Day 258: Pamukkale travertines

Maybe you’ve seen pictures of the Pamukkale travertines, the beautiful aqua blue water against the white mineral deposits that used to be something of the face of tourism in Turkey. I did, and being in Turkey, wanted to see them. It’s a bit of an illusion at first when you take off your shoes to walk up the sparkling white slope to the pool. You expect it to be slippery or cold even, but it’s neither. It’s rough (almost like walking on pumice stone and in some places it’s cool due to water or shade, yet in others it’s warm due to the sun sparkling over its surface or warmer spring water running over it. It’s breathtaking walking up and nothing like I’ve ever done before.

And then, as you near the top and it’s more crowded thanks to the tour buses who have deposited their groups in between Hierapolis and the travertines for their convenience. Women and men of all shapes and sizes perfect their modeling portfolios against the glistening white background. Everyone gets into the pools, standing or submerging themselves in the spring water, some smothering the chalky mineral deposits on their bodies for fun or with expectations that it will improve their health. Children have a field day. It’s equally fun participating as it is watching everyone else enjoy the natural wonder.

Once you are at the top, you can see more clearly the dried up travertines. Apparently, Pamukkale used to be a thriving town and tourism destination, until the government intervened. This is where it becomes unclear (at least to me). After Pamukkale was declared a World Heritage Site in 1988, the government removed the road leading up to the natural springs and built artificial pools for tourists to get into. Shoes were prohibited (and still are today) when walking on the slope. That part is easy to digest. What is not easy to digest is how nearly all of the natural pools of water have dried up. Completely.

It’s still stunning, but it just seems a little shady. The water is still coming from somewhere, but it’s being directed to other pools of water- not the natural pools of water. And if this picture was just taken within the past five years, what exactly is the government doing with the water flow, and why? Do they plan on letting the water flow back into the dried up pools? It’s a shame, really. Because once you see the vast amount of dried up pools, it takes away from the beauty of it all. And you don’t know whether or not you’re to blame being a tourist walking through the springs. Which again, takes away from the experience. At least it did for me, wondering if I was part of the problem or not…

I couldn’t help but think of the terraced rice paddies in Vietnam when I was photographing these terraced hot springs. I also could not stop photographing them either- obviously. Just scroll through if they don’t mesmerize you the same way they did me.

Hopefully, and I’m sure, at least I want to be sure that the government knows what they are doing and this is all just temporary. Maybe in a few years the springs will be back in all their glory and I can visit and recount the days when the springs were all dried up.

Day 12: Huế

Huế was the imperial city of the Nguyen dynasty up until 1945. It’s a much smaller city than Hanoi, with not a whole lot going on in it outside of the historical monuments in and outside of the city limits. We crossed the Perfume River, walked to the Citadel, meandered through The Imperial City, and photographed a lively market before spending our first night in a 14 person hostel room.

The Citadel is the structure that surrounds The Imperial City. It’s basically a wall. Andrew was frustrated we couldn’t get closer – in other words, that he couldn’t climb on and or into it. I wasn’t as enthusiastic.

It was also a little bit hard for me to get excited about The Imperial City as well. (Sorry, Nguyen dynasty) I’m sure a lot of it has to do with how much damage was caused when the North seized the city during the war. It did seem as though more of The Imperial City was open to the public compared to my past visit. Right now, there is a large restoration project going on that was apparent as we walked through hallways filled with freshly painted red panels, and construction hummed in the background. It also seemed as though Korea is helping with this restoration project, evident by the large SAMSUNG sign over the large SAMSUNG tv with a brief explanation of the grounds brought to you by… SAMSUNG!

We walked through the city towards the market area, passing by lots of dragons and food stalls that made for a colorful and entertaining walk. I loved the colors, especially when compared to the dull grey that dominated most of the cityscape of Hue. Vietnam tends to be bright and vibrant in the countryside, but rather dull (and dirty) in the cities. Obviously, this is true of any city/country comparison – the dragons and food stalls tended to brighten things up a bit.

The market was busy. Busier it seemed than the markets of Korea, and of our favorite market experience in Burma. Vendors were one after the other, often several selling the same varieties of vegetables right next to each other. Motorbikes zipped through walkways and roadways alike, and it was as if every stall, or every vendor, or every different kind of good to be sold bled into the next item. Sometimes literally, as meat was chopped up and blood dripped down past baskets of fruit. It was chaotic. and it was unnerving to photograph. Usually, I feel right at home photographing a market (there are quite a lot in Seoul, and I visited many while working on Seoul Suburban), but here I was a little more timid than usual, and soaked up the chaos more than weaving in and out of vendors for photographs.

My favorite part of the market were the hair salons that lined the one end. That is something that was not seen in Korea and I loved the juxtaposition of the fruit, vegetable, meat vendors on the sidewalk while women sat in a salon getting their hair permed, colored, or cut within.