The train journey from Seljuk presented a nice learning curve:

If you buy the ticket from the station ticket office, you don’t get a reservation – that is only available for online purchases (don’t think the price varies much – and it is definitely the cheapest form of traveling long distance in Turkey. I just couldn’t get onto the website -wifi issues.) So you will be in unassigned seat coaches (in my case, coaches 1 and 4, (1-4 written on the ticket – you interpret it differently at your peril).

When the door of the train opened, and I was right by it, waiting for the passengers to alight, several homely looking grannies in scarves and voluminous skirts barged past me (and the descending passengers) and scrambled up, salmon running upstream – and with an amazing alacrity shifted to “coach 1 (or 4)”. When I eventually settled in in coach 2 or 3 (which are 90% empty), all was well… until a conductor arrived.

The conductor did not speak a word of English but clearly, if amiably and patiently, insisted me and my chattels move to 1-4. At that point I had no idea why.

Google translate (…and several Turks using it) helped an Australian couple and me understand the need for relocation (officially; in reality, there was no need for it – the coaches 2-3 remained mostly empty throughout the train’s milk run.

Must say, did not think much of the White Slopes at first, but!

There was a small misunderstanding (my landlady’s English and my meagre Turkish missed each other on how best to approach the Pamukkale/Hieropolis site by walking. Suffice it to say, I ended up taking a beeline type of shortcut (up the side of the travertines) to what I thought would be the North Gate; it wasn’t, but I bypassed the ticket booth…

The baloon flight was interesting, if not breathtaking – Pamukkale learnt from Capadoccia to offer it – there are now a number of companies doing it. I liked that we had a female pilot. A bit disappointing we did not go over the ancient city of Hieropolis, but that could have been for various reasons – the air currents, or government regs.

I chose to go to Isparta next as it’s the town closest to Sagalassos. The fact that it was a Sunday when I wanted to visit, was not a problem; nor that 29 October 2023 was the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic and there were parades, speeches, marches and patriotic singing everywhere; there simply was no feasible way to get up the mountain using public transport – I even considered a tour, but none were available. Tried to hire a car: the chap said it can be a real problem not speaking the same language in case of an accident…

In the end, negotiated a taxi ( £50 for 3 hours, probably paid a bit over the odds) but I was quite happy with that. I could enjoy the view while Umur negotiated the hairpin bends.

Sagalassos is definitely worth a visit. It was built on terraces at an altitude of between 1400-1700 metres, with superb views over the countryside. The terraces below the city were cultivated, including the olive groves. Because of the altitude, the city was not looted or pillaged. The earthquakes damaged it, but it was rebuilt several times. The archeologists were able to reconstruct the Antonine Nympheum (a beautiful, giant fountain) fairly easily as the earthquake had made the stone structure fold like dominoes. The water gushing again through is cold and fresh and the one in the fountain below the Neon Library is said to be the best and the purest water anywhere.

Met Wilem and Denise from Belgium in the Agora, and he, being a former professor of ancient history and a professional history guide (after he retired from Uni), was able to throw a proper light on the place. He knew that the central image of the mosaic “carpet” (damaged by Theodosian Christians in the 5th ct) had been of Achilles saying farewell to his mother; and that the lines carved onto the stone seats of the amphitheatre by the Romans marked how far you could put your feet if you sat above.

Mehmet, the Kurdish owner of a caffe (good, proper coffee!) was a serendipitous find: he speaks English (years of working in the Bodrum tourist area), has a stash of good red wine from Eastern Turkey, has a large family spread all over, and has volunteered them if I needed help (pinch of salt here), and, of course, knows good local restaurants.

Egirdir was easy to get to on the dolmus – only 45 minutes from Isparta. The pension has a lovely terrace with beautiful views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. Some very good hikes and walks around here, and bike rides.