Pamukkale Travertines Tickets and Tours | GetExperince.com

What the white actually is

Water leaves the ground at about 35C. It carries dissolved calcium, and as it runs down the slope and cools, carbon dioxide escapes and calcium carbonate settles out. A few hundred thousand years of that have built a face 2,700 metres long and 160 metres high.

It is neither snow nor marble. The deposit still grows wherever water runs, so the surface underfoot changes from year to year. UNESCO listed it in 1988 together with Hierapolis, the ruined city on the plateau above.

Walking the terraces

Shoes come off at the entrance and stay off. Grit carried in on soles scratches the crust, so the rule is enforced rather than suggested. The path water is ankle-deep and warm, and the rough surface hurts the feet more going down than coming up.

Why half the basins are dry

The flow is switched between sections deliberately. Drained basins harden and bleach in the sun, which holds off algae and keeps the white white. Whichever day you come, the postcard blue will only be in part of the frame.

Practical

• Time of day. The slope takes the full afternoon sun and the white throws it straight back. The last two hours before closing are cooler, emptier and better lit.
• Three gates. The town entrance at the bottom means climbing the terraces barefoot. The South and North gates sit up on the plateau, need a car, and let you walk down instead.
• The Antique Pool. Extra to the site ticket, and it buys a swim among the marble columns of a portico an earthquake dropped in.
• Bring. A bag for your shoes, plus a towel and swimsuit for the pool.
• Winter. The air can sit near freezing while the water is still 35C, and the terraces empty out.
• Water. A bottle inside the site costs several times the village price.
• Day trips. From Kusadasi it is about eight hours there and back on the road. The Istanbul version flies to Denizli and still starts before five.