Because my hostel is not right next to a Mosque I missed out on the early morning wake up I had gotten so accustom to. Instead I slept until 9 and had a battle to get out of bed. My destination for the day was just 1km down the road so it wasn’t too horrible. On today’s menu: Hierapolis. To enter Hierapolis from the city you have to first pass through the travertines at the base of the mountain. The travertines are basically limestone covered sections of the mountain. The limestone was deposited by hot springs the mountain also possess. I can see their peak from my hotel balcony and it has just been taunting me. I spent a considerable amount of time getting to this point so it was kind of exciting finally making my way towards it.
I arrived at the gate, paid the 20 Lira ticket fee, and walked towards the white peaks. There were four travelers ahead of me but other than that it was empty. This is one of the advantages of going during the off season. From all of the other pictures I have seen they are packed with people from top to bottom. In an attempt to preserve the site they require that you remove your shoes when crossing over to Hierapolis. I lost my shoes, got my clam diggers on, and went to it.
At times it really looked and felt like I was on a ski slope. I kept wanted to strap on my Solomons and bomb down the hill. That would have ended poorly.
They try to funnel most of the spring water in a canal by the edge but a lot of the water still flows down the face of the mountain. This made some areas particularly tricky to maneuver without slipping. The water and the limestone at the bottom on the hill was freezing cold. It was so cold at times I didn’t know if I could make it up all the way. Once I got about halfway up it started to warm up and the rest of the walk was quite refreshing. This was especially true on the way down.
Aside from flowing in the canal, the water also flows into these 'pools'. They looked very man made to me but what do I know. Word has it that these have been used as natural baths since B.C. Times. The pools were quite shallow this time of year so I didn’t bathe in them like I had envisioned. I don't think I have ever seen water so clear.
Once I reached the top I put back on my shoes and headed off to explore the ancient city. The springs rout drops you off in the middle of the city. I decided to start off by walking along the cliff side towards the northern gate. This allowed for some good views of the valley
This took considerably longer than I had anticipated. The size of this city is enormous. Once I reached the north side I cut into the main path to see all the sights I had missed while walking along the cliff. I was surprised to see thousands of graves and tombs. Apparently the north side was not really part of the city but more of a suburb for the dead. I would argue that modern suburbs are for those who are dead inside but this is neither the time nor place. Most of the structures were large stone coffins or collapsed buildings. Then, after a few minutes, I started running into these guys.
There weren’t really any signs saying I couldn’t go in so I thought I would give it a try. It started out innocently enough.
But then I got more and more adventurous and started taking on more involved methods of entry.
I was reaching the end of the ancient graveyard when I saw a group of these structures.
They looked like African huts made out of stone. After some recon work I didn't really want to go inside because it looked pretty cramped and dark inside. I am quite claustrophobic and times and did not posses a flashlight. I walked away at first but my curious side got the better of me.
View from the inside. You must note that in the next few photos it was pitch black and I could not see a thing. I was using the cameras flash as a impromptu light source. It wasn’t constant by any means and I went very slowly but this is what was inside.
This is in the same location as the last picture but turned away from the opening. I climbed over the debris and turned the corner.
Another small space! I couldn’t turn back now. I just hoped there were no big spiders or bears or something. I couldn’t see past the opening so I crawled with one hand in front of me to make sure I could get through. The path was clear.
I was now in this bigger room that looked like the main parts of the other tombs but this time there was yet another room to go in!
I went to the opening and crawled through to get to the final chamber.
I was feeling pretty cool at this point. If you have read this blog before you know my fascination with Indiana Jones and I was feeling pretty fucking cool at this point.
I must have crawled in every tomb I could find. I was having a grand old time and I was the only one in sight. I don't thing I saw another person the whole time I was in the northern part of the city. Then I looked at my watch. I had been doing this for two hours straight. I needed to move on if I was to see the rest this city had to offer. I had barley cracked the surface.
My entire hike ended up lasting 7 hours. This place is massive and I have no idea how far I walked but I tried to see as much as I could. I ended up taking around 350 pictures and although id like to show them all to you I am starting to feel like that old aunt that forces you to watch her slide show of things you don't care about. I'm obsessed with ruins but I know A) not everyone is and B) they don't look as cool in pictures. I have set up a photographic Cliff's Notes highlight tour as to not lose your readership.
As the sun was setting I had to accept I wouldn’t be able to see everything and called it a day. By this time there were a lot more tourist wandering the sites than when I had started. The majority of them were bused in from other cities and given a highlight tour (hey, just like you!). Except their tour missed probably some of my favorite areas because they are so spread out or hard to get to. As I went to leave they had even made it down to the travertines.
An interesting effect happened to the limestone walls over the course of the day. I don't know if it was the increase in visitors or a natural occurrence but a lot of the walls looked like they were covered in algae. I was glad I got to see them before this happened because it took some of the magic away.
I did get one of the other tourists to snap a photo of me though. I had tried to place my camera on the limestone wall and use the camera timer but it could never figure out the focus properly. I had used this technique multiple time while in the ruins with great success but this shot was just not working. The 2 man version came out considerably better.
All in all it was a pretty awesome day. And I got to see the sunset as I walked down the mountain for the final time.
One other thing. Apparently my hotel is just on the shitty side of town. There was way more stuff to do by the mountain. I really blew it with this one.
There was even a Disco!
I know what I'm doing tonight.
