Leaving Selcuk for Denizli was not an issue, since taking the metro train for 16 TL was pretty straight forward and a direct line to my destination. Ariving at the Denizli train station became a blur of confusion on where to find the bus depot for my next transportation. But eventually asking a employee from the train station, pointed out to me the direction of the location. Walking in the bus depot felt like I was walking into a mall of agencies for tours, transportation and lodgings and I think everyone one of them would of tried to sell me a package of something. So I asked someone for the particular bus to get to Pamukkale which they directed me to a lot space #76 down on the ground level floor if the bus depot building. Then I was often to Pamukkale for 20 minute drive which lead to something that caught me off guard.
The bus arrived in the town square where I got off and was quickly approached by a young guy asking me for assistance which I declined and the father of this kid approached me as well. Then he started asking questions on where I was staying and started telling me he's the owner of the lodging I'm staying at and discussing to me his tour packages for Capadoccia. These were tour packages for specific attractions to visit including an hot air balloon ride and supposedly the deal he was giving was quite cheaper from other competitors. He actually showed me receipts of the most recent people purchasing the green tour which was quite popular. I was really hesitant because I wanted to do alot sightseeing without a tour and rely on buses and hiking in trails. But I was put in a tough situation since I was staying at his lodging and I kept questioning the tours in general but eventually gave in. Now if I completely flat out denied his offer for a tour package, I'm not sure what would of happened at the lodging. I could of been put in a position where I would feel uncomfortable and who knows where I would of needed to go to for another lodging. This sales pitch was so aggressive I didn't have time to think about it since the guy would only give me this cheaper rate for the tour package at the present time. His logic sounded reasonable about how much more I would be spending if I try to do some or all of the attractions on my own. So that irked me pretty much the whole day when I arrived and to make matters worst the high attraction of the town was not in the best of time to visit which was the travertines (thermal pools) and Hierapolis ruins due to raining on and off. This was something I didn't anticipate happening but hopefully this turns out well in Cappodocia especially its been raining here and there in that region and also my stay in Pamukkale. Looking back in this, I'm not sure if I could have avoided this whether I started my trip first in Cappodocia or Selcuk or even booked with another lodging. As upset as I am, I'm trying to make the best of it and who knows maybe I might surprised with this tour and make me a believer of the sales guy. Its an learning experience especially trying to deal with situations when you travel alone.
The following day was a new page and the weather was working with me so I headed to the travertines, that appeared on the white powder looking mountain. The appearance from a distance was just something like out of a movie, it didn't look natural at first till you see it up close. The good thing about visiting this attraction is that its part of the Hierapolis city ruins site where you can explore two places for the price of admission. The interesting part I realized when I just about to set foot on the calcite surface was that you were required to walk barefooted due to the surface might be damaged from shoes or other footwear. It felt awkward at first but you got used to it since the running water smoothed out rock surface. They had individual pools at different locations but only a few feet deep so it was not like you can actually go swimming, more of getting your feet wet. The questionable part of this attraction was the extreme amount of tourists appearing since this is the highlight for the town, it took time by pass people so it wasn't that bad. Its actually funny that they have workers that call out people with whistles if they are staying in fragile spots of the calcite surfaces to long. I didn't stay to long since I wasn't dressed in a bathing suit but had the chance to do a lot of filming and photography and proceeded to Hierapolis.
The ancient city was such a extensive city that the ruins were spread out in far distances. It required a lot if time to go to every specific spot to read about the history and take photos of but the architecture was very appealing especially the giant amphitheater. It was quite a sight people observing these ruins in their bathing suit since there was a swimming resort next to the structures plus the sun beating down on us from being atop of a mountain. I spent a good amount of a couple of hours to do photography of the city left with a sense of accomplishment while heading back to my lodging.
Waiting at the bus depot for my bus to Goreme was boring at first till I got into a conversation with an elderly couple from the England and a young couple from Canada. Then as we were about to leave our seats to approach the spot where our bus would arrive, a Turkish guy sat next to us and tried to make a conversation. Now this guy was constantly walking around the terminal near our area for some reason and we didn't know what he was doing till he started talking to a guy sitting in the same row of seats I was at. Then it made sense, he was really interested in this lady from Taiwan sitting near me but he was acting weird around her. So we left for our bus, I realized she was going to the same bus as well and I mentioned the situation she's in with that odd individual. She was frightened and the Canadian couple and myself pretty much positioned ourselves so the guy wouldn't get close to the her till we stepped onto the bus. I read about men from other countries acting aggressively toward foreign tourist women to get their attention in travel guide books but this was first hand that I experienced seeing it in person. I spoke to the woman about the situation in more in-depth and she was grateful about some people out there in the public was concern for her safety even though we all are strangers, there are still decent people out there in the world.
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