Pamukkale Hierapolis Travertines Tour

Pamukkale looks fake in photographs and slightly unreal in person. Calcium-rich thermal water has been spilling down this hillside for thousands of years, leaving behind terrace after terrace of white calcite — the "cotton castle" — with shallow warm pools stepping down the slope. UNESCO lists it together with the Roman spa city built directly on top.

You walk them barefoot. Shoes are not allowed on the terraces, which protects the surface and also explains why everyone is carrying their sandals. The rock is ridged and occasionally sharp underfoot, the water is warm and rarely deeper than your ankles, and terraces are flooded on rotation, so some sections run white and dry while others hold water. Take your time; the surface is slippery where the flow is strongest.

At the top of the slope the ruins begin. Hierapolis was a Roman spa town — people came here to be healed, and a great many stayed permanently, which is why its necropolis is one of the largest in Anatolia, with tombs of every shape scattered across the fields. The theatre is the highlight, remarkably intact, with carved stage decoration still in place. Nearby lie the colonnaded main street, the arches, and the Plutonium, a fenced opening the ancients considered a doorway to the underworld because gas seeping out of it killed animals brought too close.

The antique pool, with fallen marble columns lying on the bottom of warm mineral water, sits inside the site — swimming there requires a separate ticket bought on the spot, so bring swimwear and a towel if you want the option. At Karahayıt nearby, iron in the water stains the deposits rust-red instead of white, a strange counterpoint after a morning of blinding white.

This is a full-day trip inland from the coast, returning the same evening. Hotel pickup and drop-off in an air-conditioned Mercedes, a professional guide, entrance fees, lunch at a local restaurant and bottled water are included. Sunglasses and sunscreen are essential — white rock throws light back at you from below.