Kusadasi to Pamukkale

We managed to make the super tight connection in Istanbul on Turkish airlines to our 45 minute long flight to Izmir, the country’s 3rd largest city. The 27 seater bus which would be our mode of transport ignited a lot of enthusiasm especially in the kids’ gang. An hour drive brought us to our hotel La Vista in Kusadasi, the island of birds. Once the rooms were sorted, we crashed only to wake up refreshed at 4.30am. For the first time I started entertaining the idea of the “5 am club”, after feeling invigorated after Yoga, a HIIT class and refreshing Girnar ginger chai, the rewarding side effects of jet lag! The morning vistas from the hotel lived up to the name of the hotel, clear blue sky merging with the crystal blue Aegean Sea dotted with smaller green islands. Fresh Breakfast with stunning ocean views and fun company felt like a great start of day-1 of our conducted tour.

Our tour guide for the next 2 days, Yeliz was a friendly upbeat middle aged woman. She spent over an hour of the 3-4 hour drive to Pamukkale discussing the history of the Ottoman Empire, the unique geography and the rich culture of this land of Anatola which would then be the country called Turkey in 1923. Hearing nuances of the fabric of the society and deep connections with families brought a lot of resemblance to the Indian society and culture. Everyone enjoyed fresh squeezed pomegranate juice in the coffee/restroom break. The quick lunch intentions were far fetched with a group as big as ours and the laid back vibe at the restaurant-Celikay Pide. The cook even invited us to roll the “Pide” (Turkish pizza) dough and put toppings on it.

We reached Pamukkale around 2pm, it was a very pleasant spring day that made admiring the ancient city of Hierapolis with the grand theater very enjoyable on our stroll with multiple picture stops. The ancient city buried for the last 1300 years is still being excavated by the Italians.

The cotton castles with the terraces are extensive; walking barefoot through the thermal pools was exhilarating for the kids. The unique formations are basically deposits of Calcium Carbonate aka limestone from the high calcium content of the water, a phenomenon occurring over the last 14,000 years. The kids got plenty of pool time and played incessantly indulging in some limestone facials and hair spas! We decided to skip the paid public Cleopatra’s pool and indulged in some gelato yumminess before hitting the road back to Kusadasi where most of us would catch up on some siesta time.

With kids settled in their respective rooms with Domino's pizza and a bland unequivocally boycotted pasta, 8 of us got a chance to get a night out at Leila, Kusadasi which our wonderful tour guide Yeliz had booked for us. The place was buzzing with a DJ who would bring the house down with a mix of Arabic, old Bollywood (Mera Joota hai Japani remix) and music that had us all swaying on our sits, hookah fumes, some of the happiest dancing servers and guests and mediocre food (with the exception of a decadent chocolate souffle) and drinks - a total fun party scene.