Pammakulle, Turkey

Turkey is a country of diversity and beauty as well as adventure. While there I had the pleasure of seeing;

Antalya – a resort city on the coast which has incredible mountains and a heaven for hikers and beach lovers, think pure turquiose waters and pebbles in a multitude of colours.

Istanbul – there is enough on the internet to tell you to go here, but what about the side walk coffee which is made of condensed milk and the warm bagels with cream cheese, chestnut kebabs, Kumra and mosques that will take your breath away.

Pamukkale – mineral rich thermal baths, with pure white travertine terraces, sit and soak and all your troubles leave you. And its worth staying on both the Asia side and the European side of the water, the history of Turkey is simply mesmerising.

I try Tinder in most countries, mostly because it’s a great way to see the sites with a local, things off the tourist path. When I did a stopover in Serbia I happened to match with this Aussie guy called Mark. We chatted for a week or so and he decided to meet me in Istanbul. He had decided we should all go to Antalya for a few days and I wanted to go to Pamakulle to sit in the thermal baths. The day we were to leave we allowed enough time but the traffic was way worse than we expected and we were yelling at the cab driver to go ‘faster’. We get there and need to push through the hundreds of people so stressed just to get to the check in country to be told we were at the wrong airport. He had booked us out of SAW on the Asia side of the city which was 2 hours away. sheesh.

Obviously we missed the plane and had to book another flight but this airport didn’t go to Antaylia so we ended up on a flight to Dezili and industrial area and stayed the night. Because we were so far out we now needed to hire a car which Mark drove at high speeds like a rally car driver to Antalyia. Tad scarry actually.

But we made it to Pammakulle and it was magic. I highly recommend it, stunning scenery and level after level of flowing warm, mineral rich thermal baths over a pure white limestone travertine like shelf that only nature could produce, and backed by a clear blue sky that goes forever. Noted here that there are no safety precautions so wear suitable shoes such as Teva’s and bring swimmers.

Afterwards we headed to some local markets and bought cheese and pretzels and it was awesome hanging with the locals and seeing how they shop. Hanging with the locals is always the best part of my trips, especially conversing via sign and body language, a smile goes a mile.

Anyway it is with great pleasure that we opened all the cheese, nuts, fruits and stupidly listened to Mark as as sat at the airport to fly back to Istanbul. We have heaps of time he said, I have checked and we don’t need to do anything for ages he said, I will keep you posted he said.

We missed the plane.

Turkey you are going to be so memorable.