Turkey’s Cotton Castles: Perfect Pamukkale

The first time I saw the pictures, I thought, This can’t be real.

Pristine snow-white hills, pale turquoise pools. It looked like a geological heaven of ice and water. As a natural wonder, it was amazing enough.

But the people in shorts and bathing suits, wading in the water without a care (or a coat), really made the picture unbelievable.

Aren’t they cold? Isn’t that snow?

It wasn’t snow.

It was one of Turkey most amazing sights, Pamukkale—naturally occurring calcium deposits and hot springs that appear to be icy cold, but instead are warm and wondrous.

When I moved to Turkey months after seeing the pictures online, it became one of the top two spots I absolutely had to see (along with Cappadocia).  As summer haze descended on Istanbul and my schedule started to open up, it was finally the perfect time.

Lucy and Kivanc and I went to Izmir, Turkey’s liberal beachside city, and Kivanc’s hometown. (And which will have its own whole post, so I won’t get into Izmir here.) We took an overnight bus from Istanbul that cost about 60 TL and lasted a good 10 hours. We were spending a long weekend in the area, so after a couple of days in Izmir and a nighttime drive to Denizli, we finally set out to see Pamukkale. There is a direct bus between Denizli and Pamukkale that only takes a half an hour, so the journey was easy.

The town at the base of Pamukkale is nothing special—some tour companies, a few restaurants, and the traditional Turkish salesmen hawking their goods—but there’s no reason to linger there anyway, when Pamukkale awaits. The wild white mountains of Pamukkale—which means “cotton castle” in Turkish—are formed by deposits of calcium and travertine, and natural mineral springs that bubble up warm and milky and flow over the white ground. The chemical and geological reactions that occur (which my poor science-challenged brain doesn’t fully understand, and therefore, which I won’t be explaining to you here) create natural pools from the travertine. Pamukkale is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and that designation forced Turkey to take better care of its natural wonder—now, most of the pools that tourists can walk through are man-made and the water is highly regulated; the natural pools can be seen but not touched. No matter. As instructed, we walked up the blinding white incline shoeless, letting the cool water rush between our toes. It was a sweltering hot summer day, but we were overwhelmed with delight as we climbed—the water felt WONDERFUL.

Those are very happy toes.

Quickly, Lucy and Kivanc and I reverted to a child-like glee, splashing and giggling dancing in the water. When I saw that picture months and months ago, I was struck by how Pamukkale looked—but what I couldn’t have known was how incredible Pamukkale FELT. That clouded blue water rushing between our toes, the cool pools up to our knees—I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Pamukkale is truly a wonder, in every possible way.