September 22, 1996

The town of Pamukkale isn't very interesting. It's streets are filled with camping grounds, hotels, souvenir stalls and carpet shops. It's not on the coast so there are no fabulous beaches, and it's not conveniently situated off of a main highway. But the buses poor in. What brings them are the pools; the tiers upon tiers of dripping mineral pools.

We arrived at the hottest time of the day. A dip in a pool was exactly what we needed. But we had to sweat for the experience. First a climb to the top of the 110 meter chalky white cliff. The water filling the natural terraces and basins is volcanic spring water. It has crystallized into curtains of frothy white and hangs suspended between the pools; a very impressive sight. It would be even more impressive if thousands of people weren't crawling between them. Signs at the top said to remove your shoes and 'do not smoke' on the terraces. Unfortunately that didn't stop so many people from feeling they were the exception. We noticed black scuff marks and cigarette butts everywhere on the white mineral deposits. We found ourselves a spot free of debris and stepped into a murky white pool. The water was cool and refreshing. It is said to cure rheumatism and other ills and I tried to envision all my aches and pains vanishing as I soaked. Maybe it's all in the mind but I felt theraputicized upon leaving (and a lot whiter).

We spent the rest of the day back in town walking between carpet shops. Hana and Craig found one they couldn't live without and the next morning went back to claim it as their own. Then we pushed off away from Pamukkale toward the Aegean Sea.