Tuz Gölü – Salt Lake

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On our way from Ankara to Cappadocia we stopped at the shore of a large lake. It looked extraordinary. It seemed to go into infinity, as its farthest edges were blending with the sky, and its surface was beautiful pale sparkling blue, serene and clear as a mirror.

Tuz Gölü

The shore was very shallow, and the average depth of the lake is around half a metre. Of course I wanted to paddle in the lake. We took off our shoes and walked towards the water. At first we walked on the soft wet sand. Just at the borderline of the water the sand turned into a bright white fine salt. The water was warm and the bottom of the lake was soft. As we paddled further, the salt started to become coarser and harder and sharper. The salt crystals became bigger the farther we walked. As it became quite hard for the soles of the feet, we turned back. I saw no flora or fauna in the lake, there were just bright white salt crystals at the bottom, but some day I hope to visit the islands on the lake where flamingos breed.

tuz gölü salt crystals

When our feet dried, a layer of white salt remained on them. I think if you stay in the water for a short while, it can be very good for the skin. My skin certainly felt very soft after I had the chance to wash the salt off hours later.

Nearby I also noticed a salt factory, there are three of them around this lake. Apparently over a half of the salt consumed in Turkey is collected from this very lake, the second largest lake in Turkey. A beautiful place.

tuz gölü salt lake

Pamukkale – The Cotton Fortress

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Recently we visited Pamukkale with my daughter as it was one of the places on her wish list. Indeed, many people who have seen pictures of this place (meaning Cotton Fortress in Turkish), want to see it with their own eyes and soak themselves in the white thermal water basins. After about three hours drive from Izmir Airport where we picked up my daughter, we arrived at Pamukkale soon after sunrise. The first visitors were already there, but the place was calm, and  we were greeted by birds singing in this fresh spring morning.

pamukkale waters

Pamukkale travertine terraces are white because of the thermal calcite-laden mineral waters cascading down the hill. The water coming from springs is always very warm, and people have enjoyed bathing in it for centuries. We, too, enjoyed paddling in the ankle deep warm pools and spring streams. Although visitors are usually dazzled by bright white terraces and naturally tend to gravitate to them, there is more to this place.

On top of the hill, just behind the water baths there are ruins of once magnificent city of Hierapolis, founded by Pergamon kings at the 2nd century BC. Its best days were at the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, the era of Roman Empire. We saw the ancient remains of man-made water-channels and pools which were used for therapeutic purposes already at that time. Hierapolis was also an important religious centre. We admired the beautiful masonry and artwork of the Apollo temple, theatre, and sizable acropolis – an ancient graveyard with colossal tombs where nowadays lizzards enjoy basking in the sunshine.

pamukkale poppies

If you decide to visit Pamukkale, I definitely recommend you to take a few steps further from the baths and walk among the ruins of the magnificent city of Hierapolis, surrounded by shady cypress trees and colourful poppy fields.

pamukkale