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We headed pretty much directly east through some beautiful green valleys and past some snow-topped mountains until we got to the town of Pamukkale and the ruins of Heirapolis. There was a massive Roman city here spread across a plateau above the plain where Pamukkale is - now there are a few buildings still with walls standing but it is mostly just random rocks spread across the field, and very overgrown with spring grass and wildflowers.
The really interesting thing about the place though is the thermal springs. They come up in the centre of the ancient city and there is now a thermal bath over it (which cost 23 lira to get in!) but the water is super calcified and where it drains down the mountain over many thousands of years, it has left calcified terraces, called "travertines". To get up to the ruins from pamukkale you have to walk up and across these terraces without any shoes on, with the water flowing down over your feet. It was a warm day with a cool breeze today when we were there but by the time we started walking up the steep hill the cool water was nice on our feet. It cost us 20 lira to get into the site (this country is so expensive) and we walked around for a couple of hours, seeing the quite well-preserved (and partially rebuilt) theater, churches, roman roads and other random buildings. It would have been nice to see how part of the city was laid out or something, since they do know that the theater took up 4 blocks, for instance.
Once we were done with the ruins and Adam was back with the truck, we headed south slightly and camped in the mountains off the side of the road. This was our first night of cooking and eating in the rain, and most people went to bed as soon as dinner was finished.
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