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Kate and the travertines of Pamukkale

Turkey Trip Day 4 : Pamukkale Cotton Castle and Journey to Cappadocia!

One of the highlights of our Chan Brothers Turkey Trip came on the 4th day where we visited the Cotton Castle – Pamukkale! It was also the day where we covered the longest distance of the entire trip where we journeyed 650km to Cappadocia – home of the monoliths and hot air balloons!

Turkey Travel to Pamukkale Cotton Castle and Cappadocia

Breakfast at Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
Breakfast at Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
Pamukkale Cotton Castle from a distance
Pamukkale Cotton Castle from a distance
Hierapolis City of Heroes Pamukkale
Hierapolis City of Heroes Pamukkale
Entry Tickets to Cotton Castle Pamukkale
Entry Tickets to Cotton Castle Pamukkale
Travertines overlooking Pamukkale
Travertines overlooking Pamukkale
Kate and the travertines of Pamukkale
Kate and the travertines of Pamukkale
Hot spring to soak our feet during winter @ Pamukkale
Hot spring to soak our feet during winter @ Pamukkale
2bearbear enjoying the views of Cotton Castle Pamukkale in Winter!
2bearbear enjoying the views of Cotton Castle Pamukkale in Winter!
Travertine Pools of Pamukkale in Winter
Travertine Pools of Pamukkale in Winter

Pamukkale literally translates to Cotton and Castle. The term Cotton Castle (or Pamukkale) was not derived from any legend or story. Simply, if you take a look at the picture below, it looks like a white and fluffy cotton castle from afar. Hence, the name.

The Cotton Castle of Pamukkale is famous for its travertines. As the hot spring flows over the sides of the hills, calcium carbonate are deposited overtime and they form these amazing structures that we see today. Due to conservation efforts, only a section of the Cotton Castle is open to the public. During summer, the travertine pools are filled up and travellers can soak themselves and enjoy the summer sun. However, during winter (the time that we visited Pamukkale), only the main channel has hot spring water flowing through it. Therefore, you can see many travellers sitting by the sides and enjoying themselves while soaking their feet.

Tip : If you intend to soak your feet during the winter season, remember that the main channel IS REALLY SLIPPERY! This is due to algae formation as the hot spring water flows through the channel. Kate also had a slip which resulted in wet pants! Also, if you intend to sit down and soak, do note that water does flow along intermittently. Meaning, even though it may seem that its dry, when you sit down, it WILL DEFINITELY be wet. So bring along a plastic bag to sit on. Lastly, bring a towel or some tissue to dry your feet when you return!

Again, as recommended by our guide, Enis, the best views of Pamukkale can be taken from the garden side of cotton castle. At the travertines itself, views over the city of Pamukkale is also amazing, as shown by Kate below 🙂


Enjoy the views of the travertines of Cotton Castle Turkey (Pamukkale)

Journey to Cappadocia and rest at Dinler Hotel Nevsehir

After our visit to Pamukkale, we embarked on our 10 hour long arduous journey from Pamukkale to Cappadocia (approximately 650km). Along the way, we had rest stops and lunch and of course, many stories from Enis, which we will share with you below…

Poppy seeds yoghurt and honey
Poppy seeds yoghurt and honey
Close up of yoghurt for 8 TL good for 2 to share
Close up of yoghurt for 8 TL good for 2 to share
Lunch time after 3 hours of driving
Lunch time after 3 hours of driving
Great tasting grilled chicken wings!
Great tasting grilled chicken wings!
Entrance of Sultanhani Caravanserai
Entrance of Sultanhani Caravanserai
Crown Entrance of Sultanhani Caravanserai
Crown Entrance of Sultanhani Caravanserai
Insulated interior of Sultanhani Caravanserai warm in winter cool in summer
Insulated interior of Sultanhani Caravanserai warm in winter cool in summer
Twin Beds of Dinler Hotels Nevsehir Cappadocia
Twin Beds of Dinler Hotels Nevsehir Cappadocia
Spa services offered by Dinler Hotel Nevsehir
Spa services offered by Dinler Hotel Nevsehir

1. Visiting the doctor in the olden days. In the olden days, if you had a problem with your finger, you would first go and buy a bronze finger from the blacksmith and bring it to the priest of the “clinic”. Leg problem, bronze leg. In those days, the priest was the doctor and he would take the bronze finger, melt it and treat it as a form of payment. He would then give the patient a drug to cause hallucination. Based on what the patient says, the priest would then prescribe medicine for the illness because in those days, it was believed that the gods were speaking to the patients through the drug. Wonder how many people actually got cured (or killed) in this way. Scary…

2. About poppy production. During our rest stop, we were able to taste this dish of yoghurt mixed with honey, topped with poppy seeds! Don’t worry, these seeds won’t cause any form of hallucination and it tastes somewhat like the sesame seed. Legally (the key word here), Turkey is the 3rd largest in the world for opium poppy production. Dinar is the place where we stopped to taste this yummy (and healthy) dish.

3. “Make it Zero” and Week of Thieves. Enis shared that one of the government officals and his son were caught in a tele-conversation whereby the dad was asking where the son hid the cash. The son replied that he stashed it at their usual place. So the dad wanted the money to be transferred and the son asked whether to transfer all of it. The dad replied “make it zero”. Since then, the phrase has become a joke among the locals, even sparking the “Thieves Week” from 17-25 December each year. People would wear black bandit masks during this period, which can be quite hilarious according to Enis.

4. Sultan Nasreddin Hodja. There’s this famous character called Sultan Nasreddin Hodja and he’s usually depicted riding a donkey backwards. So the story goes that he always rides a donkey and waves to everyone he sees when he goes through the city. However, one day, one person complained that he did not acknowledge him. Of course, to Nasreddin Hodja, this was obviously not true as he always greets everyone. So to counter this, he rode the donkey backwards. He explained that he rode the donkey backwards because he would greet those he sees and the donkey greets those that he doesn’t see! What a humorous figure!

5. About good cherry harvests. Did you know that a long hard snowy winter equates to late cherry blossoms which means a good cherry harvest? Conversely, a “mild” winter equates to a bad harvest of tiny cherries.

Before arriving at Dinler Hotel Nevsehir, we visited the Sultanhani Caravanserai. It was built in the 13th century and served merchants plying the silk road. Along the silk road, travellers would build “motels” like the Sultanhani Caravanserai. These caravanserais would be a shelter for the travellers and they can only be put up for 3 days. Shelters like these are free to use and people would find rest for themselves and their animals before embarking on their next phase of travel. However, unlike hotels, no food was provided and you have to cook your own food and tend to your own stuff. Most importantly, leave on time!

Itinerary of Turkey Travel Day 4: Cotton Castle of Pamukkale and Journey to Cappadocia

0715 : Depart from Lycus River Hotel to Cotton Castle Pamukkale
0730 : Arrival at Pamukkale Cotton Castle
0900 : Departure from Cotton Castle to Cappadocia
1100 : Stopover for yoghurt with honey and poppy seeds
1300 : Lunch
1730 : Arrival at Sultanhani Caravanserai
1900 : Arrival at Dinler Hotel Nevsehir

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Related posts

This post is part of our 10 Days 7 Nights Turkey travel with Chan Brothers. Below, you can find other relevant posts covered during this trip.

Turkey Trip Day 1 : Singapore to Istanbul and Ferry to Canakkale

Turkey Travel Day 2 : Visiting the Trojan Horse of Troy and Ancient City of Pergamon

Turkey Travel Day 3 : Visit to Ephesus / Turkish Bath and Hot Springs of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale

Turkey Trip Day 4 : Pamukkale Cotton Castle and Journey to Cappadocia!

Turkey Trip Day 5 : Cappadocia, Kaymakli Underground City, Goreme Open Air Museum and Turkish Night Celebrations!

Hot Air Balloon Flight in Cappadocia with Royal Balloon : Turkey Travel Day 6!

Turkey Travels Day 7 : Istanbul’s Camlica Hill, Grand Bazaar, Taksim Square and Istiklal Shopping Street!

Mall of Istanbul (MOI) : Shopping Eating and Relaxing on Day 8 of Turkey Trip!

Find out more about day 5 of our Chan Brother’s Turkey travel where we’ll visit the famous Cappadocia region of Turkey!

Library facade of Ephesus Turkey

Turkey Travel Day 3 : Visit to Ephesus / Turkish Bath and Hot Springs of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale

On day 3 of our Turkey travels with Chan Brothers, we visited a leather shop (complete with front row seats to a fashion show!), the Roman Ephesus of Turkey as well as the hot springs of Lycus River Hotel in Pamukkale!

Turkey Travel to Ephesus and Pamukkale (First Stop : Silvio Leather Fashion Show)

After a hearty breakfast, we went around Coastlight Hotel to take some shots before we headed to our first stop – Silvio Leather showroom!

At the showroom, we were given some apple tea before we were treated to a fashion show – front row seats no less! Of course, these were amateur models but we were rather impressed by this young male model who really strutted his stuff down the runway. During the fashion show, we were shown the latest and trendiest leather jackets. Some had amazing prints and most were reversible. Silvio Leather also claimed that they produce for international brands such as Burberry and Polo Ralph Lauren…

During the fashion show, members of the audience were also invited to take part and model some of the leather jackets. This brought much laughter to our tour group and we especially enjoyed the samba dance at the end of the show!

Facade of Coastlight Hotel
Facade of Coastlight Hotel
Reception of Coastlight Hotel Kusadasi
Reception of Coastlight Hotel Kusadasi
View from restaurant of Coastlight Hotel
View from restaurant of Coastlight Hotel
Old Fashioned Lifts
Old Fashioned Lifts
Turkish Tea and Coffee Dispenser
Turkish Tea and Coffee Dispenser
Facade of Silvio Leather
Facade of Silvio Leather
Leather jacket fashion show @ Silvio Leather
Leather jacket fashion show @ Silvio Leather
Audience involved in the Fashion Show @ Silvio Leather
Audience involved in the Fashion Show @ Silvio Leather
Dancing with Models
Dancing with Models

After the fashion show, you’d be led to the second level where the expensive leather jackets are. These leather jackets produced by Silvio Leather averages about USD1000 (AFTER special discounts). We were quite taken back by the price as these were non-branded leather jackets. But for cheaper leather jackets, you can proceed to the first level where there are off-season leather jackets that averages about USD200. If you have not purchased anything by now, you’d be led to a small leather shop next door that sells leather shoes and bags averaging about USD100. Yes, hold out and you’ll get better deals.

Tip : You have to be strong and resist the temptation of buying a leather jacket! Imagine the number of branded bags you can buy with USD1000 – 2!

House of Virgin Mary & Ruins of Roman Ephesus in Turkey

Leaving the Silvio Leather showroom, we headed to the House of Virgin Mary. As it was still drizzling, we only had a shortened visit here. At this attraction, there’s a baptism pool near the House of Virgin Mary, the house itself (where you can’t take any photos within), a fountain to draw water (so bring along an empty bottle) and of course the area where you could leave a wish to Virgin Mary herself!

Remember to bring your own note and mechanism to tie it if you want your wish to come true!

Entry to House of Virgin Mary
Entry to House of Virgin Mary
Entrance of House of Virgin Mary (No Photography Within)
Entrance of House of Virgin Mary (No Photography Within)
Fountain for drawing water
Fountain for drawing water
Leaving wishes for Virgin Mary
Leaving wishes for Virgin Mary
Pillars lining the main street in Ephesus Turkey
Pillars lining the main street in Ephesus Turkey
Tom and Ruins of Ephesus
Tom and Ruins of Ephesus
Goddess Nike (Can you spot the swoosh?)
Goddess Nike (Can you spot the swoosh?)
Speakers corner for dissemination of roman decrees
Speakers corner for dissemination of roman decrees
Main street from city centre to library Ephesus Turkey
Main street from city centre to library Ephesus Turkey

Then came the highlight of the day, our visit to the Roman Ephesus of Turkey!

There are 2 stories related to Ephesus

Story 1 – An Oracle

In the first story, it was said that in the 7th century, a prince of Athens received an oracle where he would build a city if a fish, wild boar and fire appeared simultaneously. One day, he saw someone doing some grilled fish and a wild boar ran over that BBQ. He saw it as a sign and built the city of Ephesus.

Story 2 – Amazonian Women

In the Anatolian version of the story, Ephesus was simply built by the Amazon warrior women.

If you take a look at one of the pictures below (the one with Medusa), you would see these 2 stories depicted on the columns of that structure.

You may know that the world-renowned brand, Nike is named after the goddess of Victory Nike. But did you know that if you look closely at her skirt, you’ll be able to identify the most familiar logo world-wide, the swoosh.

Can you see it?

Trian Temple with globe beneath its feet
Trian Temple with globe beneath its feet
Private residences with mosaic tiles
Private residences with mosaic tiles
Story of Ephesus - Medusa or Amazon Women?
Story of Ephesus – Medusa or Amazon Women?
Toilets for men in Ephesus
Toilets for men in Ephesus
Library facade of Ephesus Turkey
Library facade of Ephesus Turkey
Empty heart and large feet see girl bring credit card
Empty heart and large feet see girl bring credit card
Supposed brothels at the side
Supposed brothels at the side
Theatre taken from the pine trees for the best view
Theatre taken from the pine trees for the best view
Ephesus Theatre and Kate
Ephesus Theatre and Kate

Leaving the city centre of Ephesus, you’ll be on a main street that leads to the Library of Ephesus. Take a shot from here. Unfortunately, it was raining during this time 🙁

Enis (our guide for Chan Brother’s Turkey Trip), told us about this special stone that has a picture of a left foot, heart, face of a woman and rectangle carved on it. According to his analysis of this piece of stone, he was able to tell that there’s a brothel right next to it. How?

He said, “If you are having an empty heart and have a large left foot, you can find a pretty woman right ahead. Don’t forget to bring your credit card!” Haha!

Tip : Besides the library, the other prominent structure is the theatre of Ephesus. The best spot to take a panoramic view of the theatre (as shown above) is between the pine trees before you exit to the market and souvenir shops.

Facilities of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale

To end off the evening, we arrived early at Lycus River Hotel of Pamukkale. Pamukkale refers to cotton castle, a formation of calcium carbonate that seems to form a “cotton castle” in the middle of a hill. Before we were to head to Pamukkale the next morning, we had a good rest at Lycus River Hotel!

Lycus River Hotel Lobby with Fireplace
Lycus River Hotel Lobby with Fireplace
2bearbear and Twin sharing room of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
2bearbear and Twin sharing room of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
Pool and Restaurant of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
Pool and Restaurant of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale
Indoor thermal pool with tunnel leading outdoors
Indoor thermal pool with tunnel leading outdoors
Outdoor thermal pool Lycus River Hotel
Outdoor thermal pool Lycus River Hotel
Indoor jacuzzi pool
Indoor jacuzzi pool
MUST TRY Turkish Bath!
MUST TRY Turkish Bath!
Live band with dancing folks
Live band with dancing folks
Beef patty with cheese was awesome!
Beef patty with cheese was awesome!

There are 2 main things that you should try at Lycus River Hotel in Pamukkale…

1. Thermal Pool (aka hot springs). There’s a hot spring that you must check out at Lycus River Hotel. Remember to bring your swim wear! The thermal pool also leads outdoors and it was especially enjoyable to be soaking in the thermal pool during the winter season. Just like what you see on Japan Hour – winter onsen!

2. Turkish Bath. Originally, we were discouraged from taking the Turkish bath due to poor reviews from previous groups. Nonetheless, we still gave it a go. How can you go Turkey and not try a Turkish Bath right? It costs us 85TL (or $50SGD) and it was the best $ spent during the trip! The Turkish lady would scrub you first (you’d be in your undies or swim trunks) and then lay the softest and warmest coat of foam blanket over you.

Pure Bliss…

To form the foam (some tongue twister for you), the lady would trap some bath foam on a towel and swing it from side to side. This motion catches air within the towel and forms the foam which she would later squeeze upon you.

This would be followed by some gentle massages around the whole body (front and back) before washing you clean. No contortion, man-handling type of bath as they say.

One word from Tom : SHIOK!

From Kate : Because my Turkish lady had GIGANTIC boobs, as she massaged my arms, her boobs would rub repeatedly over my face! I think the Turkish lady enjoyed the bath more than I did…Boo Hoo.

After the enjoyable and relaxing sessions at the thermal pool and Turkish bath, we went for the dinner buffet where there was also a live band playing traditional Turkish music. Some Turkish folks also went forward to dance during dinner. Our favourite for dinner was the beef patty as well as making wraps using fresh lettuce.

Together with some members of the group, we had post-dinner drinks at the beautiful lobby lounge and chat till we were tired before we turned in for the night.

Itinerary of Turkey Travel Day 3: Coastlight Hotel to House of Virgin Mary, Ephesus and to Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale

0815 : Depart from Coastlight hotel to Silvio Leather showroom
0845 : Arrival at Silvio Leather showroom
1000 : Departure from Silvio Leather showroom to House of Virgin Mary
1015 : Arrival at House of Virgin Mary
1045 : Depart for Ephesus
1230 : Departure from Ephesus to Pamukkale
1500 : Break at Turkish delight stopover
1630 : Arrival at Lycus River Hotel @ Pamukkale

If you enjoyed our content, “Like” us on Facebook Today!

Related posts

This post is part of our 10 Days 7 Nights Turkey travel with Chan Brothers. Below, you can find other relevant posts covered during this trip.

Turkey Trip Day 1 : Singapore to Istanbul and Ferry to Canakkale

Turkey Travel Day 2 : Visiting the Trojan Horse of Troy and Ancient City of Pergamon

Turkey Travel Day 3 : Visit to Ephesus / Turkish Bath and Hot Springs of Lycus River Hotel Pamukkale

Turkey Trip Day 4 : Pamukkale Cotton Castle and Journey to Cappadocia!

Turkey Trip Day 5 : Cappadocia, Kaymakli Underground City, Goreme Open Air Museum and Turkish Night Celebrations!

Hot Air Balloon Flight in Cappadocia with Royal Balloon : Turkey Travel Day 6!

Turkey Travels Day 7 : Istanbul’s Camlica Hill, Grand Bazaar, Taksim Square and Istiklal Shopping Street!

Mall of Istanbul (MOI) : Shopping Eating and Relaxing on Day 8 of Turkey Trip!

Find out more about day 4 of our Chan Brother’s Turkey travel where we’ll visit the traventines of Pamukkale (Cotton Castle)!

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