Istanbul (TUR)- Pamukkale (TUR)
August 1, 2014
We woke up early in the morning trying to visit the Blue Mosque but it was closed to public due to Friday sermon. We wandered around the area a bit, then headed back to the hotel and start packing. Here are some pics of the quiet morning.
Here’s a panorama from our own rooftop at Sultan Hotel. Bye Bye Istanbul!
Today we have some distance to cover. From our research it takes 6.5 hrs from Istanbul to Pamukkale, so that means 9 hrs for us because we have a tiny car with 1.2L engine and drive mostly 65 mph.
We don’t have AC in our car and the drive soon became the hottest drive we have so far. Turkish oil is expensive, around $8.50 USD per gallon. From Istanbul to Pamukkale we passed by lots of mining, a huge salt field and stone slab manufacturing towns. When we arrive at Afyonkarahisar it reminds me of driving towards Las Vegas or in Neveda. The landscape and climate is very similar plus there are lots of billboards, Starbucks, McDonalds once we drove in town.
The 660km drive took us around 9 hours not including stops. We finally arrived Pamukkale around 7:15pm and stayed at Baydil Campground. It is very nice with a large swimming pool with a direct view of Pamukkale as the backdrop. The tent pitching fee costs three of us together 75 Lira (around $33 USD) for the night. We grab some random pizza and called it a night. It’s a long day.
Comments are closed.