Weather: miserable giving way to a sunny day
Photo: Xanthos....a wet and bleak visit to this important site.
Photo: What a view....following the Mediterranean coastline.
Photo: Sitting to pose amongst the tombs, mausoleums and tumuli at the Necropolis a cat came and sat on my lap!
Photo: Our fellow travellers waving from atop....I was only half way down so it will give an idea how steep the steps are!
Photo: The sun over the Travertine Pools.
Photo: Beautiful to look at but hard on the feet!
Temperature: 10 degrees to mid-twenties
We set off at 8.30am ready for a big day: Xanthos; Hierapolis and the Travertine Pools.
Our first stop was the ancient Lycian kingdom of Xanthos about an hour out of Kas. The weather was bleak (rain and wind) and only a handful of the bus made it through the quick tour. The old city stands high on a hill and was rediscovered by Englishman Charles Fellows in 1838. Unfortunately, he also took a lot of the site to the British Museum and some pieces on the site are replicas.
Xanthos has a very tragic past: in 546 BC knowing that the Lycian kingdom was falling to the Persian King Xerxes the men killed their women and children and then killed themselves rather than falling to enemy hands.
The area has a small but beautiful amphitheatre abutted by a large pedestal with the largest Lycian inscription in the world.
We followed the beautiful Mediterranean coastline sandwiched between the sea and high cliffs until we made the turn north to head to our overnight stay some five hours away. There was a storm in the distance with yet another rainbow…..which must have been lucky as we had glorious weather when we needed it later in the day.
The change in direction produced much cooler weather with damp conditions and low cloud. As we went over the highest point of Karabel at 1300 metres it was 10 degrees. Lunch a little further on was very cold and overcast and we stayed inside the roadside restaurant until we could get on the bus. A purchase of a Turkish CD recommended by our guide made interesting listening along the way.
The rain became less as we made our way along the open plained valley which grows cotton, tobacco, sugar beet, corn and pomegranates.
The hotel for the evening was a very large affair and obviously catered for many bus groups. Looking around I could not believe we were even in Turkey! We had a very large room and facilities included a swimming pool and spa.
Our guide took us to Hierapolis on the less used walk – longer but giving us much more exposure to this fascinating site. Entering the Necropolis (cemetery) on the southern side we could see hundreds of tombs, sarcophagi and mausoleums rising above the hills. The area was used for a very long period and was used by many civilizations including the Lycians, Christians, Jews and Byzantines. Several round tumulus built in first century BC have earth cones.
Wending our way up to the Hieropolis we could see many surviving constructions. The Northern and Southern Gates are very impressive and are joined by a colonnaded street: Frontinus Street. Worn grooves from chariots and wagons could be seen under the arches and several stones as we walked this ancient street.
The Roman theatre was built in the 3rd century AD by Semptimus Severus and can seat up to twelve thousand spectators. The seats are steep and have views overlooking the valley below.
The temple of Apollo sits below the theatre and we were encouraged to hear the speaking (actually bubbling water) from the temple and which once gave off lethal vapours.
Hierapolis was finally abandoned after a major earthquake in 1334 and is being slowly restored.
We walked down the hill to look at the modern Pamukkale Thermal Pool where there were many tourists enjoying the heated waters while swimming over fallen columns from the site. We had a rest and drinks before our visit to the Travertine Pools. There were many Russian tourists.
The Travertine Pools are a natural phenomenon which began forming about 14000 years ago. The water emerges from the ground at 35 degrees and gradually loses its temperature as it makes its way down channels to the bottom. The water at the bottom was still tepid though when we left the terraces.
We took off our shoes and slowly made our way on the hard calcium surfaces. Looking around it looked like snow – but there was nothing soft underneath – the ground is hard and has small ridges!
We all sat and put our feet in the flowing water channel and enjoyed having a rest. We were all snap-happy and loved the sunset across the terraces.
Back at the hotel it was time for a quick drink in one of the rooms and then onto a hotel smorgasbord meal – what a difference to all the local meals we have been having! We could have been in Australia with the food on offer!
All in all, a truly fascinating day and we visited two world heritage sites in one day.
No comments:
Post a Comment