jam packed, but we honestly felt like another week would have been ideal to continue exploring the vast and beautiful region.

But alas, time waits for no traveler.

Not to worry though, we had another exciting destination to head to…Pamukkale.

Pamukkale is best known for its hot springs and salt travertines. The flowing water has created champagne-waterfall style terraces of small pools down the side of a mountain. The high salt content in the water has left the side of the mountain completely white, and has created a clay-like residue on the floor of the pools that is reputed to have special healing properties. The overall effect is quite stunning, creating a beautiful scene when set against the blue sky.

We walked up the side of the mountain – as people have been doing since the 2nd century BC – and sat in the bum prints of the ancient Romans by bathing in the naturally warm pools.

One modern phenomenon that we found highly amusing, entertaining and a tad curious was tourists of all ages, ethnicities, shapes and sizes getting glammed up and having their other halves take sexy photos of them posing in the pools, often after having first smeared clay all over themselves.

It was genuinely strange.  

We couldn’t resist the temptation of having a go ourselves….although the photos are going to stay safely housed  on our hard drive and will not be venturing anywhere near the blog. You’ll just have to use your imaginations!