Pamukkale/Selcuk

Pamukkale, which means Cotton Kingdom, this area is known for the production of cotton. These are the famous Thermal Terraced Pools. The pools are man made but the thermal water that flows into them has been round for 1000s of years and were famous for their healing powers. People would travel for miles to come and be cured at these pools and sometimes they died here ... it was known as a health spa back in the day. 

The last 2 days have been cold ... we have had to break out our icebreaker tops, last night I wore leggings and a woollen top to bed. We have had perfect weather, hot, hot, hot, ever since we have been in Bulgaria and Turkey so we can't complain. In fact we are enjoying the change ... reminds us of NZ.

We have a few extra photos that we thought we would post to show where we have been and you might be interested in.

Me standing in front of the Blue Travertines ... the colour of the water comes from water and calcium.

Panoramic view of the calcified hills at Pamukkale ... they look really impressive and can be seen from a distance.

I thought of Alice and her housekeeping days at Soho Hotel when I saw these duvets hanging over the rails of a hotel. This is how  Hotel house keeping is done in Turkey ... 

Our room in Selcuk ... a good size, we weren't falling over each other.

The courtyard view from our room ... we didn't use the pools it got too cold here. We watched an amazing lightening storm from here one evening ... it was so much fun standing round their outdoor fire with everyone looking at the lightening dance across the sky. Reminded me of Rob and the times we sat round his bomb fires which he loved to light.

We came across these turtles in Selcuk ... a male and female ... the male is at the back harassing the female. Everytime I see an animal like this ... lizard, spider etc I think of Harriet, Digger, Meg and Henry and I really wish they were here so we could show them. They would love watching these turtles and their mating dance.

The library in Ephesus ... this is a stunning facade ... I thought of Rosie when we were standing here, worth a visit Rose! Who wouldn't like a library like this?

I know ... we have posted a lot of photos like this ... but I love these stone works ... I thought this was beautiful and they are so big.

The detail is amazing ...  I think this might be our last photo of religious ruins ... Gallipoli ruins next.

We had a bit of a wander round Selcuk before we caught our bus ... I had to use the WC ... I know I have mentioned that we have to pay to use public toilets here, the most I have paid is 2L ... the toilets are very clean and there are plenty of them in Turkey ... which is great!  It would appear that running a WC is a real industry here. We came across a WC that was set up as a business at the back of a family home. I have never seen a toilet like it! This is the women's room.

On the walls of the stalls they had cellotaped plastic flowers and CDs. I wish I had a photograph. Pete calls this differentiated marketing, you take something ordinary and add something different to make it more appealing, value added ... like this value added WC. 

This was on the wall ... I am really sorry that I managed to blur it ... I wonder what was on the mens wall. As I walked out the vendors were sitting outside waiting for clients, I told them how nice their WC is ... they were very proud.

Petrol is very expensive here ... priced by the litre ... 1 Turkish Lira is NZ57c ... gas is much more expensive in Turkey than NZ or the States, amongst the most expensive in the world.

This is the bus we travelled on ... they are huge ... they are run like an airline ... refreshments, TVs in the back of seats and they have WiFi ... that does not work. All the movies are dubbed over in Turkish ... no subtitles. The bus rides are hours. I watched 4 movies on the bus with no dialogue ... I could still tell the  basic plot of each story.

Roxanne Beverly Cammock

Roxcy ... expressive and full of life ... we love her energy.

Roxcy's bright red hair is her signature, we love it ... you can see her from a long way off ... her red hair bouncing along the footpath. We had a wonderful 3 months in Vermont getting to know this little girl better ... it was one of the high points of our trip away, spending time with Roxcy and lars.

Roxcy is "tiny but mighty"... she fills a room with her presence. She is so alive ... full of energy ... determined ... and full of love for everyone she meets. Life is one big adventure for Roxcy ... every moment is for living ... she is bold and daring. She is a real little girl ...  knows exactly what she wants and has done since she was born. She loves clothes and knows what she wants to wear and will wear anything purple. She has Chris' eye for colour and design.  Roxcy brought 'Frozen' into our lives ... like all little girls she can sing most of the songs and loves to dance to the music. Roxcy has a very sophisticated palette ... her lunch is not the usual peanut butter sandwich and fruit ... no ... Roxcy likes olives, feta cheese, grapes, hummus ... it took me years to get our children used to that kind of food and some still don't like it. She loves ice cream. One of our fun things to do was to take lars and Roxcy to Boston Dreams and buy ice creams on our way home from day care ... Roxcy loves tasting everyone else's ice cream and is happy to share hers. When Roxcy gets upset it is like her whole world has come to an end ... big tears role down her face and she is so distraught!    

Roxcy loves her MUM. She loves having her hair look pretty. When she doesn't like something she says ... 'I don't like it!' She likes being read to in bed and has an eye for really good illustrations in stories. She is cuddly. She likes being waited on and will call from her room for food supplements when she is going to sleep. Roxcy doesn't walk, she bounces. When crossing at a pedestrian crossing she yells out 'thank you' and waves to the drivers who have stopped. She is loved by her teachers at pre-school ... and she loves them! Roxcy is really, really bright ... she picks things up very quickly, she sees everything. Her home is going to be busy, busy, busy with lots of friends. Social media is going to be very important to Roxcy,  she is a real extrovert.  She will not be ignored ... 'scuse me, scuse me'. We love the way her face lights up when she sees her Mum & Dad, or when we arrived to pick her up from pre-school. She loves swimming ... she loves riding in the trailer on the back of the tandem. She loves playing! She loves her cousins. She loves lars ... they come as a pair.

We loved spending time with this little girl  ... she is a lot of fun and a real delight and has lots of wonderful energy ... we miss her. Today Roxcy is 3 ... Happy Birthday Roxcy!!! We LOVE you.

A day fishing with Pete ... on the lake

She is soooo cute! Ice cream queen.

I love this photo of Pete & Roxcy ... Roxcy loved to wipe her nose on our heads when we carried her on our shoulders. She got a giggle out of it. Check out that cheeky face!

We can't wait to see you again ...

Some New Testament History

We thought we would do one post of our New Testament site visits ... we are trying not to be too boring and repetitious with the ruins. We want to keep you interested.

We have been in Selcuk for the last 4 days and before that had 2 days in Pamukkale. Ephesus is just up the road from where we are staying. This is our last stop of Greek/Roman ruins, tomorrow we are of to Gallipoli ... we are looking forward to it, then we are back in Istanbul for 3 nights and we fly out to Kathmandu on Saturday Oct 4. We cannot believe we have been here for a month it feels much longer. Again we have so many photos ... we find it hard to choose which ones to post and trying to keep it simple at the same time. Here it goes with some possible NT history...

Hierapolis, means Holy City... it is on a plateau that overlooks Pamukkale. There was a Branch of the early church here and Paul refers to it in Colossians 4:13. Things didn't always go smoothly for the Christians & Philip and his daughters (Acts 21:8, 9) were executed in this spot. 

Pete was thrilled about our visits to these NT sites. Here he is standing outside the Tomb of Philip and his daughters. 

I am standing in the entrance of the Basilica of Saint John. Tradition has it that this is the place where John the Beloved wrote the Gospel of John. 

This house is built on the hill overlooking Selcuk, where John may have done his writing.

Pete and I outside Mary, the Mother of Christ's home. There is some question around the authenticity of Mary's residence but this is the spot where she may have lived with John.

These are petitions to the Virgin Mary ... people come a long way to do this. 

This is the Baptismal Font in Mary's Church in Ephesus. There is a similar one in the Basilica of St John. Total immersion was the norm.

This is the theatre at Ephesus where two of Paul's missionary companions were taken after they were kidnapped by the silversmiths of the goddess Diana. Things turned ugly early on but they were saved by the town clerk of Ephesus. Paul waited outside. He wanted to go in but was talked out of it for his own safety (Acts 19:24-41). We are sitting in the nose bleeder part of the seats taking this photo. A spectacular view over the valley.

Pete standing in the centre of the theatre stage where the town clerk would have addressed the silversmiths. He would have had no trouble being heard as the acoustics are fantastic. While we were sitting a woman spontaneously starting singing ... she sounded great. These places have really brought the NT alive for us. 

The main Harbour Road that leads into Ephesus ... Paul and his followers would have walked this road when they got off the boat... on these very stones probably. The main theatre is in the background. There is something thrilling about walking where these great NT teachers had once walked and taught.

Magic Carpet Ride

Rug store ... women weaving rugs under the awnings. Part of their mission statement says ... 'to make the pleasure of carpets dance alive in all of our customers homes.'

We are in Selcuk for a few days ... off to Ephesus on Friday ... I will do a post later. We spent today visiting the ruins where John the Beloved wrote the Gospel of John and saw a baptismal font, seems like early Christians practised total immersion. On our walk we came across Barok Authentic Looms ... my interest was immediately captured by the women weaving outside ... I am a textile girl and I am always interested in materials, wool, pottery and any kind of authentic artisan type of creation ... of course I had to stop, look and take some photos.

Seeing these women at their looms reminded me of Aunt Julie and the weaving loom she had set up in her house when she lived in Mt Pleasant. Most of our family have a scarf that Julie has woven. Because of my association with Julie's weaving I was very interested in what these women were doing and how they were doing it.

The colours are stunning ... a master at her art.

While Pete and I were standing around watching, a sales assistant came up to us and explained to us about the Collective that these women are part of and how the store is part of a weaving guild. Pete was very interested in their business model and in how the company operated. We had been told by numerous people to stay clear of carpet salesmen, I was feeling very resistant and uncomfortable ... so I stayed out of the way and kept to myself ... aloof! I was convinced that we were being groomed for a sale. The next thing, I hear the salesman inviting Pete inside to have a closer look at their rugs ... I was waiting for Pete to say 'look no thanks, we don't have time right now but maybe we will come back tomorrow' ... code for 'no I am not interested and not buying.' But no ... Pete went in ... I was standing there thinking 'what!' ... I stayed outside watching the women weaving... I was loving what they were doing and the colours they were working with. About 5 minutes went by and no Pete so I hesitantly walked in the front door ... hanging round by the exit for a quick get away, if necessary. There was plenty in the entrance way to keep me interested ...

A display of colours and wool used in the weaving of the rugs the women work on. The collective has a policy that if the rugs are not sold by a certain time they pay the woman the price of the unsold rug.

The feel of the rug hanging on the wall was beautiful ... so soft! I am always going up to fabrics, wool or textiles of any sort, towels, sheets, pottery, etc, and the first thing I do is feel them. There is something about the feel of a garment or fabric that tells me if it is a natural product or man made. I do it a lot. Eventually I got brave enough to venture further in to the shop ... still looking for Pete. These photos are some of their rugs ...

Some traditional rug designs ... minus the arm in the photo.

WoW!

The man who Pete went in with found me beginning to wander further in and told me that Pete was upstairs talking to another sales man who had lived in Australia for a few years ... I was getting  concerned by this stage and wondered, 'does Pete know what he is doing?!' I went upstairs thinking I have to rescue him, or, there is going to be an embarrassing quick exit from here any minute. 

I found my way upstairs where Pete was with 2 men talking rugs ... the next thing I know this happened ...

Yes ... we did it ... we got ourselves a Rug from Turkey ...

We love it!

Pamukkale ... Afrodisias

Entrance gate to the city Afrodisias ... Pete standing in the entrance to give you a scale. 

We have spent the last couple of days in Pamukkale where we visited the ancient cities of Afrodisias and Hierapolis. Our bus rides to these locations are getting shorter now, only a four hour bus ride from Fethiye, no more overnighters. 

We stumbled on Afrodisias. When we arrived we bought a tour ticket for Pamukkale ... it was all very fast and confusing. We were told that someone would pick us up from our hotel in the morning at 9.30. So at 9.30 the next morning we waited outside our hotel ... a van turned up about 9.40am, with a very grumpy driver, we got in. The van looked a little small to me and not many people. I was relieved, I hate tours ... I feel rushed and find there are too many people! We drove to our destination ... Afrodisias. We presented our  tour ticket at the entrance and they said no ... your ticket is not for here. We were a little confused and embarrassed but paid our entrance fee ... we had a wonderful time here, wandering around the ruins by ourselves, with our Lonely Planet guide, taking our time to enjoy the history of this great city ... Afrodisias is really, really impressive. It turned out that we had got on the wrong bus but we were glad we made a mistake ... maybe there are no mistakes in life, just decisions that lead to a different and possibly more interesting outcome, that was certainly the case for us.

Here are some photos ...

The Stadium, I am thinking The Gladiator ... held up to 30,000. It was used for sport by the Pagans and then used for Gladiator fighting by the Romans.

These pillars are huge ... made from marble. The Stone Masonry here is amazing!

The age of these ruins is amazing ... most of them date back to the BCs. 

 I found this surviving on the steps of the Stadium ... reminded me of tramping in NZ.

 Roman Baths ...

Original bathroom tiles ... slate and marble ... bathroom fashion has not changed much in 1,000s of years ... black and white still very fashionable ... reminds me of our bathroom at 29a.

I loved this view ... the poplars blowing in the wind ... the swimming pool just below ... the remains of the city in the background. Enjoying our panorama setting on our camera ... 

I took a few photos of the Stone Masonry ... I think it is beautiful and the detail is amazing. Some of the stonework is marble and some is like our lime stone ... like this stone carving. The details of the leaves and the flower ... beautiful! I wonder how many hours were spent doing this carving?

 A wall of faces ... these are carvings that excavators have found among the ruins of Afrodisias and they have made a wall of them. They are all different and some are quite gothic. Some  have been carved in marble and some in stone.

 This beautiful piece is made from marble ... Turkey seems full of Cities of Ruins ... 

 A statue in the museum at Afrodisias ... done in marble ... how do they get the clothing to drape this way and the sense of movement ... stunning!

 Our room in Pamukkale.. panoramic view ... 

 Our view ... not quite what we are used to!! We are missing Butterfly Valley.

We have been travelling by bus through Turkey ... a fantastic, economical and easy way to travel. The buses are comfortable and some have refreshments given out by a bus attendant while travelling ... cake, coffee, tea, coke and water. There are smaller local buses called Dolmis, like our local city buses, they are mini vans and have seating for 12 and then standing room, they get packed! Pete has spent a bit of time watching these bus drivers. The drivers spend a lot of time on their cell phones, which seem to ring consistently and drive with one hand while talking on their phones, or have one arm hanging out the window ... no two hands on the wheel here ... they often straddle 2 lanes ... they come up quite fast behind other cars and slam on their brakes at the last minute, they can suddenly drive on the opposite side of the road into oncoming traffic. They smoke, while passengers are not allowed, particularly in the Dolmis. They use the horn a lot and for many different reasons. We found it quite scary driving in the Dolmis round the road to Butterfly Bay ... the Dolmis drivers go very fast and there are big drops down into the sea if they get it wrong. I remember one day when we were driving back from Oludeniz to Butterfly Valley and the driver was tired and seemed to be driving all over the road, with one hand out the window, rubbing his eyes and yawning a lot ... then he lit up a cigarette which I guess helped keep him awake! As you know Pete  loves cars and is a very good driver, he enjoys driving ... watching these bus drivers has been stressful for Pete and anxiety provoking at times. I have often seen him sitting on the edge of his seat. I am wondering what he will say when we are driving in buses through Kathmandu and India.