Our breakfast of crackers and sliced cheese (the latter of which was rather sweaty as a result of our rather long overnight bus journey) was interrupted by an instruction to get off the bus. Having established that we were heading for Pamukkale, a Turkish gentleman ushered us off the overnight bus (which had appeared to have stopped at the side of the road miles from civilisation) and on to a minibus, which then took us on to Pamukkale. 
We were dropped off at the Metro office in the village, where we booked our overnight travel to our next destination, Goreme. Despite being perfectly willing to get the map out and find our own way to our hotel on foot, the staff seemed keen for us to wait for their driver to return so that he could deliver us and our luggage. Top marks to the driver, he did almost manage to sell us a tour of the area, but I was gravely aware of how much money I'd already burned in Istanbul, and convinced that the two sights in Pamukkale (the travertines & hot springs, and ruins of Hierapolis) were reasonably close by and could be reached easily on foot.
I wasn't wrong. So after checking into the hotel, enjoying some free coffee by the attractive pool, and petting the resident cats, we strolled into the village, armed with the directions we'd been left in the hotel room. Seeing as though there's really only one reason tourists come to Pamukkale (the famous travertines), I guess it makes sense to make it easy for your guests to find them. Not that we really needed much help in the end, Pamukkale is barely a three-street village, and the travertines form a stunning backdrop, like mountains covered in fresh snow. Spotting a tortoise walking down the road made a random interlude to our short walk up to the southern entrance. 
The gleaming white calcite shelves overrunning with warm, mineral-rich waters on the mountain above it, are naturally formed. However, had the site not obtained Unesco World Heritage status back in 1988, and a subsequent plan put in place to protect it, those travertines could well have been a natural phenomena ruined by the intervention of man. Shortly after passing the entrance booth (which costs 20TL, and includes the ruins of Hierapolis), it is obligatory to remove shoes and socks, and bathing is now only permitted in the lower pools.
It's a strange sensation walking over the travertines, as although the ridges look rough, in reality the constant water flow keeps the ground mostly soft, even gooey in places. It's a stunning, and bizarre landscape, and one you have to see to be able to appreciate it's vastness and beauty. 
Located high above Pamukkale, and on the same site as the village's travertines and hot springs, Hierapolis (meaning 'sacred city' in Greek) was founded as a thermal spa in the 2nd century BCE, and subsequently became a healing centre where doctors used the thermal pools as a treatment for their patients. The ruins cover a vast area, and include grand entrance gates, columned streets and baths, as well as a Sacred Pool, Basilica, Temple, Latrine, Amphitheatre, and an extensive Necropolis. We spent a whole day here marvelling at the landscape, paddling in the hot pools, climbing the ruins, looking for lizards, and taking an enormous amount of photographs. It's very evident that money has been spent on the upkeep of this site. It's been landscaped beautifully, with a wooden walkway running around its circumference, giving easy access to all areas. Stu managed to stand on a bee (which consequently stung him) whilst he went trawling through the undergrowth David Bellamy style to stalk a lizard, and both of us got a rather bad case of sunburn (white reflects the heat, left the sunscreen at the hotel, doh!) but otherwise Pamukkale had been a pleasure to get to know today.
Wandering back through the village at dusk, it seemed apparent that apart from a few tiny restaurants, nightlife in Pamukkale was distinctly lacking. So we secured the comfy sofa up on the veranda at our hotel, ordered a couple of beers, got chatting to a Jordanian guy who'd lived in Manchester (!?), and then perused the menu. By this time we were both starving, having been walking around all day in the 26 degree heat. However despite that, we still couldn't manage the mountain of food when it arrived...a whole Sea Bream with vegetables and cheese, chicken casserole, 2 'side salads' served on a dinner plate bigger than our mains, and a basket full of bread (which we probably shouldn't have demolished before the rest of the food arrived!)It was so nice to have our own room with ensuite after 3 nights in a noisy dorm room followed by a 4th on a bus. Lovely little balcony, hot shower, comfy double bed....absolute bliss and the best night sleep I had since leaving England.
Day 6 : What a beautiful day to go paragliding!
To be completely honest, Pamukkale's sights can be seen in a day, and seeing as though we had a second day here (due to the bus to Goreme only running at 9pm each day), we were at a bit of a loose end. We'd seen the paragliders flying down over the travertines yesterday, but had not really considered it with any seriousness due to the high costs involved - or so we thought. However we were wandering through the village, and one of the guys beckoned us over. He spoke perfect English (he'd even picked up the colloquial 'sick, meaning 'awesome') and was so enthusiastic about what he does. My boyfriend Stu is big into what's been labelled as 'Extreme Sports' (Skiing, Snowboarding, Surfing, Wakeboarding, Water Skiing, Hand-gliding), so the two of them very quickly became engrossed in conversation about it all, together with the scientific and technical facts and figures behind it all. We spent a good hour just hanging out with this guy, watching clips on YouTube of base jumpers, people in flight suits, the guy who fell from Space...) and drinking Turkish tea. Couldn't think of a better way to spend what was going to be our 'wasted day'.
However the day got much better when he offered to take us out paragliding for 100TL each (around £35). It was low season, the weather had only just started improving, we were a couple of the first tourists he'd spoken to since opening this year, and on top of everything, he was desperate to fly! I could easily spend £35 in the pub at the weekend, so I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity of a new experience for the same price.
So we packed up, jumped in the van, and headed up the mountain. The scenery on the drive up was beautiful, glances of time-forgotten rural life, fresh mountain air, the wind on your face, and the excitement and anticipation of climbing higher and higher towards the sky. When we finally reached the jumping off point, beautiful green hills interspersed by clumps of dense woodland, stretched for as far as the eye could see, and in the distance you could see the travertines, a massive expanse of white, creating a stark contrast to the rich green landscape they covered.
Stu was the first one to take off, so I took my camera in hand and tried to get as many shots as I could before it was my turn to get strapped up and become airborne. Being the little hobbit that I am, it didn't didn't take long for my little running feet to leave the ground. Paragliding is, if you've ever done a skydive, much like the part once you've released your parachute and you're sitting there floating, admiring the scenery that you couldn't really appreciate previously because you were too busy enjoying the sensation; too busy thinking "wow!" Paragliding gave me a wonderful aerial view of Pamukkale, a different perspective from which to view all that we'd seen the day before from ground level. My only complaint, as with all experiences like that, is that it didn't last long enough.
Footnotes
We stayed at the Melrose Hotel, which again I can thoroughly recommend for the friendly, helpful staff, and quality of the accommodation & food.
We paraglided with Hierapolis-Pamukkale Paragliding. I think they're the only outfit in the village, but again, I can thoroughly recommend.
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