Pamukkale

Wow this was such a fun day. We went to a place called Pamukkale which in Turkey means 'Cotton Castles'. When you see the photos you will understand why! It was amazing because underground there is water which has calcium in it and when the water runs over land it leaves calcium deposits which ended up creating calcium rocks. The Turkish call them the Cotton Castles because they are such a pure white and I guess, look like cotton.

We got to walk around this place and paddle our feet in the calcium waters which apparently have 'healing properties'. Doctors have recommended some people to go to these mineral springs to help them with their ailments. I kind of felt a bit yuk walking through the pools because sometimes the bottom was a bit squishy and if you know me, even in the tiniest, you will know that squishy things under my feet is not something I consider highly fun - if you have ever seen me around the beach and seaweed you will know exactly what I am talking about. Still, once I semi got over the squishy factor and pulled several disgusting faces I enjoyed paddling around in the pools. After that, I wandered up to the 'Ancient Pools' which cost 20 TYL to get into which is roughly the equivalent to $20 AUD so I didn't go in the pools but I took a few photos cos you were allowed to do that and watch everyone in the pool. It was cool because there were marble columns inside the pool and old ruins. I think it actually used to be an ancient bath but now they have 'safened' it up for people to use. Absolutely a gorgeous spot and one of the highlights so far.

After this I don't remember where we went... oh, Fethiye. We continued our drive down to the coast and for dinner we went to an amazing seafood market where we could choose exactly what fish we wanted to eat (they were already dead not swimming in a tank) and four of us went in together and got two types of fish - bream and bass - and 3 calamari and two prawns (cos only two of us wanted one) and shared that. Once we bought our fish we took it to a restaurant that was in the seafood square and told them whether we wanted it grilled or fried. They charged 5 TYL for cooking our food and for this price also provided the yummiest bread ever and served up a decent salad. I think in the end the meal cost me about $15 AUD which is pretty good for seafood. Even if I had wanted to buy more seafood it wouldn't have cost me more than $20 AUD which is a bargain. It was amazing. Definitely one of the yummiest meals I have had in Turkey so far.

Comparing cuisines - I think they all vary and each are wonderful in their own way. I found Spain to have the least tasty food, mainly because we were eating in touristy places where the food isn't the greatest - although on occasions we had brilliant meals. It's just that we were on the go so much we didn't have the time to find a good restaurant, we had to quickly choose. Morocco was great with its tagines although I was sick of meat by the end. I thought there'd be more seafood in Turkey but I haven't really had that much. I will definitely be incorporating more fish into my diet when I get 'home' because I forgot how good fish actually tastes!

As for my tour - definitely not as good as Spain in regards to the company. I miss my Spanish crew. We had an awesome time. The people on this tour range greatly in age. We have quite a few older, married couples, a few younger couples, a pair of old ladies (like, I'm guessing 60-70) and a few people traveling on their own. At first, I was sharing a room with this fat Lebanese girl who I did just not get along with. She was really difficult to talk to and I'd say something and then she would throw in a completely random comment as though I hadn't even spoken. I don't like that. I don't think anyone really does like that. I eventually stopped talking to her by the second day because I can't be arsed dealing with that. I also turned quite childish and took the key out of the slot while she was still in the room and that meant no lights for her. Really it was just payback for the day before when she took the keys out while I was using the bathroom and ended up in darkness. She also has a fat waddle. You know how fat people start to not be able to walk normally after a while and develop the waddle.. well she has one of those. On the first day we met we went to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul together and she tried to look at something I was looking at but fat people seem to forget that they actually DO take up a larger amount of space than normal sized people. I actually get quite frustrated when they do this because they invade my personal space bubble when they don't realise that just because their head wants to go somewhere their body is actually rounder than normal and they squash up against me and I really don't like it. Actually it kind of freaks me out a lot. Yes, possibly a weird, random thing to get freaked out about but I don't like an unknown persons fat squidge smushed against my body just because they want to see what I'm looking at. That's what hands are for. I'll pass it over to you if you want to look at it, just don't squash me!

Luckily we are now not sharing a room and I am now stuck with an annoying American... I seriously cannot wait for my OWN bed without someone next to me snoring their head off or coughing every 30 seconds...