30.3.12

Day 2: Cotton Castles in Parmukkale

Waking up to the Aegean sea at our doorstep was splendid. A pity that the weather was still chilly.


Aegean sea


Breakfast buffet


A long bus ride to Parmukkale and half the time, I was asleep. Nonetheless, we reached the cotton castles!


Cotton castles in Parmukkale


Clearly, these white deposits ain't cotton but they do resemble cotton piles from far. They were a pretty sight particularly with the sky blue water puddles. Some travertine are allowed for tourists and there is a story about an ugly woman who turned beautiful and married a king. While such tale was hard to believe, we sure had fun walking in those pools.


Hierapolis


By the travertine is Hierapolis, an ancient city. Set against the beautiful landscape and under the great lighting, we took plenty of photos. Of course, being students, punctuality can be an issue and we were the last to return to our tour group. Oh well...


Lunch buffet with nothing special


Onyx


After lunch, we set off for the onyx factory where we learnt about different types of onyx and the processing techniques. No doubt the stones were beautiful but they were too taxing on my wallet. Then, it's a long ride back to our hotel.


Sunset over the Aegean sea


By the time we reached the hotel, it was evening. We just had enough time to capture the lovely sunset over the Aegean sea. It's simply amazing.


Exploring Kusadasi


Without our tour guide, we explored the hotel's vicinity. It was rather quiet. Perhaps the locals were praying or it wasn't tourist season. After walking about, we settled for dinner of kebabs.






Pigeon house


Roadside store selling stuffed mussels


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