Trip to Turkey
Susan Anderson and Margaret Keiley
Cappadocia to Konya to Pamukkale To Afrodisias

On Friday, March 19, we left Cappadocia for Pamukkale, a ride of around 400 miles.
On the way, we visited the markets of Konya , a place of pilgrimage for the entire Muslim world,


Sauces, olives, peppers.
Cheese that looked like rocks!
Veggies and fruits -
oranges were great!

and the home of the Mevlâna ("Our Master"), the mystic who founded the Mevlevî or "Whirling Dervish" sect. 

Mosque/
Museum
of Mevlâna. 		Whirling
Dervishes


Konya is in one of the very conservative sections of the country.
Almost all of the women here wore long dresses and coats and head coverings.

Margaret
next to
long coats
for sale. 		Women in
typical garb
near the
mosque in
Konya.


Because we had so many hours together in the car, our discussions covered a myriad of topics from the dreaded politics (!) to religion, families, personal lives, work, psychology, quirks of the different languages and cultures, history, etc. etc. etc. We were so grateful for Kagan with his powerful stories that made history come alive and his wonderful sense of humor. Amazingly, we were all still speaking to each other by the end of the trip!

Deriving from springs in a cliff almost 200 meters high overlooking the plain, calcite-laden waters created at Pamukkale (Cotton Palace) an unreal landscape, made up of mineral forests, petrified waterfalls and a series of terraced basins.
....

Because so many tourists damaged the formations and much of the water source has diminished, no one is allowed to swim in the pools any more, but we were permitted to hike down one section of them – no shoes allowed.

The water starts from natural thermal sources but it was pretty cold on the tootsies by the time we got partway down!


Next to Pamukkale was Heiropolis, built at the end of the 2nd century B.C., with its baths,
temples and other Greek monuments.


Kagan and Margaret at Heiropolis necropolis.
  
How did they build those arches?


On the way to Kusadasi on Saturday, we visited Afrodisias, with its great temple dedicated to
Aphrodite, goddess of love. Most of the monuments there date to the 2nd century and later.


Entrance to Afrodisias.
I loved this tree!

Watching the games at the stadium.