Cappadocia-Isparta-Kuşadası

Early in the morning we left our beautiful hotel in Cappadocia and made our sprint west across Turkey from the central highlands around Cappadocia to the swanky, sexy resorts of Turkey’s Aegean Coast.

You can see our room in this photo – the left side of the building along the ridge line of the hill. The view was fantastic and as you know we saw the famous balloons from there in the morning.

Our trip west took us two days of mostly unremarkable driving but for four things. First our route:

We split it in two by stopping overnight in a town called Isparta, which is immediately west of what appears to be Turkey’s apple country in and around Lake Egirdir.

We passed through what felt like a hundred miles of apple orchards along with farmers harvesting them and bringing them to market in trucks with mountains of apples in them.

The other notable stop we made on the first leg was in a very small place called Sultanhani.

We stopped here because there is a lovingly restored caravanseray. What’s that you ask?

On a simple level they were a roadside inn where travelers (caravaners) could rest and recover from the day’s journey. You’d generally get free camel parking, a meal, and a place to sleep.

Central courtyards were places of commerce and information sharing. These were strung along the Silk Road, the Royal Road, and other important trade routes throughout Asia.

This particular caravanseray dates from the 13th century and is one of the best remaining examples in the world.

The interior courtyard was used during the summer when it was warm.

Then in the winter they moved things inside.

You can easily imagine the commerce that took place in these halls.

It’s really incredible the shape that it’s in as it comes up on its 800th anniversary.

There even is a cool beaded curtain that helps keep out the cold.

The next day, on our way from Isparta to Kuşadası on the Aegean Coast, we stopped in Pamukkale to see the famous travertine cliffs as well as the ancient Greek and Roman resort town of Hierapolis.

Hieropolis was founded by the Greeks in the 7th century BC and is located on a hot springs. The hot springs have been used as a spa since the 2nd century BC, with many patrons retiring or dying there. It became a healing centre where doctors used the thermal springs as a treatment for their patients.

Through the influence of the Christian apostle Paul, a church was founded here while he was at Ephesus. The Christian apostle Philip spent the last years of his life here.

In the year 60, during the rule of Roman Emporer Nero, a severe earthquake left the city completely in ruins. Afterwards, the city was rebuilt in the Roman style with imperial financial support. It was during this period that the city attained its present form.

The hot springs were leveraged to build a thermal pool in Hierapolis that is in use still today.

The same thermal hot springs that made Hierapolis the famous place that it was also have created limestone cliffs on the side of the hill the town sits on. These are known as Pamukkale, or “Cotton Castle”.

Not snow, limestone! You are able to take off your shoes and walk (or even swim, if so inclined) in the limestone pools of Pamukkale.

They usually are more dazzling because pictures of them are usually taken in the sunshine. We had a cloudy and foggy visit to Pamukkale and Hierapolis so not so dazzling but still quite interesting. We did no toe-dipping, however.