Pamukkale was once known as Hierapolis, a city of 75 thousand people. It featured a theatre that could accommodate 10 thousand people and hosted many visitors and dignitaries. The reason Hierapolis was special was its location: hydro-thermal activity led people to believe that the city was next to the gates of Hades; if they died here, they'd be closer to the gate and have a better chance of getting out. For this reason, Hierapolis had a rather large necropolis. Some of the tombs were marked with curses and Medusa reliefs to ward off robbers and intruders. Most tombs were built for several generations of a family and many were found with dozens (or even more than a hundred) of skeletons. There was also a special one built for the gladiators. The area is now known as Pamukkale, and it is both unique and beautiful. The 35 degree waters continue to flow and have resulted in pools and small waterfalls. I thoroughly enjoyed walking through them and admiring their striking colour. I took MANY photos at what has been added to the list of my favourite places. Unfortunately, we did need to leave and take a 3 hour mini-bus to Kusadesi... just not before another Efes beer and some pistachio icecream!
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After a nice breakfast, we transferred to the bus terminal and caught a bus to Denizli. It took over 3 hours to reach our destination, so when we arrived in Pamukkale, we chose to relax for the rest of the day.
The modern city of Demra was once known as Myra. En route to the Myra Archaeological Site, we passed a harbour mentioned in the Bible. The highlights of the ruins of Myra are the Roman theatre and the temple-like facades of the tombs carved into the rock cliffs behind it.
Aspendes features an incredible 15000 person theatre/arena designed by Zenon. Both the acoustics and the sightlines are great. We stopped to admire the old Roman aqueducts on our way to the Kursunlu Waterfalls where they were conducting a photoshoot for the Antalya Expo 2016. Yes I ate all of that today; no, that's not all that I ate today! We are discovering the many subtle differences in types of baklava... more research is required! We have tried varieties that are: flaky & dry, dense, saturated in honey, pistachio-filled, walnut-filled, chocolate, square, rolled, sugar-topped, coconut-topped...
We continued our exploration of Cappodocia today. We did a short 4km hike through the Ihlara Valley, stopping inside a small cave church and noting the many caves along the way. We also visited the underground city of Derinkuyu, where I travelled 8 stories and 68 metres below ground. It is believed that there were once 18 levels underground and that the complex could house up to ten thousand people. There's even an 8km tunnel linking Derinkuyu with the next town. We stopped at several viewpoints to see The Family of Fairy Chimneys, the site filmed for use in "Star Wars", and Pigeon Valley. Today we had a chicken casserole, Turkish (beef) meatballs, Turkish-style baklava (lots of pistachio), several varieties of delicious fresh Turkish Delight, and Turkish beer (Efes)... loving Turkey!!!
This month we worked like fools to complete two major projects (and several smaller tasks along the way) - erecting a fence around the backyard, and constructing a new cedar deck. The two projects required over 2250 screws! We continued to respond to emergency calls in our community and helped the Easter Bunny distribute chocolate eggs to the children of Honeymoon Bay. Lisa's mom, June, came to visit and helped get our Spring gardening underway, also planting two trees in our backyard. We spent a lovely evening with her enjoying dinner at Debbie and Shaun's home during her brief stay as well. It was nice to reconnect with several friends and some family members in a very short time while in the Lower Mainland before headed on our vacation. We were fortunate to win 6 tickets to the "When the Lights Go Down" tour featuring Chad Brownlee, Jess Moskaluke, and Bobby Wills and were pleased to be able to attend with Shaun and Debbie. We managed to sell the last pair for $50. We will spend the remainder of the month exploring Turkey, before returning to BC on May 6th.
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