Destination Bodrum, Pamukkale and Kos part 2

Before we decided we were going on any trips we went to the marked in Yalikavak. The market takes place every Thursday. You can buy anything from spices and vegetables to clothing and toys. It's a smaller marked and probably a bit more expensive then the bigger market in Turgutreis where we went the following Saturday. The difference? Basically bigger marked means you will be able to get better prices as they are lined up next to each other trying to get the costumer to buy from them. Like I mentioned before the Turkish people (sellers) are brilliant at making money from us tourist. They are very friendly, but it also benefits them as they seem very aware of what country is the riches. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "My friend, where are you from?". It's not secret that the Scandinavians makes good money especially compared to living standards down there. They have no problem tripling (if not even more) the price they would actually sell it for, so if you aren't a big spender who basically just think it's fun negotiating but still would pay extra as it doesn't matter, then it I'd say it is something to be aware of. Getting to know locals if you don't know any is a good idea learning what the actually marked price is for different items - also walking around looking instead and asking prices can be a good idea before you actually buy something. I already learned after several trips they will dazzle you with Norwegian, Swedish, French and you name it words. They also understands more than what you think, so when you talk with your partner, friend etc about negotiation prices in your own language, don't be surprised if they actually understand some. Hehe.

 

Here is an older snapshot from the market in Turgutreis. It is of course much larger and the vegetables, fruit, spices etc in held on a different place across the street.

So we decided to go for some trips, it has to be said that we weren't actually morning birds, which our contact already knew when we talked about it. So when he was writing down the pick up time at a local hotel we needed to go to, a hand came up covering his writing demonstrating that we could not have a look until afterwards. Which we didn't quite understand until we got the notes. 06:05 am it said on the first trip to Pamukkale. It made us laugh, maybe he was worried we would change our minds, but non the less we were set to go even if it meant only a few hours sleep. Being up after 07 am in the morning talking and laughing enjoying the mild weather outside made us realize this will be a challenge. The second trip to Kos was set at the same meet up point but one hour later, we already arranged so we would have  a day in between so we could catch up on sleep the next day.

So the alarm went off at 04:45 if I remember correctly. We had already packed a little the day before so we basically just needed to get some breakfast and start walking to the hotel. Two tired bodies ready for an adventure.

A minibus picked us and we were off. We were informed there would be other that needed to be picked up so it would take a little time. Looking back I wouldn't mind actually been on the minibus all the way to our destination. Lovely air condition and comfy seats. After several stops and waiting at different hotels it seemed there were a lot of Russians, French people, and some Scandinavians that were with us. We changed into a bus in Torba. A standard bus greeted by two guides and a driver. One guide for the Russians and one French and English speaking guide. We were told that along the way we would have a 30 min break in Muğla, so people could get some breakfast there if they wanted to and until then she would let us tired people rest. I think it was around 8 am the trip started and we were at our destination about 4 hours later. As we got closer to the destination the guides told us a bit more about Turkey in general and then about Pamukkale (meaning cotton castle in Turkish,) what they suggested we should take a look at and asked if we were interested in buying tickets (not included in our price) if we wanted to swim in Cleopatra's pool - swimming on an ancient Agora, flooded by warm spring water after an earthquake . We decided not to as we wanted to look around and take some pictures of the hot springs, Necropolis (meaning the city of death) and the roman theatre. We only had 2 1/2 hour if even that to get around to everything.

Here is the first sign of the area that we saw when entering. As you can see it says Hierapolis (meaning holy city). It is the ancient Greek city built on the Hot Springs. If you want to read more about it click here.

 

Here we are following our French and English speaking guide after we have gotten the tickets to enter. Here we also caught a view of the theater there that seemed to be renovating a bit.

I have to say the moment I learned that the guides weren't gonna give us tours around I was a little disappointed as getting someone to telling us stories while we were there looking around would have been great and I think we probably would have gotten to see more. It did seemed that some guides did as we saw Asians with hi-tech headset where they heard the guide speaking while they were entering the area. and of course the limited of time we got - which meant we didn't get time to see everything we wanted. But it is understandable they have their schedule to keep and perhaps not everyone would like to follow the guides and be more free to look around.

We all gathered at Cleopatra's Pool/Antique pool where the ones that wanted to stay put there could take a swim and chill while others were free to roam around.

So we decided to head to the famous hot springs area (which is said to cure many diseases, especially epidermic ones. It's basically hot calcium-laden waters that spring from the earth and cascade over a cliff.) walking around the tracks before the final stop at the famous Hot Springs we were allowed to step into. In the area there are some guards with whistles that will tell you that you have to take off your backpack and shoes where you are allowed to walk. I'll add some more pictures over the view under here.

 

 

After I had gotten into the Hot Spring myself and felt the lovely temperature on my legs and we were done taking in the view we decided it was time to head over to necropolis to have a look around realizing there were only a little hour left before take off.

 

 

We got around to this point when we realized that if we were gonna make the bus in time and take a few more snapshots on the way back that it was time to turn around and head in that direction.

So we missed out on the theater and the museum. I wouldn't mind heading back there one day although I think I'd prefer to rent a car that way we won't be that dependent on transportation and will have more time to look around and also test out the pool. There is another trip where they combine Ephesus and Pamukkale with a night stay in Pamukkale which might be a nice alternative to renting a car.

When finally getting on the bus we were told that we were gonna be taken to a place to eat as lunch was included in the ticket. We were served a buffé with soup, chicken, meatballs, spagetti, meatballs, bread, salad and some fruit. Drinks were not included. The meal was alright, and we got some new energy getting back in the bus after we all had a toilet break and got ready for the heat as the AC in the bus got broken along the way. Next toilet break would be a 10 min stop in Muğla at the same place we had been to before. We realized on the way back that somewhere along the line on the way up we must have fallen asleep as the trip seemed way much longer to Muğla then it had seemed on the way up.

 When we got to Torba minibuses were waiting for us to take us to the hotel. It is safe to say that when we got home the trip had taken much longer time then expected as we were told we'd be back at 7pm thinking we would have time to go to the local grocery shop. I think the time was passed 10pm when we jumped of heading to the apartment. It was not unexpected really, as the Turkish people in general are not that known for being punctual, and after all our stop was the last. All in all a long but lovely trip well worth the adventure we had even though we missed out on some.