Thursday, June 19

Today we left Pamukkale for Egirdir. This was quite an adventure – we took a private minibus from Pamukkale to Denizli in order to catch a public bus to Pamukkale. Along the way, our driver stopped for no apparent reason other than to say hi to a buddy of his that he saw. Also, the driver of our public bus stopped randomly on the side of the road to let some passengers off. Turkish bus drivers are very interesting.

We made it to Egirdir and after a trek uphill to our hostel (Lale Pension), we decided to go walk around town and get some lunch. After some very creative and complimentary (thanks to our token Turk, Yekta) appetizers, we walked around the market and saw some very interesting things.

goat cheese entombed with fur.

there is a large market for SpongeBob paraphernalia in Turkey

After that, it was time to go swimming in the beautiful lake that was right outside our dorm-style room window.

the view from our room

The lake, Lake Egirdir, is surrounded by mountains and had a pebbly shore. Other than a few Turkish kids, we were the only other people swimming in the lake. It was amazing – I could just imagine the same lake in the US being completely crowded by people and motorboats, but there were literally none to be seen here.

view from the upstairs of our hostel

After our swim which included attempting to teach Edward how to float, we walked the hundred yards back to our pension. On the way, this Turkish woman came out of her house with a bowl of cherries and wouldn’t let us go until we finished them all. I never cease to be amazed with Turkish hospitality. After that, we showered in our one shower and then met the profs. We decided to walk around the city and the nearby island and stop for dinner when we found a spot.

views from walking around Egirdir

On the way we saw a mosque that had been closed for renovations and a sign directing the people looking to pray there to head to Aygaz for prayer time (Aygaz is a gas company). We also saw a small bazaar that was full of rose paraphernalia (shower gel, soap, Turkish delight, rose water) which Egirdir is known for. Then we stopped at a fish restaurant for dinner right on the lake. After a lovely dinner, it was time for some R and R back at our room in preparation for the next day.