Saturday: Pamukkale

Having crashed out at 9pm last night I didn't get out of bed properly until the phone rang at 11.30am.  It was the chief of the complex explaining that breakfast finished at 11am and he was waiting for me.  I felt obliged to get up and meet him, even though I didn't feel like eating.  He talked a lot in a combination of Turkish and French, but mostly Turkish I think, and I understood only a small part.  It was quiet, he explained, as it's Ramazan (i.e. Turkish Ramadan) and this was why lots of regulars weren't coming to his restaurant.  He also seemed to be saying that it was due to end on 15 August, but a quick google search gives the contradictory date of 29 August.  He himself was exempt from fasting because of his diabetes.  By the time I'd finished eating a huge basket of bread with honey I was feeling much better and decided to make a move today, having been considering seriously the option of staying put and having a rest day.

An internet search showed that the crossing I had hoped to take to Greece, Marmaris to Rodos, was only open to vehicles twice a week and not until Tuesday, which was no good to me.  Therefore I decided to book onto a ferry from Cesme to Chios tomorrow evening at 6.30, the only other car ferry crossing from mainland Turkey to a Greek island, surprisingly.  Once on a Greek island it's easy to get anywhere else in the archipelago, it would seem, but not from Turkey.

I headed off on the moto just before 2pm and had Pamukkale in mind as a destination, just north of Denizli, leaving not too long a ride tomorrow to Cesme, and possibly even time for an enroute diversion to Ephesus.  The road took me back up into the fresh, dry air of the mountains.  Compared with the slogs of recent days, 250km on good roads was a pleasant afternoon ride.

Once into the rather touristy little town there were lots of places offering camping, mainly hotels with a garden or gravel patch, and I chose Hotel Pamukkale.  After a quick chat with the owner he offered me a room at only a very slightly higher price than the camping would have been, which I was delighted to accept.  So I had a private bathroom for the second night running.

Before supper I had time to go and see, and walk in, the hot springs which bring the tourists here.  Here are some photos.