Friday 2 October

We didn’t have far to go today to the ancient spa city of Hierapolis from our hotel in Pamukkale. The amazing Travertines are terraces of carbonates and are World Heritage listed. The hot springs are fed from under the ground and the water in the Cleopatra pool is very warm. We tried out the Cleopatra pool along with many other people. There is spouting warm water and a deeper section which has ropes to hang on to and in the shallower areas are large boulders. The ruins have a hole which has gas coming from it and a sign saying Plutonium which apparently means place of the god Pluto and the gas is carbon dioxide. We checked out the amphitheatre and then also the museum and the ruins in the necropolis. We had lunch with tunica clad young men assisting before we were taken to the obligatory carpet display. The carpets are very beautiful and it would be great to buy a few to decorate home. A couple of the group bought carpets, but we realised that going with a group to such a place takes a certain amount of pressure off to buy. Then another hotel smorgasbord meal back at our hotel.