Very first Erasmus trip to Pamukkale

My very first Erasmus trip starts with Pamukkale. We decided to go as a group: a Lithuanian, Italian, Swiss and German. We had begun planning this trip a week before we left Eskisehir. 

Planning the trip

First, we had to find a suitable hotel. Also, it is possible to do Couchsurfing; we did not think about that. It is great opportunity to save money and stay in your host's house. Our German girl was in charge of finding a suitable hotel for all of us. After some research, she found Sunrise Aya Hotel in the centre of Pamukkale. We decided to book two rooms and also with a discount. We paid 90 Turkish Lira for staying for two nights and also including breakfast. Next step was to find cheap bus tickets. However, it is not possible to go directly to Pamukkale with a bus. Firstly, you must go to Denizli and take a shuttle bus which is going to Pamukkale. We found a company which offers 2-way ticket for 80 Turkish Lira. We had to be in Eskisehir's bus station before the midnight. Why were we going so late? Because we thought it is the better time to travel by bus. Everything was planned already, and we just had to wait a little time to start our trip!

Travelling to Denizli

The distance between Eskisehir and Denizli is approximately 350 kilometres. The trip took little more than six hours because the bus was stopping at other city bus stations and we had some breaks. During the night you can sleep on the bus and take a rest. However, we did not do like that. We were speaking, playing brainstorming games and also I was watching movies with my Italian friend. This time, our bus company services were even better. During the trip, we drank much tea, biscuits, coffee and so many other things! If you are searching for which bus company you should travel to your destination, then make sure you find a good one. My favourite one is KamilKoc because of must to experience services. We were in Denizli approximately 5 in the morning. Like I mentioned before, to reach Pamukkale we had to take a shuttle bus. The first shuttle bus was leaving 7:20 in the morning from the bus station. We had some time, and we decided to take a little walk in Denizli.

We found one small restaurant that was already opened. The workers were preparing the food, and they suggested us to try gözleme with cheese and potatoes. It is also traditional Turkish food. It is possible to see how they are making in the restaurant. Mostly women are cooking this type of food. The food was tasty; later restaurant's chef even regaled us with few cups of Turkish tea. That restaurant was little far away from the bus station, so we decided to turn back and take the very first shuttle bus. 

Finally, our time in Pamukkale is starting!

The trip from Denizli to Pamukkale did not take a long time. It was approximately half an hour to reach it with shuttle bus. The shuttle bus driver noticed that we are foreigners and could not speak in Turkish language, so he took us to the Tourism Information Center of Pamukkale. The weather was not enjoyable; it was raining heavily, and the wind was blowing too strongly. A worker at the tourism information centre saw us and told us to come in because we can be all wet in no time. He also offered us a cup of tea for each of us. While we were drinking tea, he was suggesting which places we should visit. It was his first time when he met Erasmus students. In addition to this, he was speaking in English more fluently than us.

Reaching the Sunrise Aya Hotel

The worker of Tourism Information Center wanted us to help to teach the hotel so he called his friend. He explained to us that his friend is also a shuttle bus driver and all we had to was to wait a little time. When his friend drove near the Tourism Information Center, we rapidly stepped in it. He drove us straightly to the hotel. We saw that hotel was empty, and we were ringing the bell for 20 minutes. When the hotel manager showed up himself, he explained that he was in deep sleep. The manager told us to wait little time because the hotel rooms were not ready yet. He explained to us that the tourist season started just the day we came, and the hotel was closed. During the time we were drinking Turkish tea in the lobby and our Swiss friend was playing Hawaiian guitar. 

Finally, our rooms are ready, and we can start visiting Pamukkale!

When we went out from the Sunrise Aya Hotel, we could see the white mountain of Pamukkale! The view was breathtaking. We decided to take a walk to the entrance of Pamukkale. My suggestion is if you want to save time, you should take a shuttle bus to the entrance. The way to the entrance was quite long because the distance from the main road to the entrance was about two kilometres. Moreover, you spend much time walking because the altitude goes higher all the way. 

Entering Pamukkale; our first place to visit: Hierapolis city ruins

When we walked through the entrance we did not know from where we should start. Everything inside looked fascinating. There are parks with palms and fountains, long roads going through all Pamukkale mountain. After little walk in the park we came near South Byzantin Gate. These gates actually were huge. We could see that all the ruins are ancient and affected by time. The South Byzantin Gates were made from huge blocks of stone. When you enter through gates you can see Hierapolis Main Street, well, atleast what is left. All these ruins were affected by many earthquakes and time itself of course. It is possible to see that there are underground ruins above the stones. We were talking and came to an decision that these underground ruins can be used for archeological purposes.

Hierapolis Theatre (Roman Theatre)

On our way from Hierapolis city ruins to the Hierapolis Theatre we found that there are places that are surrounded by fence and visitors cannot trespass it. They were protected by plastic roofs. It looked like an archeological site and maybe after some time it will be open for all people to see. Did you know that archeology students are coming to Pamukkale for practice? After walking half an hour to the theatre, we finally reached it. When I saw with my own eyes, I saw shocked to see enormous size of the stage! I found out that around 30 thousand of people can fit in the theatre seats. To go from one side of theatre to another you need approximately 10 minutes. It is amazing isn't it? There are also closed entrances to the theatre's undergrounds. I tried filming the view inside through the gates. I could get my hand through the metal gates. All I saw was just the blocked ways inside. 

The famous Hot Spring Pools (Travertines)! 

Actually we spent much time going to the places I mentioned. Mostly we were curious about the Travertines. These Travertines are in white colour because of limestone depoist during the chemical reaction over the time. Before entering the Travertines you must take off your shoes and come on bare foot. It was very windy day and the temperature outside was 15 degrees Celsius. The Hot Springs that time (in the end of February) weren't filled entirely with water, just some of them were. We putted our feet in to the hot water which was the primary source of hot springs. It was coming from the underground through a groove. We were just sitting and enjoying the view from the mountain.

After that, we decided to go down from the mountain because it was too windy. When we stepped out, we had to put our legs back again in the hot water because of the wind our foot got cold in no time. Every minute we did like this. There was also a waterfall, from which the water from the groove was going down to the other hot spring pools. By the way, there were many deposits of some materials in the pools. However, due to some reasons the colour of white mountains is becoming more yellow. If you see a picture of Pamukkale, and you see it is purely white, it means it is edited. The situation is not that bad, but during the time colour can change significantly.

We decided to have a dinner in a restaurant

We went to our hotel to take some of our stuff and asked hotel manager which restaurant could he suggest for us. I remember we did not go to the restaurant he said because we got lost. While we were going through the restaurant street, all of the restaurant workers were inviting us. Try to imagine, more than four people from different restaurants are asking you to come in. It is good that they did not start to fight :D We chose another restaurant which was looking good. I remember we ordered dinner and glass of beer for each of us. The restaurant looked splendid from inside. There were a lot of decorations, paintings, carpets and antique items.

However, my meal was terrible. I ordered a meal which consists of french fries, salads and a schnitzel. French fries looked old and tasted like they were cooked after that put in the fridge, and they cooked again. Salads were washed, and schnitzel was very oily. I just pushed away my plate. My friends experienced the same. Well, at least beer was good :D My suggestion is that you should follow your hotel managers or friends advice where to eat food. Be careful, because after this meal I had problems with my stomach for very long time.

First evening in Pamukkale

After a bad experience at the restaurant, we went to our hotel rooms. We were tired because of travelling by bus, all day walking, we just wanted to have a rest. Girls went to sleep suddenly, but I with my Italian friend decided to watch a movie. I do not remember which movie we had watched, but we fell asleep very fast. It was hard to get up and turn off the movie.

Second and the best day in Pamukkale!

The second day has started with breakfast in the hotel's lobby. The breakfast was not something special, but I liked it. We had omelettes, salads, cocoa cream, bread. We could also take cereal, coffee and tea. After the breakfast, we were discussing where we should go. Hotel manager heard our conversation and offered us go to the Red Pamukkale.

Red Pamukkale and adventures 

The hotel manager told us from which place we should take the shuttle bus to the Karahayit. Local people are calling this town as Red Pamukkale. Why Red Pamukkale? Because the stones are covered in iron rust and maybe sulphites, it gives red colour for the rocks. Karahayit is has located 8 kilometres away from Pamukkale town. We were going there for about 40 minutes. We stepped out in the city centre, and we started to search for the place where we could see the red stones. It was quite confusing because there were no signs to which direction we need to go. By the help of local people you can find it easily.

After some time we finally found it. To tell the truth, the touristic place was minuscule compared to the Pamukkale. I was expecting something more, and I did not like it. Why? During our visit, it was full of litter, bricks and other things. The pools were empty and full of leaves from the Autumn, you can find blocks in the pools. Maybe the reason could be that touristic season has just started. In my opinion, no matter what time of year it is, touristic places should be kept clean. But I liked the red rock pools and the little waterfall. It is always interesting to see something new.

Leaving Red Pamukkale

We decided not to take a shuttle bus and instead of that to take a walk. We found out that North entrance to Pamukkale is just a few kilometres away from the Karahayit town. That day we wanted to buy a bottle of wine and drink it later, so we went to one little shop. On our way to the entrance, we found many beautiful places, good looking houses which were different forfrom our eyes. When we were near the entrance, the police officer told us that the North gates are closed due to reconstruction, and it is not possible to enter from this side. The only option was to get back to Pamukkale and use the main entrance.

We were thinking differently because we were travellers. We though that it would be nice to enter Pamukkale crossing the mountains. It was quite hard to find a place to start passing. While we were going through the high way, on that side there is long and tall fences. We found one place and began to hike. It was fascinating because the mountains were so high. But some time later we discovered that there is amazingly deep groove that we need to cross. There was one way to pass it. We saw one trespass naturally made from white rocks, the same as Pamukkale white rocks. It was so narrow and the distance from one side to another was quite significant. Girls suddenly refused this offer and they went to find another way

Me and my Italian friend decided to take the challenge and get the adrenaline. I was the first one to start crossing. It was very hard to put your foot correctly, because the trespass was not plain. In the middle I began to feel robust and fast heartbeat because of adrenaline and I decided just to run to the another side. After that my Italian guy was passing it. I was amazed that he was taking selfies on such a high place and without any fear. But he also felt the same in the middle of trespass, and he came rapidly to me. Later we found girls crossed the groove. They told there was one right place to pass it, it was not so deep as in first.

Relaxing in the Travertines

After some time finally we saw Pamukkale, and we entered it. However, we entered it not in a legal way, because we came from the hills. To enter legally, as you know, you must pass the entrance. Then we saw some people coming in our direction, as well as security guards. We started to think that we will be in big trouble. But no, we joined the group of people and later we went to the Travertines. It was a better day than the previous one. For the next time, we put our foot again into the hot spring water and enjoyed the evening. We were drinking Pamukkale wine. What can I say, we are tourists :D Everybody was looking to us, but at the same time smiling. I guess they also wanted to do the same.

Surprise in the hotel

When the Pamukkale was nearly closing, we started going down from the hill and go towards our hotel. When we came back, our hotel manager was watching TV in the lobby. We told him our adventures, and he just smiled. He said he also has a surprise for all of us! He even brought us 1 litre of wine. We were just tasting it and had a conversation. After that, we felt quite dizzy, but we did not want that our evening would be finished. 

Paranormal activity and nightsky

My Italian friend and I decided to buy the can of beer each and go to the hill nearby Pamukkale mountain, which was the highest place in the area. When we nearly reached the top point, suddenly I saw stulps of light far away from where we were standing. I thought that I am going crazy because my Italian guy did not see it. After some minutes he also saw that. We tried to take pictures but it was too dark, and our cameras were not so good to take photos in this time. During the rest of the time, we were discussing what can it be. We decided to check that place next day and see what is there. It was very interesting, because the stulp of light was approximately 20 metres high.

Later we came to the top point of the hill, sat down and enjoyed our beers. The sky was clear and from that point you can see all the city around you. The view was breath taking. After some time, when we wanted to turn back to the hotel, we saw falling stars! We were counting them and making our wishes. To tell the truth, one of my wishes came true. When we finished our beers, we decided to turn back and to rest.

Leaving Pamukkale

In the morning we had the breakfast in the hotel lobby and it was time to say goodbye to the hotel manager. After few hours we had to take a shuttle bus and try not to be late to our bus. He told if we are ever going to be back again, we should remind him that we have been here. Maybe he is going to remember us. We checked the place of paranormal activity previous night and we found that was just a tree. Until now it is a mystic thing for us. There were no lights around and Pamukkale lights were not directed to that side. And this is how our real time in Pamukkale has came to an end :)

Some information regards visiting Pamukkale

First of all, entrance to Pammukale costs 30 Turkish Lira. For students, there is an opportunity to take Museum card which costs just 20 Turkish Lira. One man explained to us that using Museum card you could enter Pamukkale for free every 2 hours for unlimited visits. There are also shuttle buses that are going from the city to the entrance of Pamukkale, but we did not find the information about that. My suggestion is to plan everything you would like to see because we did not see everything. That time Kleopatra's swimming pool was closed, it was one of the reasons why we went to Pamukkale. 

Recommended places to visit during your stay in Pamukkale:

• Hot Spring pools (Travertines);
• Hierapolis city ruins;
• Hierapolis theatre;
• Hierapolis museum;
• Anatolia cemetery;
• Pamukkale Castle;
• Pamukkale Antique pool (Kleopatra pool);
• Laodicea (located 5km west from Pamukkale);
• Karahayit (local people are calling this town as Red Pamukkale)

---

Photo gallery