Aphrodesias and Pamukkale

Thanks to our two day trip without internet access last weekend and a long week of studying and outside activities it has been a while since my last post. Everything is going great but free time is scarce and free time when my brain is working well enough to write coherently is even more so. We have been very active since my last update so I will try to recap everything as best I can. Early last Saturday morning our group piled onto the bus for a 4 hour trip eastward to the ancient Greek ruins at Aphrodesias. They were beautiful and much less crowded than some of our previous stops. We were able to wander through the site almost entirely by ourselves which made for a more leisurely pace. After that tour we headed closer to our primary destination of Pamukkale to check into our hotel and enjoy the evening. Pamukkale is the current name for the ancient Greek and Roman site of Hierapolis and is known for the natural hot springs that are abundant in the area. At the main site you can wander through some of the ruins before making your way to a hillside where volcanic activity has created a series of thermal pools lined with travertine. They are apparently not what they were thirty years ago, but in the main area the effect is still remarkable. The other benefit of being in an area with natural hot springs is that our hotel had a heated pool and a series of thermal mud baths that we took full advantage of during our stay. I'll try to post as many pictures as I can and then tell all about the boat trip that we had yesterday.