Pamukkale, meaning “cotton castle” in Turkish, is an unreal landscape in western Turkey, famous for its white terraces. I was really looking forward to this part of our trip as we didn’t get an opportunity to visit the region last time we were in Turkey.

The terraces are made of travertine, a sedimentary rock deposited by water with a very high mineral content from the hot springs.  People have bathed in its pools for thousands of years. The ancient Greek city of Hierapolis was built on top of the hot springs by the kings of Pergamon. The ruins of the baths, temples and other Greek monuments can be seen at the site.

Even through the site was full of tourists it was still amazing to see in person.  Many areas of the travertines were closed off to tourists, and for the few areas that were open, tourists needed to take off their shoes. Both measures were taken in hopes of restoring Pamukkale to its former glory.

We were highly amused by watching Russian women attempt to shoot glamour shots of themselves with Pamukkale in the background. Every single woman, regardless of her age, seemed focused on taking her own suggestive self-portrait. It was hilarious!