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.