The Waters of Pamukkale (Hierapolis)

Pamukkale is a small town in southwest Turkey, located near the site of the ancient Greco-Roman city of Hierapolis. Its name in Turkish means "cotton castle," so-called after the calcium-rich springs which coat the mountain with white layers of calcium carbonate known as travertines. From a distance, the travertines look like snow.



Both tourists and locals like to soak in Hierapolis' waters, and, in fact, when approaching from the southern gate, one does not have any choice but to take off one's shoes and wade or step gingerly through its flowing pools.




At the top of the mountain lie the ruins of Hierapolis (yet more Greco-Roman ruins in Turkey) and a popular thermal bath, in which, it is rumored, Cleopatra once bathed and in which tourists can swim among ancient ruins.



Although lovely, the thermal bath is also a tourist trap. Tourists have to pay 20 Turkish Lira (approx. $13) to walk on the travertines and get up to the ruins/bath area. They then have to pay an additional 23 TL (approx. $15) to enter the thermal bath, and another 2 TL to rent a locker. Our guidebooks mention having to pay a "modest fee" to use the pool, but not an admission fee exceeding the original entrance fee. So when we finally got to the top and discovered that we had to pay 23 TL to use the pool, Funda became really upset. She went around looking for the manager and complained to him about the way that Hierapolis was being run. Several years ago, the Turkish government got rid of the motels at the top of the mountain and nationalized the thermal baths. Because the thermal baths were now public property, Funda argued that it should not be run like a for-profit institution and that it was absurd to slap all these additional charges on foreigners and Turks who wanted to swim there. The manager refused to listen at first, but - through Funda's magic - eventually gave in and agreed to let us swim in the baths and have lockers for free. My overall assessment: swimming was very nice, and it seems reasonable to charge a modest fee, but 23 TL for entering the thermal bath is really excessive, particularly given the general cost of living in Pamukkale (cheaper than most other tourist towns).